Rotor Torque

Boeing said it delivered the seventh CH-47F to Army in August last year within budget and three weeks ahead of schedule, under an agreement struck in 2012. The AIR 9000 Phase 5C Medium Lift Helicopter project called for the acquisition of seven aircraft to replace six CH-47D helicopters.

Australia’s CH-47Fs will be maintained in the US Army’s baseline configuration, with the main difference being the fitment of a rotor brake to allow embarked operations from the Canberra class amphibious assault ships.

CareFlight NETS moving to Bankstown

Sydney’s CareFlight will be forced to move its Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS) helicopter service to Bankstown Airport by mid-2016 to make way for the redevelopment of the Westmead Hospital precinct.

Large cranes being used for the construction of a new acute services building and additional car parking will pose hazards for helicopters operating to and from the current NETS facility on the hospital’s roof.

An existing hangar on Tower Road at the airport will be renovated to accommodate NETS’ personnel, nurses, doctors, drivers and support staff, along with its fleet of specialised road ambulances.

CareFlight’s BK117 rapid response service base and its maintenance facility will continue to operate from Westmead as both are located outside of the redevelopment area.

NETS provides inter-hospital transport for sick babies and children up to the age of 16 years. CareFlight has been operating NETS under contract using a dedicated Bell 412 and a backup BK117, having taken over from the defunct Telstra Child Flight on January 1 2013.

NETS will soon be serviced by Toll Helicopters as part of its 10‑year aeromedical southern region contract with NSW Health from 2017.

First AW139 lands ahead of Ambulance NSW contract

The first of 12 new AW139s for Ambulance NSW’s northern and southern region HEMS contracts has landed ahead of contract start in 2017.

Toll Helicopters’ first of eight AW139s for its southern region contract, registered VH-TJF, was re-assembled at AgustaWestland’s Essendon Airport service centre before flying to Albion Park Airport near Wollongong, via Canberra, on December 23.

“We conducted an additional 40 hours of flying training in the Sydney Basin which included company line training and proficiency checks to gain full CASA training and operational approvals on the AW139 for visual and instrument flight, by day and on NVGs,” said Toll Helicopters’ head of flying operations, Colin Gunn. “We also conducted some familiarisation flights to some of the hospitals in NSW and ACT by day and night.”

VH-TJF is currently undergoing an aeromedical fitout at Albion Park Airport which includes the installation and certification of a lifting arm device. The arm is designed to reduce lifting risks associated with loading and unloading of neonatal cots, which weigh close to 200kg, and the carriage of larger patients.

Toll’s remaining seven AW139s, all to be registered in the VH‑TJ_ range, (regos once used by Australian Airlines and Qantas 737-400s), are scheduled to arrive during the course of this year.

The new Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service’s first of four AW139s is currently on AgustaWestland’s production line in Italy and will be ready for factory compliance inspection mid-year. The helicopter will then be shipped to Australia, re-assembled and ferried to a modification facility to install its required specialised rear cabin medical equipment.

The remaining three helicopters will follow the same path with all four planned to be online and ready to respond by mid-2017, all wearing their distinctive red and yellow colour schemes and Westpac major sponsorship.

An eye in the sky for EMV

Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) has introduced into service a dedicated aerial intelligence gathering (AIG) helicopter to provide real-time airborne information to incident controllers during bushfires and other major incidents around the state.

The Airbus Helicopters H125, callsigned ‘Firebird 300’, is operated under contract by Moorabbin Airport’s Microflite where it is based. Factory fresh, VH-XXW arrived in-country in August 2015 and underwent a custom fitout for its intelligence gathering role before it was commissioned into service on December 22.

“The helicopter is an ‘eye in the sky’ giving fire officials a live picture of what is happening on the fire ground,” said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. “It was used on Christmas Day at Wye River and Separation Creek and was an invaluable resource. It’s part of the biggest air fleet we have brought to bear in any fire season in our state’s history.”

Firebird 300 is fitted with a Wescam MX10 stabilised camera with FLIR, mapping and web-based video streaming capabilities. The camera, the newest model in the Wescam range, can also provide spatial data and still images which can be sent down to control centres for more informed decisions during an incident. Combined with its onboard computer system and specially developed mapping software, it allows highly accurate geo-referenced live mapping and HD footage broadcasted via 3G/4G including in infrared.

The H125, fitted with dual hydraulics and dual FADEC, is the 14th new Airbus Helicopters machine delivered to Microflite to date, joining, according to Airbus Helicopters, the largest fleet of turbine helicopters in Victoria.

Firefighting exemption for aerial application rating

CASA has published a new exemption allowing fixed and rotarywing pilots who have significant experience in low-level aerial work operations, such as aerial mustering or aerial application, to qualify for a firefighting endorsement.

The exemption, CASA EX 226/15, was released on January 7 and sees pilots who held an agricultural pilot rating (helicopter or aeroplane category) before September 1 2014 being able to conduct aerial firefighting operations.

Conditions of the exemption include requiring pilots of an aeroplane to have accumulated at least 1,000 hours of low-level operations and helicopter pilots a minimum of 300 hours. In addition, before conducting any firefighting operations, a pilot must undertake relevant training and be assessed as competent to engage in firefighting operations conducted by the holder of an air operator’s certificate (AOC) which has authorised the firefighting operations. Any firefighting operations must be conducted under the supervision of the AOC holder who has authorised the firefighting operations.

CASA said there was a “significant cohort of pilots” who had accumulated substantial operational experience in low-level aerial work operations who had not previously gained experience in firefighting, adding their low-level operations experience have many similarities and considered their the skills could be readily transferred to aerial firefighting operations.

“In consultation with industry bodies CASA issued exemption 226/15 to create a pathway for flightcrew with the pre-requisite skills to obtain a firefighting endorsement from approved organisations who would otherwise have been excluded,” said the Australian Helicopter Industry Association’s vice-president Ray Cronin.

“However, the final issue of 226/15 included elements relating to operations manual amendments and inclusions which under the current climate would be very difficult to achieve. Industry has made further recommendations to CASA and hopes that an amended exemption will soon be issued to simplify the process of obtaining a firefighting endorsement until a more formal Manual of Standards and process has been agreed upon by all stake holders.”

CASA previously issued Instrument EX114/14, and continued in force by EX148/15, to only allow pilots who had been engaged in firefighting operations in aeroplanes and helicopters prior to September 1 2014 to continue conducting those operations, and to qualify them for a firefighting endorsement in circumstances where there was doubt about their qualifications during the transition to introduce CASR Part 61.

Exemption 226/15 is set to expire on August 31.

AgustaWestland becomes Helicopter Division of Finmeccanica

AgustaWestland and Alenia Aermacchi parent Finmeccanica has transformed from a holding company of separately controlled businesses into a single corporate entity with operating divisions.

Under the Italian industrial group’s ‘One Company’ plan, announced on December 22, Finmeccanica now has a new governance and operating model, with the company organised into four sectors: Helicopters; Aeronautics; Electronics, Defence & Security Systems; and Space; and seven divisions – Helicopters; Aircraft; Aero-structures; Airborne & Space Systems; Land & Naval Defence Electronics; Defence Systems; and Security & Information Systems – with effect from January 1.

In a statement announcing the change, Finmeccanica said that the change in governance involves the centralisation of the management and control systems, while the divisions will be responsible for business delivery and will be given the powers to ensure complete endto- end management of its scope of activity, with full responsibility for financial performance. The sectors will be responsible for strategic coordination.

Finmeccanica confirmed via Twitter that the AgustaWestland brand will continue to be used with the AW prefix retained for model designations. But the agustawestland.com website now redirects users to the Finmeccanica site, where the AgustaWestland name and brand are not visible.

CareFlight’s Bell 412 celebrates 24 years of service

RACQ CareFlight Rescue’s Toowoomba-based Bell 412, VH‑XCO, celebrated 24 years of flying on January 18.

Affectionately known as ‘Oscar’, the late 1991 model 412 started its life as a Bell Helicopter demonstrator, N412VS. In October 1995, the 412 arrived in Australia and started its life saving career registered as VH-ESA with the Queensland government before joining CareFlight’s fleet in 2009 as a dedicated machine to service the south-west of the state based in Toowoomba.

“Oscar has kept a watchful eye over communities in the southwest, flying more than 2,500 vital airlifts and saving thousands of lives across every corner of southern Queensland,” said RACQ CareFlight Rescue aircrewman Ryan Purchase. “Rumour has it, Oscar even spent a little time flying the Pope around before being shipped to Australia to be used as an emergency helicopter.”

RACQ CareFlight Rescue is currently replacing some of its mixed fleet with brand new AW139s. Its second of type, VH‑XIJ, entered service at its Brisbane Airport base in early January.

Uber, Airbus on-demand chopper project hits a snag

Airbus Group partnered with Uber to provide helicopters for its ondemand UberChopper services at the Sundance Film Festival, in Summit County, Utah in late January as part of a new initiative for the helicopter manufacturer, although the project flew into some trouble.

Using Utah-based Air Resources and its fleet of H125 and H130 helicopters, UberChopper sent an Uber vehicle to pick up clients who had booked their US$200-$300 flight for the 15-minute journey to the festival.

While the on-demand transport service company, which launched in 2009 and is now available in most parts of Australia, has used helicopters before by partnering with local helicopter operators, Uber had never partnered with a helicopter manufacturer for the exclusive use of its helicopters.

“The point is if you can push a button and can get a ride, then why not push a button and get a helicopter,” said Uber co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick. Airbus CEO Tom Enders added: “It’s a pilot project. We’ll see where it goes but it’s pretty exciting.”

With falling civil helicopter sales in the oil and gas sector, Airbus said it is searching for new business models for helicopter operators to access a broader base of customers. The UberChopper project was the first project by Airbus Group’s recently established Silicon Valleybased innovation centre, branded as A3 (A-cubed), set up to develop and launch a series of new projects and rapid partnership programs with aggressive timelines.

However, only two days into the festival, a court injunction ruled an end to UberChopper’s flights, claiming the helicopter services violated a Summit County code by operating without proper permits. Uber said due to the popularity of the helicopters, it may resume flights at future festivals, but only after going through the proper channels of working with the local government to obtain the proper business licences and permits.

First flights for second prototypes for Airbus and Bell

Airbus Helicopters and Bell Helicopter have each flown a second prototype of their respectively new H160 and 525 Relentess designs.

On December 23 Bell’s second 525 flight test vehicle, N525BK, made its first flight from its production centre in Amarillo, Texas. Bell says a third 525 prototype is in the final stages of assembly and is due to join the 525 test program in March. It says the program to achieve FAA certification of the 9.1 tonne supermedium helicopter is on track for 2017.

Airbus Helicopters’ second H160 prototype, F-WWPL, flew from its Marignane plant on January 27, fitted with the new 1,100-1,300shp (820-970kW) Turbomeca Arrano 1A engines. The second prototype now joins F-WWOG, powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210E engines, now dropped from the H160 program, which has accumulated more than 75 hours of flight testing since making its first flight in June 2015.

Turbomeca says more than 10 Arrano engines have been test running at its Bordes, France facility since February 2014 and has now validated claims the engine will offer up to a 15 per cent reduction in fuel consumption over comparable engines.

In brief

»» Turbomeca received EASA engine type certification in mid-December for its Arrius 2R engine which powers Bell’s 505 Jet Ranger X. In August 2015, Turbomeca delivered the first production engine to Bell’s new 505 assembly centre in Lafayette, Louisiana and has since delivered a further 15 production engines.

»» Airbus Helicopters has received EASA certification to increase the maximum takeoff weight of its H145 by 50kg, raising the MTOW to a total of 3.7 metric tonnes. Airbus Helicopters says the weight increase does not require any structural modifications or additional equipment and will come at no additional cost for operators.

»» The first Australian-registered AW169, VH-FOX, has recently been delivered to Fox Helicopters operating from Essendon Airport. With its special callsign of ‘Fox 1’, the AW169 (see photo in Traffic this issue) replaces a similarly registered AW109SP Grand New. The AW169 achieved EASA type certification in July 2015.