Heavy load lifting in the UK

[sarboy w****r]

Hi All,

Does anyone know of a firm that could do heavy load lifting in the UK please? Each load to be lifted is 8.0-8.2 tonnes.

Many thanks,

SBW

[SuperF]

That's heavy, will be very costly. Ericsson could do it, and have the pilots to do it as well. They go to Greece for fire fighting, you might be able to get them before or after the season, otherwise probably Russian machines.

[paco]

Helicopter Services at Wycombe Air Park know a few people

Phil

[Anthony Supplebottom]

Why don't you see if the RAF can assist with one of their Chooks.

They have a history of helping out when they can, tends to be good training in most cases.

[sarboy w****r]

SuperF - Is that Erickson? Erickson Air-Crane Excellence in Precision Rotorcraft (http://www.ericksonaircrane.com)

Phil - do you have Leon's number please, or would you mind PM'ing me a suitable number?

I'm not looking to make anything out of this so it's a free business lead if someone wants it.

[170']

At the moment, the heaviest loads that can be 'easily' moved within Western Europe in terms of regulations, availability and pricing are around 5,000kg (Normal WAT limits apply)

If there are compelling reasons that they remain 'indivisible loads' (not based on the fact it's cheaper to keep them at 8 tons)
It's possible-ish ...but the cost would make your eyes water!

The paperwork and 'discussions' necessary to permit a non-JAA aircraft to operate in the UK would be a nightmare; with substantial costs involved and a completely uncertain outcome. A persuasive argument might be built if it were in some way charitable or a benefit to UK society (I'm just guessing on this point)

There are 'as yet' untried legal methods of introducing heavylift Russian a/c - but they are at the 'think tank' stage at the moment...No-one wants to lay down hard earned cash to find out if it will work!

Also: Few heavy-lift operators have much interest in one-off jobs, as typically negotiations fall over when the client realizes the rates are non-negotiable and that 'The Russians' are not desperate for work (They have most of it ;-)

The minute a job is offered, the operators close ranks to keep the price stable. Both with the aircraft rate and the positioning charge (Mob-demob) Because of this costs are fairly stable these days and generally follow 'Incoterms 2012' in regards to who pays what. If you get an offer for a cut-rate heavylift machine today, be very cautious...

I can put you in touch with a few outfits who could do it in principle; but the CAA involvement makes it nearly impossible to predict the outcome.

5 tons is no problem if the loads can be broken down (Just FYI)

PM or email if you need contact numbers etc.

[sarboy w****r]

170' - thanks very much for the insight, that's extremely helpful. I'd be very happy for you to PM me contact details and I'll pass them to the company involved.

The loads are the turbine blades (45m long, 8-8.2 t) for a number of windfarms that are being built in remote areas in the UK, so are indivisible. The locations don't have road access (or very poor access), hence the operator is looking at options of getting the blades into place. The cost of building roads will not be cheap either, so it might be more cost-efficient to airlift the things in. The budget for the construction of a windfarm can run into tens/hundreds of millions of pounds, so if a helicopter operator sets a price and they have a monopoly on the heavylift capability, then so be it, the windfarm company will learn a lesson in the laws of supply and demand. Not my call - I've just been asked if I know of a company that could do it in Europe. Erickson has done it elsewhere in the world: Forget serpentine roads. Air lift the turbines (http://www.windpowerengineering.com/construction/forget-serpentine-roads-air-lift-the-turbines/)

[ShyTorque]

I think a 45 metre long load at that weight would be beyond of the capability of most, if not all, commercially operated aircraft presently in UK.

I'm almost certain that the Chinook is the only UK based machine that could lift it and the RAF wouldn't be able to commit to a long term job for a commercial company.

And of course, being a highly efficient aerofoil, it would need extra weight as part of the pre-lift preparation (fitting of spoilers etc) to prevent it from trying to take over as mission captain.... :eek:

[HeliHenri]

.
Hello,

Maybe, you could contact HeliSwiss International for an advice, they provide (with their German partner) the Mi26 (20 t of payloads) :

HELISWISS International AG | aircrane, big lift helicopter, switzerland, construction and installation operations, cargo lifting, cargohelicopter (http://www.heliswissinternational.com/index.php?lang=19&idcat=32)

.

[Agaricus bisporus]

So on top of the utterly spurious "green" claims for these appalling industrial excrescences that so blight our countryside their perpetrators now have to resort to such beyond-the-pale carbon-thuggery as heavy-lift helos to foist their foul contrivances on the countryside?

The hypocrisy is staggering!

[ericferret]

The issue of the improper use of military helicopters for commercial work continues to rear it's ugly head. The BHAB believed they had sorted this out years ago with it being an MOD requirement that the military charge for any work performed and at a real rate and then only when no civilian aircraft could do the task.

We got caught out by this a number of years ago. We leased a Lama from Dollar for a load lifting job for the Yorkshire Electricity Board. The call never came and that night on the local news was an army Lynx from Dishforth carrying out the work as "a training exercise".
So we paid for a Scotland return trip just for the aircraft and crew to sit around all day.
Expensive and sickening.

Nice to see the Lama again though, queen of the skies.

[SuperF]

Sarboy, yes i was meaning Erickson as per the link. i punched my reply into an ipad and didn't check the spelling. I imagine that they would need heavy lift helicopters for more than just the blades if there is no road access. those towers will take a lot of steel and concrete as well, although medium lift machines may work out easier/ better/ more efficient etc during excavation and construction phases.

Depending on the number of the towers you could get a heavy machine based there for the duration.

[heli1]

I agree that the Mi-26 could handle the job easily...in fact it could carry two of the blades together with impunity as its max under slung load is 20tonnes.That might help offset the positioning costs from the nearest base...probably Russia theses days. Civilian Chinook........try Columbia Helicopters in Oregon but suspect all theirs are tied up at the moment fighting fires,moving oil rigs and on contract in Afgjhanistan. Ericsson are desperate for more work at present and may have aircraft available in Italy or Greece if not firefighting.

[170']

Sarboy...PM sent!

[Bertie Thruster]

Still wind day, (rare, i know), strap on a couple of 25 mt helium lifting balloons and tow them up the hill behind a quad bike!

[170']

Sarboy...New PM