A thought for Easter....

[Geoffersincornwall]

Wandering around in the shower this morning I was reminded of those days when we were blessed with night offshore landings in the pouring rain. It struck me that I could not think of one helicopter I had flown offshore that had windscreen wipers that cleared the bit you looked through whilst conducting the perilous manoeuvre of landing on a small and horrible lump of steel in some offshore part of the globe.

Would I be right in suggesting that no such machine exists? If so aren't the certificating authorities missing a bit of a trick here? Imagine the fuss if a 747 Captain could see his landing area clearly. There we go, second class citizens again.

Excuse me whilst I climb down from my soapbox.

Happy Easter

G.

[2papabravo]

Aaaah but Geoff, that's why we get paid the big bucks...

Oh wait a minute...

[Brilliant Stuff]

And then throw in a scratched screen to add to the drama.....

Only now I am told the pad lights are fit for purpose.....

[Flying Bull]

Hey, dont whimp around, ;-)
just open the slidewindow on your door, Kick in a little of pedal and you have a more or less clear view and a littlte bit of refreshment, a free shower ;-)
May be your boss will spend some money on microshield for the windows, as long as you keep the speed up, everything will be fine.
Happy Easter

[Savoia]

.....

[Hughes500]

Geoff
That's too much information you being in the shower. Seem to remember that mil 341's had wipers on them, not offshore I know but

[sycamore]

You mean to say that water wasn`t already dripping down your back/neck,etc ,especially anything made by Sik/Westland...

[Matari]

Geoff,

The Bell 212 had wipers, but perhaps you mean wipers for the chin bubbles since that's what you are looking through trying to make it down to the pad?

[Um... lifting...]

Now Geoff, that's simply not fair.

In older versions of the AW139, the toy windscreen wipers clear precisely the bit of windscreen between the pilot and that patch of sky that the fixed landing lights illuminate, which is the same bit where one often finds the tip-path plane up front.

And you can't say fairer than that.

[212man]

Geoff, the S-92 doesn't have that problem, as - until recently - you couldn't use them in flight. The maximum airspeed for use was 40 kts! Some operators would have been able to use them on the deck either! The new ones can be used up to 100 kts, though the retrofit is $16,000 per aircraft, so there are still plenty out there with the restriction. I recently flew with a new pilot, just joined from the North Sea, and when I asked him to turn on the wipers, he couldn't find the switch. He's never ever used them. That said - yes the deck was outside of the swept area........

[Geoffersincornwall]

Outside the swept area .... and .....

If you were driving any model S76 you were invariably looking through that bit of the windshield with maximum (serious) distortion making night arrivals a voyage of discovery that kept the nerves jangling all the while.

Yes SYCAMORE, you are right, most helicopters of that vintage had a habit of leaking like a colander. Happy days.

By the way, had my first teaching session in the new 139 sim last night and the visuals are STUNNING. Night offshore ops was so realistic it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. For the first time I reckon we will be able to teach deck landing - day AND night. Brilliant stuff at last. Book your line checks here.

G.

[[email protected]]

And even the cheapest modern car has intermittent wash/wipe and a quick demist function that does both the windscreen and the side windows - second class citizens indeed.

212 man - are you seriously telling me that the much vaunted 150 kt SAR helicopter can't use the wipers above 100 kts??

[Savoia]

By the way, had my first teaching session in the new 139 sim last night ..

Just so that I understand; does this very latest piece of kit require that in oder to practice night flying .. one must enter the sim at night!

[Geoffersincornwall]

Sav

........ is there another way?

G.


PS. Matari - we need to have a chat about your offshore landing technique.

[212man]

Crab, yes I am though above that they clear pretty well through airflow and, to be honest, one doesn't normally use wipers in the cruise anyway.

[Hughes500]

Crab

You are being silly again, we all know that aviation is the pinnacle of engineering compared to automotive engineering. Hang on I 'll be back in a minute just have to put another litre of oil in the 300 engine as we have flown 4 hours today

[[email protected]]

212man - even at 120 kts I still need the wipers on in rain, especially on NVG

[212man]

Crab, with rainex applied there's no practical problem with water obscuration at 120 kts.

[sycamore]

Crab,how do you manage to maintain 120kts with the gear dangling..
all that extra fuel flow,...what about the environment..? as a taxpayer,Ithink you are just wasting precious resources....

[topendtorque]

Thanks you mob, enjoyed that especially teh bit about having to load up at night.

Maybe you're a madder lot than us,except for Crab, I think he's there already, but here's something a little mad - and different - to contend with. Looks like it's time we all started carrying shotguns again. Just imagine looking out the window and seeing one of these little suckers sitting there like a beady eyed bloody owl in a tree top.