Staying Afloat

Born out of One Atmosphere’s initial submarine buoyancy concept, Pegasus aims to arrest the descent of a sinking helicopter post-impact with water by deploying high-tech and extremely strong flotation devices to keep the fuselage buoyant.

The Pegasus system secures the helicopter airframe on the surface of the water, making it more stable. This allows the occupants to more easily evacuate the helicoper; dramatically improving their chances of survival.

The carbon fibre design can withstand forces up to 20Gs; while its light, aerodynamic design reduces weight and keeps fuel costs at a minimum, a key consideration for helicopter operators, making Pegasus an attractive option for both military and civil operators.

“When discussing the concept of a small lightweight buoyancy system with some defence colleagues, our attention quickly turned to the possibility of tailoring the technology into a post-crash device for helicopters, specifically to arrest the sinking descent post water impact,” One Atmosphere managing director Tim Lyons tells Australian Aviation.

“These early discussions translated into a Capability Technology Demonstrator program through the Defence Science and Technology Group to commence developing the technology for helicopters. ”

A unique approach

Where existing buoyancy devices are deployed manually post-crash or prior to ditching, One Atmosphere’s solution brings a unique life-saving benefit in the form of Pegasus’ ability to deploy automatically in high impact crash scenarios.

“While Pegasus can be deployed manually by pilots during a controlled landing on water, it is also designed to automatically deploy in the event of a crash or high impact event. This means it will automatically operate when the pilots have not been able to manually deploy floats,” Lyons explains.

Thus Pegasus removes the requirement for pilots to deploy the system prior to impact. It functions automatically post-impact, preventing the airframe from sinking by securing it on the surface until help arrives.

This offers a significant benefit for occupants in the helicopter in scenarios where manual deployment may not be possible. Such events include the high demands of flying during an emergency situation, as well as the risk of damaging deployed floats upon heavy water impact.

Furthermore, the system’s automation is an essential backup post-crash if flightcrew have been incapacitated, making manual deployment impossible.

To allow the system to operate in high impact environments, Pegasus has been designed utilising carbon fibre and other high-end materials. This makes the system extremely strong, allowing it to withstand significant impacts during uncontrolled crashes or rough ditching.

And the carbon fibre materials offer further benefits for military operators, as Lyons was keen to point out.

“The military variants may have ballistic protection built in, which is achieved by utilising composite materials. ”

The long road

Six years of development has led the Pegasus team on a long and fruitful journey, picking up a number of innovation awards along the way.

While development commenced in Perth, One Atmosphere has progressively moved to a new base in Hobart. Today only Lyons remains at the Perth base, with all operations due to be run out of Hobart by January 2017.

While the group has spent the last six years leading the charge for innovation in Western Australia, it is Tasmania where One Atmosphere has found the right balance of suppliers, testing facilities and government support to take Pegasus from a concept to a reality.

“Innovation in WA in our field has been challenging due to it’s distance to the eastern states, but the Tasmanian Government has been extremely helpful and we are working with them to put Pegasus in full production in the Hobart Techno Park,” says Lyons.

That help comes in the way of a $625,000 attraction package from the Tasmanian state government, which has supported One Atmosphere to conduct both the second and third project in Tasmania.

Today the key focus for the Pegasus system is its application to the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), with Airbus Group Australia engaged to assist with the interface. To achieve this, in March 2016 the organisation was awarded a $4 million government contribution to complete a working prototype of Pegasus, a project expected to be completed early next year. This brings the federal government’s total input into the project to $7. 8 million.

“The Pegasus technology will be initially focused on the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter to support their use from HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide,” Defence Minister Marise Payne said in announcing the funding in March.

“Congratulations to One Atmosphere and Airbus Group Australia Pacific for their role in developing this high-priority capability, which is exactly the sort of innovative solution that we need to support the ADF,” Minister Payne said.

Tasmanian Minister for State Growth, Matthew Groom, was equally upbeat about One Atmosphere’s presence in the island-state, commenting that One Atmosphere will “invest $3. 2 million to build a new facility creating nearly 30 jobs and adding to our growing reputation for high-end, niche manufacturing”.

To say One Atmosphere has been welcomed into the Tasmanian business community with open arms is something of an understatement, with One Atmosphere being consulted on key strategies for Tasmania to further expand its innovation footprint.

“One Atmosphere will be an important part of driving innovation and growth in defence manufacturing in Tasmania and I have already sought input from managing director Tim Lyons into Tasmania’s new Our Fair Share of Defence Strategy,” Groom said.

Certification

While the key focus of the project to date has concentrated on Pegasus’s military applications, Lyons sees potential for the system in the civil sphere.

To date, the major civil interest in Pegasus has come from offshore helicopter operators largely as an additional buoyancy device. Ongoing developments have led One Atmosphere to recently apply for EASA certification for an initial offshore variant of Pegasus.

“In this application, Pegasus acts as an additional buoyancy device, fitted higher up the airframe, working in concert with fitted flotation devices to lift a significant portion of the cabin out of the water post capsize or ditch” explains Lyons. “It allows occupants to breathe and egress quickly and safely. ” Beyond the Tiger ARH and civil operator applications (which could extend to law enforcement and EMS operators), One Atmosphere is already thinking further afield, having identified the safety implications for fixed-wing operators.

“The crashworthiness and high impact design means Pegasus could be modified for fixed-wing aircraft, although for now our focus is set firmly on successfully developing the helicopter applications. ”

The system’s automation is an essential backup post-crash.