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HeliOps 2020 Calendar Giveaway - Updated

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HeliOps 2020 Calendar Giveaway - Updated

Old 24th Oct 2019, 16:01
  #21 (permalink)  

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One of the more memorable jobs I found myself directly involved with was getting a helicopter with a proven maximum offshore operating range of only about 165nm, to a bulk carrier vessel sailing some 220nm offshore, via a refuel of a few precious gallons of emergency drum-stock fuel borrowed from a previously uncharted offshore drilling rig. We successfully rescued a severely injured sailor to hospital and almost certainly saved his life.
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Old 24th Oct 2019, 16:44
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Early in my career I had one of my worst memories flying, was doing a post maintenance test on a Robinson R22 Mariner (fixed floats) The task was to carry out an autorotation at Vy (53kts) at minimum weight. This procedure is to ensure the pitch links are correctly adjusted so the MR-rpm don't drop too much in a engine-out scenario with all the mess that bring along!! I remember setting up for the auto, lowering the collective full down and rolling off the throttle, splitting the needles.. The RRPM started to drop instantly, the horn sounded and the RPM continued to drop past the value on my papers, so I started to recover by rolling on the throttle full open and helping the engine by flaring, although relatively high at that time, the focus was to get the RPM recovered. I managed to do so, but only a few feet over the runway.
Due to the floats, the Mariner has quite a different feel in auto as the floats makes a lot of drag and apparently therefore the pitch-links need to be adjusted from a standard model. This was rigged as a standard by a mistake. I had a very convincing chat with the company's director of maintenance, and he assured me that the mechanics would correct the rigging and I should go try again!
Understandably, I wasn't all too happy about that though.
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Old 24th Oct 2019, 20:24
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Being Rescued by a S61 from sea.
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Old 26th Oct 2019, 07:19
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" Question - One thing I have noticed in Rotorheads is the diversity of what members here do. So take a minute to post here one of the most memorable things you have done while flying helicopters - good, bad or strange and explain why it left such a memory with you. "

When Pan Am was still alive and well in the previous century I flew on their service from Newark I think to JFK. First flight ever and I did not know what to focus on: the inside of an helicopter or the outside view. Plus it was my firs time with rear-ward facing seats. I don't remember if we took off from a spot or a runway. Unfortunately pics are printed and misplaced.
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Old 26th Oct 2019, 10:32
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Loved this year's calendar, so I'd like a shot at the 2020 one, so here goes...

I was asked by a friend to help ferry a new purchase of his over from Weston Airport near Dublin, to Suffolk, near Ipswich. We set off in one of his other helis, calling via Liverpool for fuel and to don survival suits for the Irish Sea hop. However weather grounded us in Liverpool, so we had to book rooms overnight hoping for fairer weather next day. It didn't clear, but a fellow aviator in a 6-seat Piper something was about to hop across to Weston, so we hitched a ride with him all the way in cloud, with icing and imbalanced propeller being a lasting memory of the flight, which caused some clenched buttocks until we were safely on Irish soil, having left the original heli parked at Liverpool. We flew the new acquisition back, routing over the city of Dublin, East to Anglesey, into Liverpool, to split and each ferry a heli home.

Maybe he's braver, maybe he has better eyesight than me, managing to fly straight home, but I just couldn't see my way through the N-S line of murk across the country, keeping me from further Eastwards progress, as I picked my way SE, until I could go no further, and had to put down at Shobdon for the night, accepting a kind offer of a bed for the night from a benevolent B&B part-time local pilot (sadly now deceased). It was the coldest night of the Winter, -8 if I remember, so clearing the ice off the blades and even getting the engine started next day was a slow and difficult procedure, helped by kind advice from a highly experienced heli pilot who was associated with Tiger Helicopters (sadly also deceased as well now). The final leg from Shobdon to Suffolk was uneventful, but memorably beautiful for all the frost, and snow sprinkled over the Malverns in the bright Winter sun, as I continued Eastwards across England's beautiful countryside.

What was meant to be a (long) day trip turned out to be about a 48hour marathon due to weather, but also one of the most memorable trips, for the sheer joy of VFR flight in a heli, avoiding weather and taking time to marvel at the beauty of what we fly over, yet seldom fully appreciate.
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Old 27th Oct 2019, 07:53
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One experience for some reason really stuck with me for some reason although totally insignificant. It was before I started flying myself but I think it's maybe worth sharing. We were doing external load construction work with a 205 when two local politicians and a camera guy asked to come on board to get some footage for local news on a short transistion hop to another site. I will never forget the image of them sitting in the troop seats wearing suits but no headsets. Their faces when the awesome roar of the huey came to life where priceless. However, they quickly arranged with the unexpected situation and enganged in a very serious looking fake conversation making all kinds of professional gestures. Apparently in the end they were all very happy with the footage they got.

Thank you, Ned!
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Old 27th Oct 2019, 20:32
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Ned, as always a massive thank you for your annual calendar giveaway.

My most memorable flight was a simple transfer flight. But as a low time PPLer, getting a JetRanger under your pants is definitely worth a note.
As I got the chance to make this short transfer, I couldn't deny it. Except the startup of the engine, my FI let me do everything from take off (off from a soccer field on a german citie's outskirts) to touchdown some 50 minutes later, including one auto with power recovery somewhere in open country.
As I had to return to the departure location, a friend was waiting at the destination airfield with his Piper to take me back. And the 206 had to make a small hop over to it's hangar.
So in the end, I left the Bell with it's rotors running at flight idle (while the FI switched seats), took a snapshot of it in front of the sunset, ran over to the waiting Piper of my friend, and was flown back to the origin where we touched down just about end of daylight.

Thracian
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Old 30th Oct 2019, 01:40
  #28 (permalink)  
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Still got 80 or so calendars left of the bunch I allocate to PPrune every year - but seems takers are getting less and less

The first batch were delivered to the office today and heading out in the mail tomorrow. Second and last batch will go out end of next week as am off overseas for a couple of weeks so if you want to grab one of the 2020 editions then post away and send me the snail mail info.

Cheers

Ned
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Old 30th Oct 2019, 06:12
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Ned

Don't meet your criteria but must say I admire the work you do and the quality of the images you produce for people to drool over.
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Old 30th Oct 2019, 14:41
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Hi, Ned.

Most memorable flight was simply the first one hone with my new (err well 1965) Bell-47 G3B1 after a year or two of R44 stuff, I did the 5 hours required etc. and flew it hone - some 45 minutes flight, no GPS, Headwind, and landing in the back garden for the first time. All while fixated on the RPM gauge and forever twisting the throttle.... Hovering over the garden, it soon became a game of "if I don't land in the next hour - i will have to as we will run out of fuel....

Cheers

Kev.
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Old 1st Nov 2019, 15:04
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Ned,

Most memorable for me, landing single engine, with other shut-down on ship at sea.

Hugs all round after that one.

Makes you look at things a bit diferently afterwards.

Rugz
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Old 2nd Nov 2019, 06:11
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Well retired now, but I think the most memorable flight that sticks in my memory was also a ferry flight.
An R22 picked up from the factory in LA to ferry to Dallas TX. I had an instructor with me and the first thing I recall was the ease of flying past the LA International Airport following a freeway!
But my instructor had some form of hard on for the residents of California, and started blaming all of them because he was not sure of exactly which freeway we were following, despite dropping down low enough to read the road signs!

So, "we need a road map" says he. Landed in a vacant block close to a "gas station" and he sent me to buy a map. What he didn't know was that the operators of the gas station were a couple of Latinos. I can still see the look on their face's when this strange speaking alien from down under arrived out of the sky speaking lord only knows what!

Managed to buy a map and just as I arrived back at the helicopter along comes a police patrol car complete with flashing lights. But no problem; the officer just waved at us and off we went!

Oh to be young again!

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Old 2nd Nov 2019, 10:10
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Hard-pressed to pick out a most memorable. Don't want to relive the scary ones so, have to mention taking peeks at the lovelies through 10X power TSU (Telescopic Sight Unit) on AH-1's on the lakes around Fart Hard, TX mid-80's.
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Old 2nd Nov 2019, 12:15
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One of the strangest things I've done, or I suppose more accurately have seen, while flying helicopters was an EC225 (one of the two that controlled ditched in the North Sea) floating around on the waves near Fair Isle with a strop round its tail and an offshore support vessel doing its damndest to tow it backwards to dry land. It just seemed totally incongruous to see this thing bobbing around on the ocean completely intact. Made me want to rub my eyes cartoon style to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Good - rescuing a dog and his owner from a remote Scottish island where the owner had fallen down a hole and broken his leg. The hound was as chilled out as you like in the back of the aircraft

Thanks again for your annual giveaway, Ned. My kitchen would be bare without the HeliOps calendar
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Old 2nd Nov 2019, 12:28
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Hi Ned,

Certainly one for me whilst conducting my PPL (H) training was training for LTE. Scared me how fast it could go wrong! But also recoverable which scared me a little more having to react so quickly ha!

Many thanks!
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Old 2nd Nov 2019, 15:32
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Originally Posted by helomaint
.... the lakes around Fart Hard, TX mid-80's.
I hope you didn't follow through!
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Old 4th Nov 2019, 00:30
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I think we will have to get you some UK SAR heli porn for next year!

I shall suggest this to the usual suspects.
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Old 4th Nov 2019, 19:19
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Thanks Ned, calendar arrived today. Brilliant!
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Old 4th Nov 2019, 19:37
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Ditto! Top job - top pics. Fast delivery to the UK. Thanks Ned.
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Old 4th Nov 2019, 21:37
  #40 (permalink)  
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Glad you guys like them - am happy with this years edition. Already planning on what to include for next one

Still have some left aside if anyone wants to make their post on the thread and send me their postal.

Cheers

Ned
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