Rotor Torque

Black Hawks have been operating from RAAF Base Townsville since late 1988, having initially and briefly been operated by the RAAF’s 9SQN, which relocated there from RAAF Base Amberley.

In early 1989 the ADF’s battlefield helicopter role was transferred to the Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment with 9SQN becoming A Squadron, while the RAAF’s 35SQN became B Squadron as it re-equipped with Black Hawks.

The Army has transferred allof its operational Black Hawks to 6 Aviation Regiment based at Holsworthy, southwest of Sydney. A Squadron has already relinquished its Black Hawks for MRH 90s.

Eagle Copters upgrades the 407

Eagle Copters Australasia has developed a conversion for the Bell 407 delivering what it says will improve the helicopter’s performance characteristics in hot and high operating environments, increase payload, reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational safety.

Known as the Eagle 407HP, the conversion sees the 407’s original Rolls-Royce 250-C47 replaced with a Honeywell HTS-900D-2 engine. Bell Helicopters and Honeywell had commenced development of the engine conversion during the 1990s, but it was then not seen as commercially viable.

Coffs Harbour Airport-based Eagle Copters Australasia’s managing director Grant Boyter said the conversion results in a 22 per cent average power increase. “The benefit,in simple terms, is the maximum allowed horsepower input to the 407 transmission can be maintained to a lot higher altitude and or temperature than the original engine. ” The Eagle 407HP is now in the final stages of FAA and Transport Canada certification. “Once certification is received, expected in the next month or two, we will then be in a position to confirm the price and take orders,” said Boyter.

Initial engine conversions will be carried out at the Eagle Copters’ facility in Calgary, Canada with conversions soon to be completed at the Eagle Copters Australasia’s facility at Coffs Harbour Airport.

Army CH-47F simulator arrives in Townsville

The first of two CH-47F Transportable Flight Proficiency Simulators arrived in Townsville recently to assist Army’s C Squadron, 5 Aviation Regiment prepare to take delivery of its first ‘Foxtrot’ Chinook.

“Aircrew previously had to travelto the US annually to complete the required simulator-based training,” training systems manager Major Matthew Cleverly told Army News.

“This training was limited in scope due to the short lengths of time involved and the equipment they were using was much older and less capable that what we have now. ” The $15 million simulators, housed inside two oversized shipping containers joined together, replicates the CH-47F’s glass cockpit and features high-fidelity visuals and accurate aircraft performance.

The weather-resistant and airconditioned simulator is capable of being deployed within a matter of days and set up on a concrete pad to provide training and mission rehearsals.

“In theory, this allows the simulator to be deployed if needed along with the Chinooks…,” saidMAJ Cleverly. “In reality, however, given the size of the device, it would take a very unique situation to justify moving them. ” The Chinook simulator, currently undergoing a qualification process, contains a database of common operational areas, based on satellite and aircraft imagery and terrain data.

“Conducting routine training on the simulator means actual aircraft can be used for operational reasons,” said MAJ Cleverly.

“That’s more aircraft available for carrying troops or participating in humanitarian operations rather than pilots flying circles around an airfield practising landings. ”

Retrieval helicopter for Cooper Basin launched

Oil and gas companies Senex Energy and Drillsearch Energy have jointly funded a dedicated retrieval helicopter service to transfer critically ill patients from the Cooper Basin region of north-eastern South Australia and south-western Queensland to the nearest airstrip to rendezvous with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The ‘Cooper Medivac 24’ helicopter is operated by Heliwest using NVG-equipped Bell 206 LongRanger VH-LHP based at Moomba, 770km north of Adelaide.

“We have a duty of care to our people working in the field, as well as a broader role in the Cooper Basin community, so we think this is an important initiative to be involved with,” said Drillsearch managing director Brad Lingo.

Both Senex and Drillsearch’s Cooper Basin operations have experienced dramatic growth in recent years. Cooper Medivac 24 was developed in consultationwith the RFDS to complement its response capabilities to make it safer for those who live, work and travel in the remote region.

One of Cooper Medivac 24’s first missions was to transport a patient following a motorbike accident in the Simpson Desert to connect with the RFDS in Birdsville.

The same retrieval would have required a lengthy round trip in a 4WD ambulance, travelling at night over rough terrain.

Roof top helipad for Sydney CBD proposed

The owner of the newly-announced five-star Sofitel hotel at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC), Dr Jerry Schwartz, has called on the New South Wales state government to consider approving a roof top helipad for the hotel, three decades after the Darling Harbour helipad was closed.

“We applaud the NSW government for their vision to regenerate the Darling Harbour precinct, and an ideal addition to the precinct would be a purpose-built helipad on top of the Sofitel to service the ICC and Sydney more widely,” said Dr Schwartz.

Dr Schwartz also said that many comparable international convention cities have CBD helipads, including Melbourne, and a city aiming to be a leading player in the international convention and exhibition market requires international infrastructure support.

“Helipads are available in cities like New York, London and Melbourne, and it will significantly benefit Sydney’s business and convention profile to have a helipad developed at Darling Harbour. ” Construction of the 35-storey Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour is expected to commence towards the end of this year and be completed in 2017.

In late 2012 controversial plans for a floating helipad on Sydney Harbour were put on hold.

Final flight Iroquois goes on display

The UH-1H Iroquois which flew the type’s final operational flight in Australian Army service is now on permanent display at the Port Pirie RSL.

Iroquois A2-489, which performed the last flight on September 23 2007, ending 45 years of Iroquois service with the ADF, sits in a specially-built hangar surrounded by a collection of the region’s war memorabilia.

It took the Port Pirie RSL more than two years to secure the Iroquois. From the Army’s remaining Iroquois, -489 was one of only six offered to organisations in Australia that had a strong historic connection with the helicopter and that could preserve the aircraft on static display.

The hangar, situated next to the city’s RSL, officially opened in mid-August, and houses the only ex-Army Iroquois in Australia which veterans and the general public can climb into. “The others (Iroquois) are behind barriers so you can’t sit in them and touch them,” president of the Port Pirie RSL, Haydn Madigan, told the ABC. “But we wanted people to be able to feel it and touch it. That’s part of the experience of having this machine here. ”

Bell, Sikorsky-Boeing to build future vertical lift demonstrators

The US Army’s Aviation Technology Directorate has selected Bell Helicopter and a Sikorsky-Boeing teaming to build flying examples of their V-280 Valor tiltrotor and SB-1 Defiant coaxial rotor prototypes, respectively, as part of the Department of Defense’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program to develop the Army’s next generation of vertical lift aircraft under the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) Phase 1 program.

The two concepts were downselected ahead of AVX Aircraft Company and Karem Aircraft, which will now have to self-fund development if they are to compete in the FVL competition, which will open early in the next decade. Airbus Helicopters decided not to participate in the program.

Bell will build on its V-22 Osprey tiltrotor technology and experience with its V-280 design, unveiled in April, while Sikorsky and Boeing’s SB-1 Defiant will feature a counter-rotating rigid main rotor and a pusher propeller system developed through Sikorsky’s successful X2 program.

The JMR TD Phase 1 downselect is further good news for Sikorsky after its S-97 Raider prototype, a scout and attack development of its X2, achieved electrical power-on for the first time during test on May 28.

The US Army wants to begin flying the V-280 Valor and SB-1 Defiant demonstrators in 2017 while it is looking towards mid-2030s for operational use of the successful design.

Tiger flight simulator visuals upgraded

The visual display system of the Army Aviation’s Tiger ARH full flight mission simulator (FFMS) installed at the Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Queensland has been upgraded to the highest levels of ‘out of the window’ realism of any Tiger FFMS in the world.

Thales Australia with prime contractor Airbus Group Australia Pacific upgraded the dual-dome simulator with the latest generation BARCO F35 projectors for brighter and clearer colours with an improved overall focus.

The simulator’s image generators were also replaced with PC-based generators designed by Thales Australia using XENON computer hardware.

Both the new projectors and image generators were integrated with the existing host computers and visual display platform, enhancing the 240-degree horizontal by 85-degree vertical field of view for Tiger ARH flightcrews.

While in the final stage of the upgrade, the FFMS passed its Recurrent Fidelity Check, required to maintain CASA FSD-1 Level 5 (Level D equivalent) accreditation, the highest achievable level.

Russia’s Ka-62 nears first flight

Russian Helicopters says its 12 to 15-seat Ka-62 is now expected to make its first flight in December, some 16 months later than originally planned following design and program funding delays.

Bearing a resemblance to Airbus Helicopter’s Dauphin family, the Ka-62 is a civil version of the Ka-60 Kasatka military multirole helicopter, developed by Kamov in the mid-1980s.

Russian Helicopters blames program overruns on the need to replace the intended NPO Saturn RD600 engines, which it says would not have met international standards. Unveiled at the MAKS 2013 airshow in August 2013, the five-bladed Ka-62 will now be powered by twin Turbomeca Ardiden 3G turboshafts with dual-channel FADEC.

Designed to compete primarily in the offshore passenger transport market, on paper the Ka-62 will have a 6,500kg MTOW, carry a 2,400kg maximum payload, cruising at 157kt over a 400nm range.

Launch customer Brazil’s Atlas Táxi Aéreo placed an order for seven of the new helicopters in late 2012.