Flying with the Western Power Distribution Unit September 2014

WPD EC135P1 outside their office

Last week I went flying with the Western Power Distribution Unit. They use 4 EC135P1s to patrol the electricity posts and cables looking for faults. They are also called out in times of trouble to discover where the fault is, and, in the case of storms, to help get power back to the people! (Well, electric power anyway!)

It is fascinating work. The pilot flies with an observer, who has a laptop with a dedicated computer programme on which he can mark the faults and send them up to the server to be examined by the company managers. There can be as many as 50 faults on each electric pole, and there are also often problems caused by vandals and the unwary. For example, people try to shoot the insulators! Fishermen get their rods and lines caught in the wires, trees grow into the lines and swans and other birds accidentally fly into them... there is a lot of work to be done here.

I had a fascinating day seeing how useful the EC135 is as a utility tool. It was so nimble and the flying was so much fun I (in the back) wanted to lean forward and ask for a 'go'!

For more on the job of the electric cable pilots see the Autumn issue of Helicopter Life magazine.

Rotorway Examiner July 2014

Flying the Rotorway gives one constant insight into flying on the edge. I was doing another test a few weeks later on a very hot day in July. The temperature at the farm was 30 degrees centigrade and the E162F was a slightly less powerful one, with a novice owner of some size. We had a very tight take-off, in a direction that was not into wind, but crosswind. We could not take off into wind because another Rotorway owner had parked his helicopter there making it risky for us.

The novice owner tried to get far enough back in the field, but was hampered by a tree. He decided to go for a gap in the hedge. Unfortunately, before he started he ommitted to get his rpm up to the top of the green. We started our departure run, the rpm dropped further and it was quickly clear we were not getting much lift. As the rpm descend further, our only option was to keep the nose forward and fly the helicopter out using relative airflow to edge up our climb inch by inch. We got out ot the field, swooping past an orange coloured emergency life-raft which now features in my dreams. And, finally, we were free of the ground and able to lower the collective and bring the rpm back from the lowest position I have ever seen it. My little heart was racing!

As with every Rotorway flight I learnt something new! That is, that as an examiner, you have to be far more ‘anticipatory’ than you do as a pilot. Looking at our departure from the farm you can saw that we were hampered by the temperature, the weight of the pilot and passenger and the lack of wind. However, that is not the whole story. The truth is that the rpm was too low before take-off and that was the reason that we nearly did not make it over the hedge. So, the question is: as an examiner do you say to the student:

“Get your rpm up, or we are going to hit the hedge?” which is then interference in his flying skills, or do we let him make the mistake and nearly kill you?

While academically this may be a dilemma, practically I feel everyone would give the same answer, assuming they did not have a death wish!

Prior Planning Prevents Piss-ups

The battery is behind the passenger seat

Yesterday, I had an interesting example of how a little prior planning could have saved embarrassment.

I went to do a 162F owner's test. When I arrived at Street Farm the helicopter was already there, although the pilot was to arrive later, brought up by a friend and delayed by M25 traffic. This is probably an important factor, since, although he thought he had brought everything necessary for the test ie log book, licence, medical etc he actually forgot to bring the second collective for his machine.
This being a test, and as he was anyway not current, I could not fly without the collective, so, this would have been a disaster had the Bull Brothers not once more saved the day. We were able to use a collective from another machine... luckily it fitted, and this luckily should be underlined, since, as Rotorways are 'hand-made,' the parts are not always interchangeable.
The collective in and we were ready to go... flat battery.
Rotorway pilots know just how important a battery is in the Rotorway machines. The engine runs directly from the battery, there is no intervening magneto etc to help.
However, we were able to jump start the battery. This is not an easy matter in the 162F as the battery is behind the passenger seat, and hence external starts are not as easy as they are in full-grown machines. But yet again the brothers were marvellous, having everything we needed. Once the leads were in place the battery started easily and we were soon good to go.

The pilot flew extremely well, and there was no need to fail him, but I think he will remember this test for a while. 

HeliRussia 2014

Outside the Crocus Expo

Aviamarket Heliport booth

HeliRussia 2014 took place at the Crocus Expo in Moscow 22-24th May.

Very interesting show including the biggest ever sale of Robinsons to Russia. Heliport bought 20 R44s and R66s, making it the largest purchaser of R66s and holding 15% of the market.

Kurt Robinson was at the show to hand over the keys of the 500th R66 bought to its new owner.

For more see the Autumn issue of Helicopter Life magazine.

EC175 makes strides

EC175 flying in to the Trump Golf Course

Invited by Airbus Helicopters to fly the EC175 at the Trump Golf Course near Aberdeen. Got up at 4.30 am to make the 7.15 flight out of Heathrow, so when the weather looked poor I did feel rather disheartened. However, I'm a pilot so we are used to disappointment!

We had an interesting briefing from Airbus Helicopters Oil and Gas Sales Director Michael Melaye, who promoted the benefits of the EC175 over its competitors: better range, it is increasing its useful load by 300 kgs, lower vibrations and compliance with the CAA regulations Cap 1145.
I later talked to pilot Alain di Bianca, who I flew with many years ago in the EC130 at what was then MacAlpines. He has been involved in much of the design process and he says it is a very pilot centred helicopter with all the switches and dials (well actually it is flat screen Helionix avionics but you know what I mean) in the right places.
Sounds good. Hopefully, in the future I might get a flight... until then I'll just have to believe what they say.

The Rotorway continues to surprise

A day of tests at Street Farm and a very interesting day. One helicopter I flew had a few eccentricities, which is perhaps the norm in home-built machines.
Firstly, on start-up it backfires as though someone had put a bomb in its exhaust. Slightly alarming.

Secondly, when the student pressed the PTT to talk to ATC the RPM dropped to zero! This is only an electrical fault, but certainly gets the heart pumping first time you see it.

Thirdly, and this is definitely its most exciting fault: when closing the throttle in autorotation the engine really stops. And, because all is quiet anyway (no engine) the only way of telling that the engine has stopped is by watching the oil pressure, which had dropped to zero.

We did an in-flight restart, and with a couple of grudging goes it did finally start; but these things do get ones concentration.

Rest of the flight and the other test was completely normal and without problems. Lovely day for flying too, light winds and warm and sunny.

A school of Rotorways

Teaching and Examining on the Rotorway Helicopter Types

Now a fully licenced Rotorway pilot, I have started doing examining and some instruction on the types of Rotorway (162F and Exec 90). As ever you learn far more on the job than you do when you are training.
It seems to me that the real reason the Rotorway has a bad reputation is not that there is anything wrong with the machine, but merely that it is underpowered. My first test was on a 162F Rotorway based in the South of England. The pilot was relatively experienced, the day cool and the wind light. We had a excellent flight in the Hampshire area with no problems, and the student passed without issue.
The next time I flew one of the Rotorways I was teaching. It was again a 162F and one that is known as being a ‘good one’ with a relatively powerful engine. The weather was cool, but there was a wind of 18 knots. Now for most helicopters 18 knots of wind is going to be worth looking at, but not an intrinstic problem. However, with the Rotorway, even the more powerful types, you do not want to turn downwind in such a wind.
We had full fuel and were close to the all-up-weight of the machine. I took off, with a slight cross wind, and immediately lost RPM. I managed to turn into wind, but could not get the RPM back up. This was partly because I had the collective too high, but being near to the ground I found it hard to bring it down, even though I knew theoretically I was over-pitching and hence needed to bring down the collective before I could bring up the RPM. I was also losing tail rotor authority and hence pedal usage. It took several landings and take-offs, and even a shut down, before I managed to resolve the problem, which was initiated by my own cack-handedness, but nonetheless presaged a potentially bigger problem.
However, never call me a quick learner. I then took off into the local area for a flight. Fine in itself but the nicest take-off run without any trees was downwind, and yes, I was indeed stupid enough to take-off down wind. Thanks to the relatively airflow, the fact that this was quite a powerful 162F and that we had the space I did not put the nose into the ground. But wiser consideration after the event made me realise I would have been much better off taking off into wind, even given the presence of trees and wires.
I am told that flying the Rotorway makes you a better pilot and I am starting to see why.