Wires - strikes, cutters and detectors

[The Nr Fairy]

See this piccie of G-BXKL.

[Aesir]

Here´s another 206 with WSPS.

[H1HU]

Here's G-UH1H

[paul 2007]

Wire Strike Fittings / explanation

You should find some interesting INFO about wire strike equipment here

http://www.crescentair.com/spares/wskits.htm

Interesting article
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/galkie/wire.html

good animation / explanation
http://www.aero-access.com/images/aa...irestrike.html

NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISMENT FOR ANY COMPANIES THAT MAY BE SHOWN

[widgeon]

Bristol used to have a video that showed some testing ,
Has much happened with wire detection systems ? . some years ago there were several that were coming on the market

[Civis]

Thanks for the help folks

Just what I needed, much appreciated.

[remote hook]

I'd pay to see a photo of one in action....

RH

[bladewashout]

Flying under wires

Is it just me that would be nervous about the wires in this landing? The camera may be misleading but it looks like he goes right under them just before touchdown!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ9IRJ6epko

BW

[Stringfellow Dork]

I think they're just floodlights - not wire-poles (i.e. there are no wires strung between them)...

[2nd2none]

Wire Cutters

Can anyone give me some information about helicopter wire cutters. Not products but research, how do they work and how effective they are?

Thanks awfully.

[Rich Lee]

You can find information at this website:

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/...s_20050055.pdf

This from a WSPS manual:

The capability of the WSPSâ to protect against
damage due to a wire strike has been
demonstrated by Bristol Aerospace Limited
through extensive ground tests using a truck–
mounted helicopter fuselage and various wires
and cables, including a single span 10M (10,000
lbs. minimum breaking strength) cable and a
combination of a 10M and a polyethylene shielded
communications cable (100 pair, 24 gauge
insulated copper wire). These tests were
conducted at various speeds up to 60 miles per
hour.
The effectiveness of the WSPSâ to protect
helicopters against wire strike damage involving
wires and cables commonly used in the North
American rural environment was verified by the
U.S. Army through pendulum–swing tests
conducted at the NASA Impact Dynamic Test
Facility at Langley, Virginia. Tests against a
single span of an 11,000 lb. minimum breaking
strength steel cable were conducted using the
OH–58A, UH–1, OH–6A, AH–1S, UH–60, and
AH–64 helicopters. Swing tests against multiple
spans of electrical and communications cables
with combined strength in excess of 23,000 lbs
were conducted using the OH–58A helicopter.
These tests were conducted with the helicopter in
a horizontal position at time of cable impact. The
test results for the OH–58A are presented in U.S.
Army Applied technology laboratory report No.
USAAVRADCOM–TM–80–D–7, entitled
“Investigation of Helicopter Wire Strike Protection
Concepts”, dated June 1980.
The effectiveness of the WSPSâ to protect
helicopters against wire strikes involving wires
commonly used in the European rural
environment was verified by Aerospatiale
helicopter division through ground wire strike tests
conducted at the French Army CEV/Istres test
facility. A truck–mounted, WSPSâ equipped
Gazelle helicopter was driven into three spans of
Aster 147 electrical cables (.625” diameter, 19
strand aluminum electrical conductor) with
combined tensile strength of 32,100 lbs. The test
results are documented in Aerospatiale report
341A.06.2479.JdG, dated 1 October 1986.
Flight tests are conducted to determine the effect
on aircraft handling characteristics and radio
disturbances, etc., by various military and civilian
authorities on WSPSâ equipped helicopters for
the purpose of product certification. No in–flight
wire strike tests to verify the system capability
have been conducted.

[toolguy]

wire strike gear

Has anyone, or does anyone know of a crew, that survived a wire strike with the cutter gear working as advertised?

[Matthew Parsons]

Yes, there was a Bell 412 involved in a wirestrike a few weeks ago. It was a small power line, about 1/2" diameter. No visible damage to the aircraft.

[212bushman]

Toolguy,another incident occured some 20 years ago by a Aussie UH IH. I heard it was seen by a Victorian farmer hitting & cutting 2 wires. This made the frame pitch up initially,& then down as each cutter did it's job.
The a/c landed & upon insp ,could only find a dent/ding on the underside of one blade.

[waspy77]

Laser Wire Detection System

Follow the link below to an article about Selex s LOAM laser based wire detection system

http://213.152.249.18/Rotorhub/Defau...e-f160de36f083

[Crashking]

lightning arrestor cables

Originally Posted by blave

most of you have probably heard of this, but there's a system available (or at least under development?) that detects wires based on their emissions. Of course this means that the wires need to be live to be detected, but it might reduce the occurence of strikes.
I wonder if the system would fit in an S300C?
http://www.safeflight.com/products/powerline.html
Dave Blevins

Good idea and good point. I'm just a private pilot and not a pro like you guys, but the single most important piece of info I know about wirestrikes is very rarely publicized, so I'll put it here. On all sizable cross-country power lines (pylons can be of any type) there is, in addition to the supported conductors, a grounded lightning arrestor cable. Its purpose is to act as a lightning rod and to carry strikes to earth first thru the pylon itself rather than have the lightning travel the conductors and mess with the powerlines. To do this it has to be a bit higher than the rest of the structure. The LAC is typically much thinner and harder to see than the conductors, and it is stretched more tightly from pylon-top to pylon-top. Look for them the next time you see a big power pylon, a long thin wire from the top of the pylon to the next ones. Many a pilot has flown over the "sag" in the cables only to meet the LAC many feet above it. I reflexively look for them and am astounded at many of them there are and how hard they are to see. And since they normally carry no current, they wouldn't register on an emission-detecting wire avoidance system. But they're there, a fact well known to the power companies. And now YOU.

[vortexstate]

Helicopter hits Power Line

Attended a job with a power authority the other day whereas we filmed a set of 11,000 volt power lines that had to be re-erected after a R44 collected them. Seems several weeks ago, the R44 was flying low along the river and hit the lines only to fuse them together and they broke.
The R44 didn't crash, I don't know how, but kept going along it's merry way. The wires came down between two tents at a camp site luckily missing everyone. One of the unhappy campers rang CASA and informed them of the situation.
I bet the pilot went straight out and got a lottery ticket after emptying his pants.

[maxeemum]

Just interested as to where the lines are (location of incident) as there is a chap that lives in my area that owns his own R44?

Thanks,

Max

[BlenderPilot]

We just had an Airbus A320 clip a whole set of 120K volt powerlines during approach to MMZC, one set of wires broke against the nose gear and engines and the other slid all the way back to the vertical stabilizer and snapped.

Now that is a new one.

Mexicana A319 hit power lines during approach
Air Transport Intelligence news
Rainer Uphoff
Tue, 10 Oct 06 08:24:16 GMT

Mexicana has admitted that one of its Airbus A319s was involved in a landing incident during which the twin-jet struck power lines on final approach to Zacatecas Airport in central Mexico.

The crew of the aircraft, a three-year old example bearing the registration N882MX, immediately aborted the approach.

A spokeswoman for the airline confirms the details of the 24 September incident and adds that the crew opted to proceed to Guadalajara, rather than attempt another landing at Zacatecas.

Guadalajara Airport, she says, was chosen "because of the better airport and maintenance infrastructure available". It is unclear whether the CFM International CFM56-powered jet suffered any damage.

[MPT]

G'day Maxeee,

There's a report of a R44 II hitting wires 41nm NW of Bowral and sustaining damage to both MR blades. That sound like the one?

Betcha the wires that the plane hit resurface with markers attached and I betcha the ones the Robbie hit don't!!! They even mark wires for cranes up here, but not helicopters, oh no........

Cheers,

MPT