Moving helicopters by Antonov - advice?
 

I'm about to move multiple helicopters at the end of October, by putting them in the hold of an Antonov AN-124. It will be a mixture of Jetrangers and Squirrels. I'd much appreciate any hints and tips from anybody who has done this before.
Cheers
JerryG

Make sure the Antonov crew pay all their bills before they try to take off. Ensure everyone knows that An124's have a problem with throttle control; open up too quickly and it surges; there is no go-around possibility on arrival, when it commences final approach it's commited to landing; on departure it needs between 5 and 10 minutes lined up on the runway to throttle up to takeoff thrust.

The AN-124's cargo cabin is not pressurized. Make sure all of your aircraft vents are clear or fluids are drained. Your Jet Rangers and Squirrels may belch a little at FL 270.:8

Chevron / Carson

You are wrong on all accounts except one (the engines, yes we need four minutes on the runway to get them upto speed)

The cargo hold is pressurised, go arounds are no problem engine surges only known one or two in my 8 years of working with them.

Jerry G if you want a sensible reply send me a PM and I'll put you in touch with people who can talk sense to you..................We move helicopters all over the world all the time from Jetrangers upto Skycranes and CH47's

VEEPS

I stand corrected. The cargo cabin IS pressurized but to a lower level than would be required to support passengers. Passengers ride in an area segregated from the cargo compartment. We used it to transport S-70's in the 1990's. We had no problems but did follow instructions concerning the aircraft fuel and oil breathers and vents.

Hi Jack

No probs :)

yep the cargo deck is at a lower pressure than the upper crewdeck but as you say there are no problems if choppers prepped as required.

Hopefully we can move them for Jerry!!:ok:

VEEPS

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...N/9e57116e.jpg


Loading 3 CH47's

VEEPS

Great pic! I believe that we rolled on 5 S-70's. The only issue we had was some minor runway damage at Rentchler Field while waiting for those big Lotarev D-18T turbofans to spool up. Someone may still have the video.
All the Best
Jack

Which company
 

Zoom

Which company did you have crew problems with and what problems??

VEEPS

Have a good inventory when you load and check it closely when you offload. We lost thousands of $$ worth of equipment the last time we used an Antonov.

Jerry, as Rotor Driver said do an inventory of EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING including numbers of tiedown straps, headsets in a/c,toolkits in a/c, etc, unfortunatley all the Helo moves i've been involved with, with AN124's and Ilyushin 76's , if it wasn't bolted down the crew stole it! Seal everything with telltale tape so you can tell what the crew have ratted thru, ensure fuel vents open, cover but don't block pitot/static system, etc, the 206's will just roll in, just tie down blades flat fore/aft and t/rotor blades the t/r blade will clear the roof even vertical, and take blades off AS350 and thats about it, you can fit 6 Blackhawks in a AN124 with the blades folded and t/r blades horizontal so you can fit a sh##load of 206's and AS350s in one, i've prept S70's, AS332's, CH47's ,UH1's , S76's,and 212's for air freight in the Russian a/c and they are great freighters, built in cranes etc which the US C-5 didn't have, an AN124(cargo deck and bay size almost exactly same size as C-5) we loaded years ago had a photo copy of the C-5 loading manual (stolen fron the USAF) with it which had how to load/tie down just about everything in the NATO inventory, so the crew who had not carried Helicopters before just followed the nice simply American instructions, it was very amusing!!

I know about the surge from experience; first display at Farnborough the left outer surged on takeoff, necessitating an engine change, new engine being flown in by an An22.

You would be easier to carry the bloody thing there.

Much appreciate the advice (and PMs) from all, it's extremely helpful. Don't know who's supplying/operating the Antonov yet as it's all going through my client.

Intend sending two engineers on board the aircraft. They claim they're looking forward to it!

How do you avoid grounding the skids as they go up that ramp on a single pair of wheels?

JerryG

Like this...

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...tch/uh-1n2.jpg


http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...etch/uh-1n.jpg

Building a set of transport skids that replace the actual skids is not that hard....and saves on wear and tear on the skids....lowers the aircraft as well. Put the aircraft on an aluminum pallet and roll the old girls in level to the ramp.

Two ways to load level , have a semi trailer available at each end of the trip and lift on/off the semi with a crane, the helos can then be pushed straight into/out of the cargo hold, or use the onboard crane and simply lift them in!

Watched an Antanov take off this morning from K-AFW. Just at the point of rotation there was a loud but dull pop. As they continued climbing there was no exhaust stream from the right hand outboard engine.

It is now parked back where it was on the ramp this morning.

Anyone know anything? Curious minds would like to know...........?

Are these dutch chinooks in Albania??