Zu Bell 205 Flying Pax
 

This marvellous ex-military machine has been flying in and out of the Waterfront pad flying paying passengers on A ZU registration with drivers who may or probably do not have SA helo coms. Apparently if you sell membership in a club and give members a brown jacket, a bottle of bubbly and a ride in a helo or a Lightening it`s just peachy. I buy the Lightening/Buccaneer bit as the club trick gets the bucks in for a good cause (even if it is a waste of perfectly good helo fuel)

Using the "legal loophole" to fly in competition with other operators leaves a bad taste however. The worst thing is that this may force CAA to close the loophole and stuff it up for the good guys.

On the lighter side why not get a suitably bright and shiny IL 76 or Antonov 224 and start a club - T Shirt and Joburg Europe return.

Confused but determined!

PPL's / Comms
 

Rotorhead welcome in the Cape,

Although it has being discussed @ great length on this forum (Roundout come in Roundout :D) - I really do not think South African's are so stupid / ignorant / bad / mad ... to fly a commercial heli out of a commercial, registered heliport for commercial purpouses without a commercial licence ?

Trev you on holiday or you read this ? :D That is Trev D by the way ...

Is it a nice, bright , white heli ?

Lovelly day in the Cape today m8 - what you doing in front of the kaputer. Or you like me - laptop next to the swimming pool and big TV on the stoep for the cricket ;)

who's bell 205 is it? i know of only one 205 that's working in sa and it's dave mouton's (helibip's) machine. but it is currently out of the country. Reg: ZS-RJL

dankie!;)

Mentioned above as an ex-military machine. Interesting. The military used the UH-1 which was a Bell 205 airframe with obvious differences. If it was a UH-1 it would be easily identified as the tail rotor would be on the left side vs. the 205 on the right. It also would have been issued a serial number the same as its military number, ie. 72-20xxx.
If its a former Military UH-1, I know of NO country that allows them to fly except in restricted category and that means NO PAX.
So unless someone is just stirring the pot, I suggest more information and a call to the CAA can straighten it out......

Mr Sousa, thanks, the tail rotor on this beast is on the left.

Apparently this machine arrived in SA from Marutania and was originally from guess where? "Vietnam!."

The registration is a very inconspicuos ZU- C something. ZU in South Africa means experimental/Kit/ex mil.

In other words it`s pretty much a UH1 straight from where they became famous. Great aeroplane to watch, load em up and go!

The rumour has it that the records are shaky as in no airframe/engine/component log cards but then if the a/c is ZU registered they are not required!

WHEN IN DOUBT HAVE A BEER

Very Interesting... We (U.S.) left a Sh*tpot load of those along with everything else in the inventory in Vietnam when We (U.S.) left. Records and parts may be missing, but those puppies were good flyers. I can only assume that the SA CAA will jump on this thread and someone will get a visit.
The other difference is if they were UH-1 (D) or (H). that would be a L-11 engine or an L-13. Made a lot of difference in performance.. Like how long do you drag the skids down the mud before translational when your a thousand pounds over gross........ha ha

Latest:
Rumor Control says that this particular aircraft was in fact US. However it came via Ethiopia instead of Vietnam. So it is still a UH-1. Bell Helicopters Inc would NOT support it and may even get a bit mad if they knew it may be getting support from a "Bell Franchise" in SA.
So Im sure the CAA is OK with it...sort of, but its shakey to say the least.
The data plate will say Bell 205/UH-1. In the US, thats a Red Flag. other countries that may not know can be convinced its a 205. Therin lies the problem...

mmm… very interesting! Maybe I should go and have a look when I go to SA in March. That is, if they are still operating then. thanks for the info. ;)

Saw an interesting program on these the other day....some suprises for sure. Apparently they had to have the engines removed for inspection every three hundred hours (would prove a tad exxy in a civy role), in nam the main rotors were replaced every two hundred hours instead of the thousand or so that were expected from them under normal ops, due to the errosion they copped from the dirt and humid conditions.
they had a life expectancy of four hundred hours in nam. and a whole bunch of other interesting stuff as well as some spectacular footage of the huey at work in nam in its many shapes and roles.

what a bloody great bit of gear.....sorta like the DC3 of the rotor world. I saw a heap of them parked up and rotting away recently in Indonesia and the Philippines....... sorta sad to see really.

" in nam the main rotors were replaced every two hundred hours instead of the thousand or so that were expected from them under normal ops, due to the errosion they copped from the dirt and humid conditions.
they had a life expectancy of four hundred hours in nam."

Wizard, there were a lot of factors that determined Blade life. first was the fact that they had huge supplies for spare parts.
Also blades were sometimes used for clearing LZs, (unintentional) and also for gathering shrapnel. Also a contibutor to low blade life.
Some dont remember but airlifts were usually done by twenty to thirty even more ships in one flight alone.. If you go to the Vietnam Pilots Assn website, you can find all kinds of interesting statistics. (www.vhpa.org)

Huey
 

Lo Bert m8,

Hope you had a gr8 New Year. Was on West Coast again - great - lotsa Tassie's and GREAT other wine ,,,, :D

This web site is great - incredably 2202 Pilots killed in Huey's out of 40 000 - yes 40 000 !!! Pilots alone in Vietnam ... Liewe bliksem ! :eek:

Saw the Mel Gibson movie last night : " We where soldiers" - great and the flying "stunts" was great too. Can see why the huey is like the Alo III to the SAAF. A life saver / Gunship / Light Trooper ... et all ...

Cheers and have a GREAT New Year all African PPRUNERS :D

Well, the plot it thickens. Quite bluntly Pilots with PPL`s have been operating for Win helicopters out of the Waterfront in Cape Town flying both the UH 1/Bell 205 and Bell 206`s. CAA has been informed and has done zip!

Gary Van der Merwe, Francois Marais, Karni Matthysen are the guilty parties. Thought quite hard about putting the names here. But man if you knowingly fly an aircraft with paying passengers who have paid money for the right to be flown by a licensed professional, well then take it on the chin pal.

There are also rumours floating around about hours not been logged, time expired components been fitted to Aircraft (Bell 206 main rotor blades).

As Guns would say, "Skande", actually it`s damned embaressing to be in the situation of having to put up a post like this. Sometimes there comes a time when you have to draw a line in the sand.

???
 

Recognise one of those names. Had somthing to do with the Mandelas( No not Nelson but one of the klonkies)??!!
HoHum
antigravity rules!

Licencing
 

So the embaressing subject of SA licences arrives again.

The brothers do not learn do they.

Lots of us worked very hard for the licence and to see it undermined in this way makes it very sad.:(

I'm watching this one carefully & with interest.

Normally we couldn't sanction "naming" here but I've done some research & all indications are that events are as reported by Rotorhead.

4HP

Yes it is interesting, but not unusual for SA. Its no doubt a former military aircraft. It seems to have been blessed by the CAA.
Making money in Aviation is the bottom line, so the owners of the aircraft will do whatever is necessary to make Rand from JP-4. I know I would. Im sure they will only have a problem if they ball one up.........thats the way it usually hapens.
If someone really wished to stir the pot. They would no doubt contact Bell Helicopters, and Im not talking Bell in SA.. Things would roll down hill from there for sure.
Other than that, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Again....?
 

WIN was the same crowd that tied two Bell 206's together for some "Fear Factor" stunt, needless to say that both choppers crashed on the pad, pilots were a bit bruised and red faced, choppers went to the local scrap dealer. The CAA revoked WIN's operation certificate until further notice. I would guess they have got the operating certificate back. Or maybe they just doing their own thing, any comments?:confused:

Ah, yes...I remember those 20-30 ship lifts. I always hated to be in the rear and get a little lower than the ship in front of me!:eek:

Now that posting is interesting. I could not believe there was more than one moronic pilot in SA until I heard about the tethered 206 stunt. Those pictures made a laughing stock of SA Aviation all over the world.
And now the above post saying these are the same folks....I find it hard to beleive the CAA is blessing anything from this crowd after seeing the pictures of the 206s in pieces.
Sounds to me like a good old boy flying club........or as We say another accident waiting to happen........."Money talks and BullS*it walks."

ID of the Huey!
 

Hi all

The Huey concerned is a UH-1H owned by WIN Helicopters, registered ZU-CVC. It is one of the ex-Ethiopian choppers brought over by Eddie Saayman. Con no is 9078, ex US Army 66-16884.

WIN have another two Hueys to be made airworthy (74-22402 and 74-22406?), while 74-22405 will remain a static on display at the Waterfront pad. The former two are still looking very sad.

I was at the WIN hanger late last year and took pictures of the aircraft in their hanger.

Cheers

Dean

More news.......66 model, good chance you can look into the historical records and see combat service in Vietnam. All those aircraft have "Military Historicals" I think the VHPA (www.vhpa.org) also may have info IF it served in combat. The 74 models were some of the last off the line and should be in very good shape , albeit what the sand dunes did to them.....
I would certainly like to put one through the paces again, they are a fun machine. Load them up till the RPM bleeds and then its a running takeoff. When it quits making sparks, your airborne......................BUT still not as fun as the Cobra........