Agusta AW139
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: canada
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Whats up with the fire alarm bell port side, first picture ??
So crews know which aircraft to scramble to ??
Nice shots by the way
So crews know which aircraft to scramble to ??
Nice shots by the way
Last edited by 407 too; 12th Apr 2013 at 20:24.
Join Date: May 2000
Location: uk
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I have experienced AW139 nose-wheel shimmy on two occasions and it is undoubtedly an unfortunate design quirk in the nose-wheel steering. It is loud and frightening if you have never experienced it before and I know of one occasion where an inexperienced pilot thought he was entering ground resonance and lifted (AP Out) to stop the shimmy. The frequency of the shimmy is about 0.25 of a second and is felt as a 'jarring' throughout the airframe, if you look behind the aircraft you will see a tell tale herring bone pattern of marks left on the taxiway or runway. On both occasions when it happened to me it was because the nose-wheel "slipped off" a raised dome centre line light, landing at a slight cross angle to the aircraft direction. I have no reason to suspect that it is associated with incorrect taxi techniques and I was able to stop the shimmy by using wheel brakes. On both occasions I had the engineers confirm that there was no damage before proceeding. I now ground taxi slightly offset from any centre line that has embedded lighting.
Last edited by Max Contingency; 12th Apr 2013 at 22:53.
One of the most difficult things to get people to do in training is NOT to move the cyclic laterally during ground taxy turns.
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Canada
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Availability
For us, we cannot get above 82% which has requiered 2 aircraft per base and sometimes 3 since our great Ministry of health has requiered 100%
.....Looks they don't know what we do after so many years......
And they also have no clue about aviation and helicopters
The level of maintenace and problems related to the 139 is completely crazy.The cost is insane and it is just a question of time before we will have to get rid of this machine, it is not for EMS,at all
.....Looks they don't know what we do after so many years......And they also have no clue about aviation and helicopters
The level of maintenace and problems related to the 139 is completely crazy.The cost is insane and it is just a question of time before we will have to get rid of this machine, it is not for EMS,at all
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Cornwall
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Arcal 76
I don't encounter many with your view. Does that tell you something about your operation. Without wishing to cast any aspersions when was the last time you were audited by external auditors. If the answer is 'never' then you may profit from a firm of auditors with some global expertise having a look-see at how you are doing things.
I have always found external audits to be a valuable way of putting an operation into perspective but don't use those one-day-wonders who parachute in with checklist in hand and disappear without ever getting to the soul of the operation. Use people who have HEMS experience and who speak the HEMS language. IOSA use specialists in each field Ops (planning and flight following)/Maintenance/Ground Ops/Cabin (in your case it would mean a clinician with HEMS experience)/Flight Operations.
G.
I have always found external audits to be a valuable way of putting an operation into perspective but don't use those one-day-wonders who parachute in with checklist in hand and disappear without ever getting to the soul of the operation. Use people who have HEMS experience and who speak the HEMS language. IOSA use specialists in each field Ops (planning and flight following)/Maintenance/Ground Ops/Cabin (in your case it would mean a clinician with HEMS experience)/Flight Operations.
G.
It also doesn't help that your company are going through Union negotiations at the moment Arcal76.
I know for a fact that many of your people are trying to make a point to management by doing absolutely everything as slowly as they can to try and highlight manpower issues and parts issues.
That does nothing to help your availability rate.
Due to your lack of AME's, it takes your guys 3 weeks to do a 300hour inspection. That inspection should be done in 7 days at the most with a good crew working on it.
Try not to blame the machine for shortcomings within your organisation. Many within your company still think they are operating a 76A with no autopilot and very basic systems instead of a complex nearly 7 tonne aircraft with many advanced systems.
The whole debacle with the medical interior hasn't helped things and finally that has been modified as an interim measure, until a new interior is designed and installed.
Until some major changes are made not much is giong to change. Perhaps modelling your operation on other EMS organisations that are using the 139 would improve availability and reliability.
As Geoffers remarked, an external audit (perhaps by another EMS company using the 139) could well highlight where improvements could be made.
I know for a fact that many of your people are trying to make a point to management by doing absolutely everything as slowly as they can to try and highlight manpower issues and parts issues.
That does nothing to help your availability rate.
Due to your lack of AME's, it takes your guys 3 weeks to do a 300hour inspection. That inspection should be done in 7 days at the most with a good crew working on it.
Try not to blame the machine for shortcomings within your organisation. Many within your company still think they are operating a 76A with no autopilot and very basic systems instead of a complex nearly 7 tonne aircraft with many advanced systems.
The whole debacle with the medical interior hasn't helped things and finally that has been modified as an interim measure, until a new interior is designed and installed.
Until some major changes are made not much is giong to change. Perhaps modelling your operation on other EMS organisations that are using the 139 would improve availability and reliability.
As Geoffers remarked, an external audit (perhaps by another EMS company using the 139) could well highlight where improvements could be made.
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Arcal. As others have noted your experience is not a general one. We have been operating the 139 for 3 years flying up to 10 hours per day and the only down time has been for scheduled servicing and minor glitches that were quickly rectified. Having experienced, pro-active and concientious engineers helps enormously.
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Taxi rollover
Not counterbalancing the tail rotor thrust by some main rotor moment can lead to taxi rollover. This has nothing to do with dynamic rollover which occurs in flight when the landing gear hits the ground.
Taxi rollover is caused by the toppling moment of the tail rotor thrust. It mainly occurs on helicopters where the tail rotor has a high position. From a theoretical point of view, it is therefore worth to accompany a large amplitude pedal input by a lateral stick input on the same side. I am somewhat astonished that you want pilots not to move the cyclic stick during turns.
Taxi rollover is caused by the toppling moment of the tail rotor thrust. It mainly occurs on helicopters where the tail rotor has a high position. From a theoretical point of view, it is therefore worth to accompany a large amplitude pedal input by a lateral stick input on the same side. I am somewhat astonished that you want pilots not to move the cyclic stick during turns.
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Amdec,
There is rarely a requirement for a large amplitude pedal input during turns. There is a large turning moment due to the length of the tail, and with the nosewheel unlocked, the aircraft should turn quite easily on level ground, especially if you have just a little bit of forward speed. What I have found when teaching pilots new to this type (especially thoses who have flown Russian machines previously), is that whenever they turn, even taxying gently at 1-2 knots, they always push unnecessary into-turn cyclic, which will induce an unnecessary main rotor mast moment.
There is rarely a requirement for a large amplitude pedal input during turns. There is a large turning moment due to the length of the tail, and with the nosewheel unlocked, the aircraft should turn quite easily on level ground, especially if you have just a little bit of forward speed. What I have found when teaching pilots new to this type (especially thoses who have flown Russian machines previously), is that whenever they turn, even taxying gently at 1-2 knots, they always push unnecessary into-turn cyclic, which will induce an unnecessary main rotor mast moment.
Last edited by Non-PC Plod; 14th Apr 2013 at 09:53.
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Mmm! It is like going backwards! AW139 is much much better than 412 in many ways. Power, safety, IFR, speed, etc.. It is a pilot choice ..Yet it burns more fuel, high maintenace due to high tech it has 
UNLESS Bell starts thinking again & improving 412s
UNLESS Bell starts thinking again & improving 412s