EC135

[MightyGem]

Rocky, Hi. .Thanks for that, but then again so is the US!!. .

[Skycop9]

The police deaprtment that I fly for is looking to add another aircraft to the fleet. We like the characteristics of the EC135 and would appreciate any comments from people who fly them.

Interested in how long it takes for parts to arrive, product support, doc, and any characteristics that you do not like about the aircraft would also be appreciated.

Skycop9

"Never let your education interfere with your learning"

[Thomas coupling]

Skycop9:

We've operated a 135 for 3 years in the police/HEMS role and love it to bits.



If you want to know more, let me know and I'll e-mail you.

[Marco]

In the UK the Police have set up a EC 135 User Group who have a wealth of experience and knowledge operating this aircraft.

[Helinut]

There is no doubt that for the UK Police Role it is the lead new type (closely followed by the MD 902) - just look at the numbers and the number of additional EC 135s to go into Police Service in the UK this year. However the best choice of machine is affected by the rules you have to operate to and the local conditions. For us the UK CAA requirements dictate twins and increasing pressure towards IFR approved - this is not necessarily the case in other more aviation friendly parts. UK police carry a lot of mission kit, pilot + 2 observers (usually) which is a heavy payload so in the UK you need a helicopter that can cope with this.

I fly it and I think it is great for police work - it has its idiosyncracies like any other type.

I too would be happy to give you more detailed thoughts if you like to contact me by email.

The EC 135 User Group is best contacted through N Wales Air Support Unit.

[md 600 driver]

helinut
do you know how many ec135 are flying in uk also how many 902

no axe to grind just wondered

steve

[Skycop9]

Helinut.

I tried to e-mail you but the system will not let me send you e-mail.

What address can I e-mail you at? I can be contacted at the following e-mail address:

[email protected]

Thanks

[Helinut]

Steve,

Just done a quick run through the ones I know of on the Uk register. I believe the numbers are something like this:

Police/EMS/AOC/Private
CURRENT NEW SOON
EC135 7/2+/1/2 4/Some/?/1+
902 4/2/?/? 1?/??/?/?

As you can see my knowledge of the 902s is less complete than 135. Bond have an order book for EMS aircraft but I do not know when delivery is due. I have probably missed some too.

Anybody who wants to know excatly could spend some money with the CAA register.

[widgeon]

http://www.alea.org/pan/pan_feb_02.pdf

See page 14 for tail numbers and hrs for Md900 Uk fleet.

Willl add EC135 figures when I find em.

Acc to Landings database( maybe out of date ) 13 ec135 on UK register 1 reg to Eurocopter and one to Harrods , all other Law or EMS

[Bearintheair]

Just for info there are 10 MD 902s in use by the Emergency Services in UK.
5 are dedicated police units, 2 are joint Police / HEMS units and 3 are dedicated HEMS units. As far as I know there are no firm orders for any more at this stage but possibly 1 police and 2 HEMS units are very keen to purchase.
The biggest problem is the price difference between the 135 and the 902 as they are both good aircraft.

[Vfrpilotpb]

Super Quiet EC135 for Lancashire Police

I read of late that our local Bears in the Air are soon(November) to have a brand new EC 135, based at Warton, described in the local rag as super quiet this will enable the Air born brigade to creep up on all the bad guys, will it be so quiet, and if it is will we no longer hear the blade slap of the old twin Sqirrel, as they make there way across our local ghetto's, will it carry more weight, or go faster, and really does our local Constabulary need to spend £3.5m on a new chariot such as this, when the old(?) Squirrel still has a lot of life left in it! Will this be value for money, or just keeping up with the race to have super dooper kit ?

If our local Chief of police has this sort of spend power, why not offer the old Sqirrel to the Blackpool Air Ambulance, who's sponsorship with the AA ends this month, after all, it is money provided from the public purse.

[ShyTorque]

I think you'll find that an important part of the deal is that the old Squirrel goes in part exchange!

[PANews]

Yes there is plenty of life in the old machine [it is quite a youth when compared with the Chiltern AS355F1 that was sold on May 1] but like all the older generation aircraft it is gasping to carry the role load. In addition it is now also covering Cumbria [shared with North East] so the speed and additional range will make their interventions more meaningful.

Come back in five years and we can probably discuss the delivery of the first police EC145 [or even a Merlin!] .... it is only a matter of time before the EC135 is also gasping to carry the ever increasing load.

As for 'super quiet' ...... we are talking about a helicopter arn't we ...?

[Hoverman]

HAZARD HAZARD HAZARD HAZARD HAZARD HAZARD

Will somebody please warn them that Flying Lawyer's "Police Pilot" client is unfortunately still on the loose, and will probably be paying them a visit when it arrives!!!

[Droopy]

The following are all in the public domain:- it's £2.9m not £3.5m; one third of that comes from the sale of the old aircraft and one third as a grant from the UK Home Office. Of the remainder, half is a saving in reduced scheduled maintenance/warrantied items/relief aircraft rental etc so the force only has to find one sixth of the acquisition cost. All this was thrashed out at the relevant police authority approval for purchase.

It's not really for me to comment on the question of two emergency services aircraft separately funded and based just a few miles apart....

VFR; why not speak to your jolly friendly local air support unit?

[md 600 driver]

droopy
£966,666 for your second hand 355 seems a bit high is that correct the others that have been sold circa £300,000

any way marvelous news hope you all enjoy it and it gives good service keep chasing the twokers and robbers
steve

[Helinut]

md600,

The Lancs machine is a teenage AS355N (relatively speaking); most of the other AS355s being replaced are 355Fs with Zimmer Frames and worth much less on the secondhand market.

[Vfrpilotpb]

Thank you indeed for all your replies, as ever well worth the read, however I do feel that £1.00m seems an awful lot of bread for a well used although still youngish Squirril,

Droopy , I have in the past contacted the ASU at Warton, but seemed to get the "Thanks, but no thanks" sort of reply from them in responce to my questions,... but Merseyside are a much friendlier crew and invited me to visit which I did, along with the West Midlands ASU ( who also have some nice Tie tacks), I live in hope of a vistit to Warton, but despite several phone calls over the past 2 years I am still waiting for any sort of a reply!!

They probably dont like amateur flyers.

[Droopy]

VFR; email me, you'll be surprised what can be done when you speak to the right person.

[RotorHorn]

As someone who's already in the process of organising a trip to Warton, thanks to a certain kind PPRuNer, I'm happy to arrange to include you as well if you like, VFR. ("Its not what you know, etc"...)

Due to holidays etc., it'll be a saturday morning sometime in July.

If anyone else is interested, just email me.

I'll confirm with 'our friend in the know' maximum numbers allowed - and allocate places on a 'first come first served' basis - getting there will be the individuals responsibility.

When's that new 'copter being delivered did you say...

Might also be a good excuse to get a few rotorheads together 'on the lash' in the evening - we could take in the Blackpool sights - like the new "Funny Girls" venue...!!

[edited to suggest a p!ss-up].