Rotor Torque

The CH-47Fs – painted the same monocoat paint tone as the US Army’s Foxtrots, designed to best suite operations in both forest and desert environments – are being acquired under the $631 million AIR 9000 Phase 5C project to replace the Army’s existing fleet of seven CH-47D Chinooks from 5 Avn Regt’s C Squadron.

“The outgoing CH-47D Chinooks have proved highly effective in Australian operations, and the new CH-47F Chinook will deliver an improved cargo helicopter for Australia’s Army,” said DMO’s head of Helicopters, Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems and Guided Weapons Division, Rear Admiral Tony Dalton. “Furthermore, the project to deliver the new Chinooksremains on schedule and under budget. ” The CH-47Fs and associated equipment are being purchased through the US Foreign Military Sales program. Maintenance support will be provided locally by Boeing Defence Australia and BAE Systems.

Two more Foxtrots, A15-303 and -304, arrived in Townsville in-mid May. The three remaining Chinooks, A15-305, -306 and -307 are due to arrive at 5 Avn Regt by the end of July.

The Foxtrots are expected to achieve initial operational capability by December and attain full operating capability by January 2017.

Mt Isa’s NQ Rescue secures its future

The Mount Isa-based RACQ NQ Rescue will be merged into the CareFlight Group Queensland from July 1, securing a helicopter rescue service for the remote north-western Queensland region.

“We had been working hard forthe past couple of years to secure government funding to keep our service saving lives,” RACQ NQ Rescue CEO Alex Dorr said. “In order to sustain the service for a long-term period we needed to merge our organisation and the obvious choice was to merge with Queensland’s largest and most distinguished aeromedical provider. ” RACQ NQ Rescue currently operates BO 105LSA-3 VH-XRQ, but the merger will bring a larger helicopter to the region with RACQ CareFlight’s Gold Coast-based Bell 230, VH-XCW, to be relocated to Mount Isa, increasing the service’s capabilities in the region.

“Alex and his team here have done a superb job over the years in keeping the helicopter service operating and we were keen to help,” said CareFlight Group chairman Rob Borbidge. “It’s a logical extension for CareFlight.

This merger means the community of North Queensland can be assured critical care air medical services will continue to be provided by a rotary-wingaircraft based in Mount Isa. ” The ‘new’ RACQ CareFlight Rescue service at Mt Isa base will be an addition to RACQ CareFlight Rescue’s five other bases in Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast and, also from July 1, Brisbane.

RACQ NQ Rescue began operations back in 2007 using an ex Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Bell JetRanger.

Airbus, DMO launch integrated helicopter support centre

Airbus Group Australia Pacific (AGAP) and the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) launched a joint support centre to optimise capability support for the ADF’s fleets of ARH Tigers and MRH 90 Taipan helicopters in Brisbane onApril 16.

The DMO’s Reconnaissance and Air Mobility Systems Program Office (RAMSPO) has integrated with AGAP at the aerospace company’s Brisbane Airport facility and will provide Army and Navy with the engineering, supply support and technical services for the Tiger and Taipan helicopters.

“It will be a truly integrated Defence/industry support environment in which we will all share the common goal of striving to provide outstanding service levels for these helicopters,” said Airbus Group Australia Pacific managing director Dr Jens Goennemann.

When at full strength, about 250 industry and military personnel will staff the support centre.

A trio response from NSW Ambulance

Three of NSW Ambulance Greater Sydney Area HEMS AW139s all attended the scene of a single motor vehicle accident on April 23 at Wandandian, south of Sussex Inlet on NSW’s south coast.

Two of the service’s Bankstown Airport-based AW139s and one from its Illawarra Regional Airport base near Wollongong landed in a heavy vehicle inspection bay adjacent to the Princes Highway near the accident scene.

The response was the first time Greater Sydney Area HEMS, which covers the area of Sydney, Wollongong and Orange, has tasked three of its EMS helicopters to the same incident. The trio flew a female driver and male passenger who had sustained chest and head injuries to Liverpool Hospital and a child who had sustained head injuries to the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. Fuel additive saving the US Army A 12-year feasibility study into the use of liquid fuel additives has quantified the saving of the US Army’s helicopter fuel and maintenance costs at its Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

The study showed by using GE’s +100 fuel additive in its Chinooks and Black Hawks, the Army saved an estimated US$5. 4 million (A$6. 8 million) per year on maintenance costs. From using the additive on average, Chinook operating costs reduced by US$150 (A$190) per hour, with Black Hawk costs down US$40 (A$51) per hour.

GE says its +100 additive increases the thermal stability of the JP8 fuel by 38°C, preventing engine coking with a cleaner and more efficient burn. The additive has also reduced carbon soot on the helicopter’s skin and components.

The Army is now looking to expand the use of the additive in all of its operational helicopter types.

EC145 utility version certified

Airbus Helicopters’ latest EC145 utility version received its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on April 23.

The EC145 (formerly the EC145e) was developed specifically for use in the utility role and features a standardised interior and an equipment list tailored for utility operations.

Removing the helicopter’s automatic flight control system and replacing conventional cockpit instruments with Garmin’s G500Havionics suite with dual electronic flight displays has allowed Airbus Helicopters to increase the EC145’s payload by 146kg over the previous utility variant.

“By offering a multi-role helicopter configured with a basic cabin layout and mission-tailored systems, the EC145 is highly competitive in price and available with reduced delivery times,” said Airbus Helicopters H145 program head Manfred Merk.

The EC145 Utility is expected to achieve FAA certification by July.

CareFlight’s confined landing captured

A confined area landing by CareFlight (NSW) in Sydney’s northern suburbs late in the afternoon on April 18 allowed for the capture of a dramatic image – see opposite – of the response.

Aircrewman David Gardiner from CareFlight’s Helicopter Emergency Rapid Response Trauma Service captured the team’s BK117, callsigned ‘CareFlight 4’, shortly after landing briefly on the busy Pennant Hills Road as it dropped off its medical crew to attend a pedestrian who had been stuck by a car.

Launching from its base at Westmead Hospital, CareFlight 4’s crew were on scene within minutes, navigating a series of light poles and headlights from the southbound traffic to land the helicopter safely across the three-lane road between two car dealerships with the assistance of police who had stopped northbound traffic to allow the BK to land.

CareFlight’s doctors assisted NSW Ambulance paramedics to treat the male pedestrian including sedation and intubation to maintain vital signs before continuing the treatment in a road ambulance to the Royal North Shore Hospital.

Bell continues workforce reduction on softening demand

Bell Helicopter says it will reduce its workforce by an additional 1,100 positions by August across the company due to a softening in global demand for commercial helicopters.

Bell Helicopter CEO John Garrison emailed staff saying the helicopter manufacturer must aggressively reduce its costs after scaling back its sales forecast and reducing production volume to meet the weakened demand. “We must take immediate and aggressive measures across the business to bring costs in line with current and projected business requirements and size our organisation for our market reality,” emailed Garrison.

Textron, Bell’s parent company, says a weakness in the medium-lift market, due to economic challenges in the oil and gas sectors, was a primary driver behind the staff cuts.

Around 300 positions to go will be from its Mirabel, Quebec facility despite Bell winning a C$156 million (A$164 million) contract in April to build seven Bell 412EPIs for the Canadian Coast Guard on top of another C$172 million (A$181 million) Coast Guard order placed in 2014. The Canadian government promoted the awarding of the contracts as a way of creating jobs in Canada.

The pending reductions represent around 13 per cent of Bell’s workforce.

Laser-guided rockets hit the mark for Tiger

BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rocket was fired from an Army Tiger ARH for the first time during testing last November.

The APKWS, a screw-on kit thatconverts a standard unguided 2. 75in (70mm) rocket into a precision laser-guided rocket, used semi-active laser guidance to strike both soft and lightly armored targets in confined areas.

An integrated test team from the DMO, RAAF and Army’s 16 Aviation Brigade fired 10 rockets fitted with the APKWS. All 10 hit their targets within one metre of the laser designator spot.

The flight firing comes after ground testing of the system at South Australia’s Woomera test range in August 2014, during which APKWS-fitted rockets hit seven for seven.

The successful live fire flight trials were carried out in extreme heat conditions near Darwin in the Northern Territory at ranges of 1,500 to 4,500 metres, at altitudes from 200 to 1,500 feet and at speeds of up to 140kt. “The results are clear that our unique mid-body design can quickly and cost-effectively transform current inventory of unguided Forges de Zeebrugge rockets into highly precise weapons for greater mission success as it has done for Hydra rockets since initial fielding in 2012,” said BAE Systems’ director of precision guidance solutions David Harrold.

The next stage of the trial process will see the APKWS rocket tested with different types of warheads.

“This testing supports the potential use of the APKWS rocket on the ARH, and it clearly demonstrated the weapon’s capability under a wide range of flight conditions,” said Aerospace Operational Support Group’s Major David Paterson.

The Navy has also shown interest in utilising APKWS on its MH-60R Seahawks and was present during the live fire flight trial.

FAA issues Black Hawk type certification

The FAA has issued a restricted-category type certification to Florida-based BHi H60 Helicopters allowing the commercial operation of Sikorsky’s UH-60/S-70 Black Hawks for firefighting and other operations.

The certification allows the more than 60 Black Hawks recently sold by the US Army to be operated commercially.

BHI H60 Helicopters, a joint venture between Firehawk Helicopters, Brown Helicopter and Dynamic Aviation, obtained the certification in less than five months and operates or have available for acquisition over 40 Black Hawks.