Is Landing on Icebergs a Silly Thing To Do? (Incl Pictures)

[Ewan Whosearmy]

Not sure I'd want to land on an iceberg that is known to most probably be unstable!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3863359a10,00.html

[Gomer Pylot]

I'm not sure it known to be unstable, but it's certainly not known to be stable. It might be very stable, since most of it is underneath the sea, but there is no way to know. It might be just about to break apart, or to turn turtle (they have been known to do that) and that little extra weight and vibration might do the trick. One could probably get away with landing on icebergs for years, but there is always the chance for a surprise. I know I'm too old to be doing it. I'll leave it to the young and stupid. Oh wait, that's redundant, isn't it?

[Ewan Whosearmy]

Gomer

Interesting points.

I suppose that the stability issue comes from knowing that as icebergs enter warm waters they invariably fall apart :). The difference you point out is a little too subtle for me to put my little pink body on the line to prove!

[Three Blades]

You may be OK on a big tabular iceburg (subject to all that has been said above).
However, I would think that the irregular ones are very dodgy as they have a habit of rotating around every now and then.
Remember that only 1/8 of the burg is above the surface.
You can often see burgs that clearly show surface marks indicating that they were previously at a different angle.

[spencer17]

@Ewan Whosearmy Icebergs melt in warm saltwater quicker than in the air. That is the reason they capsize. You can sometimes estimate the time when an iceberg capsizes by the movements it makes, but it's very hard to. It's a lottery game to land on such icebergs. Maybe the weight of the helicopter is enough to make this happen. The other point is that icebergs drifted to warmer regions are very instable. They have caves and cracks and you never know what the weight of the helicopter or even the sound will do to such fragil structures. I landed on several table shaped icebergs in Antarctica to mark them with transmitters to make studies about drift and lifetime of icebergs. You can track them on the webside of the German Alfred Wegener Institute. These icebergs were about 500 x 500 Meters. I would never land on icebergs like shown in the picture at the beginning of this thread.

Always happy landings
Spencer17

[scooter boy]

Does anyone see the documentary about 2 R44s flying round the world a few years ago - Q Smith and Jennifer Murray?
Q landed on a 'berg in the North Atlantic and flimed it - I suppose if part of the ice had broken off and slid into the drink while he was out of the aircraft taking pictures then at least Jennifer could have rescued him - dangerous business though!

SB

[widgeon]

I recall a beautiful picture of a CAnadian Coastguard Bo105 sitting on an iceberg . If any one can post a link I would appreciate it.

[vaqueroaero]

How about going inside an iceberg? Hate to think what would have happened if the engine quit...........



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e81/Vaqueroaero/50020Iceberg_jpg.jpg

[Vertical T/O]

When asking Pilots from Greenland about it, they suggested landing on the smaller ones. Less chance of pieces breaking off leading to the capsize. Never attempted it but got close to one low level out of Kulusuk heading east.


http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/kevanfolan/P4210523.jpg



http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/kevanfolan/P4210524.jpg

[HillerBee]

Why would you have to land on one in the first place?

[nigelh]

To break some off and put it in your Martini......why do you think !:confused:

[22clipper]

Some great photo's in Sydney's Sunday papers, including the one with the BK perched on the floating LZ. I'm a bit jealous of the Kiwis, not that many opportunities in a lifetime to witness something like that so close to home. I'd be tempted to risk a landing as a private owner/pilot, can't really comment on the option as a commercial operator with a ship load of paying pax.

Years ago Dick Smith had a stunt going where he suggested towing bergs to Oz for drinking water. I reckon a few operators would be tempted to tow a few up for tourist joy flight destinations?

[Ewan Whosearmy]

Thanks for the answers, fella's.

[Flying Lawyer]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/heli_iceberg.jpg

[WSPS]

We do land on icebergs quite a lot. Mainly for research purposes.
You got to have some proper procedures in place though. We never shut down the engines.
I have spent up to 45 min. sitting on one (engines running of course).
It is good fun though :ok:

[NickLappos]

The idea that the helo is enough influence to the stability of an iceberg is not reasonable. A small one (2oo feet x 200 feet x 12 feet above water (200 feet deep overall) weighs 30,000 tons! To land a 1 ton helo on it is like a flea unbalancing a dog. Remember a light helo weighs about 3 pounds per square foot of disk area, about the same as half an inch of new ice!

Most likely, if it is rolling and behaving unstably due to wave action, a much larger influence that you are, just stay away. Especially telling is non-sinisoidal behavior, where the surface just hangs at the peak roll/pitch. This indicates a very poor restoring force, which is a sign that the berg is about to switch to a new floating axis. A normal stable system builds restoring force as it rolls, so that it positively returns to neutral as it stops at peak roll. Also indicative is a large roll angle, which shows weak restoring potential.

It doesn't take Lindbergh to decide these are disqualifiers when selecting a landing area!

[Tango and Cash]

Flying Lawyer,

Nice pic, I've seen the same aircraft being attacked by an extremely large shark--the wonders of PhotoShop!

[havoc]

I am not sure how to get this photo to post but here is a link:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?type=ss&launch=15854265,3842331&pg=2

[Flying Lawyer]

These pictures were sent to me by a pilot friend in New Zealand.

The biggest iceberg is apparently about 165 feet high and others are 'the size of a house'.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg_helicopter-1.jpg
Helicopter on iceberg 60 nm E of Dunedin, South Island



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg6.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg3.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg7.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg2.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg4.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/FlyingLawyer/iceberg5.jpg





It's a pity they are so small. I assume he reduced file size for email purposes.


FL

[g-mady]

FL

The quy dangling from the Black hawk was in a similar situation with a great White!
Perhaps he should find a new line of work?

MADY

[cptjim]

The quy dangling from the Black hawk was in a similar situation with a great White!
Perhaps he should find a new line of work?

MADY

I was just thinking the same thing!! :}

Jim :ok:

[imabell]

http://www.bluetonguehelicopters.com.au/pprune/ib1.jpg


http://www.bluetonguehelicopters.com.au/pprune/ib2.jpg