Building of helipad europe

[windycorner]

Dear all,
Who can assist?
I want to build a helipad on private property in Ibiza - Spain....

Question - What are the requirements and dimensions.....thickness of slab - clearance from nearest obstacle etc etc......

At a loose end and all suggestions welcome from those who know !!
Many Thanks
Windycorner

[VfrpilotPB/2]

Dear Windy,

Plenty of Chip Butties, Cans of some GOOD Golden Gargle( plenty, daily) BB&EM for me and three, 2 weeks it will be done, fly us out fly us back and you got a deal

15 Mtr Sq will give you 225 sq mtrs to aim at, will need 34 Cu mtr Compo
250 Sq Mtr of 6mm dia Welded mesh( these come in 8 Sq mtr Sheets).
I JCB, 1 Dumper, a place to dump the spoil.... easy peasey


Oh!............ and a bit of spending money, Aufeidersend


VfrPilotpb/2 formerly the same without the dash 2:ok:

[rotorboater]

I built a circular patio, much less trouble with the planners than calling it a helipad!;)

[NickLappos]

Even a nice wood deck will suffice, since the helo is light and does not load the surface very much. A simple footed deck that is designed for 30 to 50 pounds per square foot (typical household deck loading) will do just fine.
Usually very much cheaper than concrete, and easy to contract quietly.....

[Um... lifting...]

Sorry Nick, I disagree. Even Robinson suggests impact loads of 0.75 of gross weight of helicopter and a minimum of 40psf live load. If it's anything bigger than a Robinson, or if it's got wheels on it, point loading will be higher. The local building code should address this anyway.
http://www.robinsonheli.com/pdf_files/heli_installation.pdf

[scooter boy]

IHMO Wood gets awfully slippery too - the surface condition of my decking this very evening bears testament to that.

The location, size and thickness of surface are all dictated by the size of helo, topography/obstructions (including location of neighbours), direction of prevailing wind and your level of experience.

Personally even for a machine at the lighter end of the spectrum I would use at least 6 inches thickness (preferably 9) of concrete on a well drained base. I would also aim to have it ridged or grooved (unlike the runway at Bristol apparently where Easyjet are currently refusing to operate from).

A 10 foot square will do an R44. Avoid loose gravelly surfaces as they carry the risk of FOD - I had a tail rotor holed by a lump of gravel and can bear witness to this. You will also need a well drained path up to your helipad to stop your shoes getting wet in the rain and messing up your upholstery.

Put a PCL system in also so you can use it at night (bestwindsocks.com
do a nice inexpensive one - they also do nice windsocks).

PM me if you would like more info.

Good luck con los constructiones,

SB, (Helipad designer to the stars)

[John Eacott]

Concrete? Timber? Gravel?

What ever happened to landing on grass: much easier, and nicer to look at ;)

[muffin]

Grass is OK to land on, but when you put the wheels on to push it into the hangar, you sink up to the axles in mud when it's wet. I started off with a large square sheet of plywood that came off the box side of an old lorry. When that eventually got green and slippery, I replaced it with a concrete square about 3 metres across which works fine.

[John Eacott]

Grass is OK to land on, but when you put the wheels on to push it into the hangar, you sink up to the axles in mud when it's wet.

If you want to hangar it, then land on a trolley/platform (which can be on rails) and tow the lot into the shed. And surround the rails with grass :p

[scooter boy]

Muffin - I agree with your sentiments about grass.
Whether grass is a problem really depends on your latitude.
My shoes get squelchy (technical term) and socks get wet even wealking across 10m of grass here in waterlogged Cornwall.
I am sure Ibiza and Australia are far dryer but still have their damp moments.

Concrete every time for me I'm afraid (and even that is wet today)

SB

[Bravo73]

Here's the response to a very similar(!) request back in 2003:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100520

:ok:

[Hughes500]

Scooterboy

Quite a lot of concrete there !
Normal rule of thumb
4inches for cars
6 inches for lorries
9 inches for solid wheel vehicles eg fork lift trucks

A good foundation, a layer of sand and 4 inches is fine. Whatever you do do not power flaot the concrete if it is outside - becomes a skating rink when wet !

[gyrotyro]

I have used "Perfo" panels which are rolled into the ground after which the grass re-grows back through the hoes in the panel giving the impression of a lawn but with enough rigidity to tow the machine either by hand or a ride on lawn mower.

You can divide the panels so that they are skid width with a space between which doubles the size if you see what I mean.

The distributor is here:http://www.s2taviation.com/nweald.htm

They are cheaper than concrete and you can take them with you if you move house !

[davidarguedas]

Check this link:
http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/000/400/451/5390-2a.pdf