Danger Men - UK TV Channel 5
 

For the UK Rotorheads check out Channel 5 TV on Thursday at 9pm.

Shows maintenance of high voltage cables using helios.

For none UK residents try this initial link for one of the many YouTube clips.



The trailer for the programme has got me thinking about attempting to clean the upstairs windows using the old jet wash! :ok:

I saw the trailer for it.

Looks very good.

Amazing flying and some very brave men.....

BW

Couldn't work out whether they were operating under IFR or VFR, then i realised it must be NFR (No effing rules).

Unbelievable flying and excellent work by all involved.
Hope they stay safe.

I'm one of the pilots doing live power line maintenance. I work for Haverfield Corp which has acquired Ag Rotors. We have 15 aircraft performing live line maintenance, inspections, patrol and now construction. Several other operators are also doing similar work. Check out "Like a Bird on a Wire" on Youtube. Watch old Spider draw an arc from the platform. Its amazing you can somehow get used(?) to being bonded to a kazillion volts all of which are busily trying locate the shortest path to the ground.

CareerHeloDrvr,

I saw "Like a Bird on a Wire" many many times on tv and on Utube. You have my utmost respect.

Monk

Careerhelodrvr

Do you know, or are you the Aussie/Kiwi pilot flying the aircraft in the first part of the TV show?

If so could you pm me a name please, I'm pretty sure I know the guy, but can't place whether it's from Work (Army), skydiving or civvy A/C Maint.

Cheers.

What are the wind limits for that kind of work?

I am not sure who that particular pilot was in the video. I know the lineman, he was my guinea pig for my initial external work platform training. Great guy. I have only been with this company for a few years, but there are a few ridiculously high time pilots (and lineman) here who have been doing this for decades. They have my utmost respect.

As to the winds; it depends. There's no defined number to stop operations. It's just a matter of aircraft control, position, and configuration. Wind (and aircraft weight) are always the most limiting factor when performing platform operations.

The pilot in the first part of the show was born in the UK - don't think he is Aussie or Kiwi.

Geordie,

Are you talking about 'Danger Men' (CH5) or 'Bird on the Wire' (iMAX)?

If you're talking about 'DM', the 2 pilots featured were both Limeys. The company involved was AIR2.

HTH



For UK residents with a decent internet connection, you can watch it here:

Demand Five | watch Danger Men, Series 1 - episode 1, Half Million Volt Workers

Two things happened in my mind when I sat riveted to my seat watching those Heli pilots flying so close to that awe inspiring amount of Volts.

No 1 Why when they are not connected to the earth by any means does the Electricity arc into them.... and

No 2 does that happen to a Bird (of any sort) when they land on similar wires?

I would wilingly stand a round of drinks for thoses guys, they have my uttmost respect !!


Peter R-B

Vfr

Sorry, I missed the first few minutes and presumed from his accent he was a kiwi/aussie.

I now know his name, still not sure where I know him from though.

This is probably a daft question but I've seen a few films on this and the heli is most often a 500.

Does anyone know why the 500?

Ta!

Even though they are not connected to the earth, the helicopter and the people in it have a certain electric capacity. It gets charged to the same electric potential when connected to the high voltage line (and discharged, and charged again etc, the line is AC).

The arc is essentially the same thing that you feel when you touch a metal object after getting out of a car, except that the charging is caused by friction in that case.

Birds do get the "same" effect, but their electric capacity is much smaller than that of a helicopter, so there is much less current and less (no) arcing.


Truly a spectacular job. I'm guessing they use the 500 because of it's size. Don't even want to think about what happens if anything goes wrong though...

An very enjoyable programme, and respect to the people who do such work.

What a shame they felt the need to 'jazz it up a bit' with such nonsense as the 3,500 horsepower engine they carried on the skids to power the pressure washer - it looked just like the 3.5HP model I am familiar with, especially when carried easily by just 2 of the crew.

If that little portable engine/pump produced 3,500 horsepower then we're all idiots, and the world's energy problems are miraculously solved at a stroke.

Or maybe he was just confusing PSI with horsepower...

Just writing an AOC manual and will be putting a 500 on. Any advice on how to dress up live line inspection/repair and power washing so those at The CAA so they may give permission? I suppose could do it in the aerial work category, but again how do you fill the form in for Rule 5.1 c encroaching within 5 ft ( not 500) of vehicle vessel structure ?
Not sure my health and safety officer will say and i am not looking forward to his risk assessment !!!

Hughes500,
Not sure if your post is serious...but do you have any experience in what you are proposing to undertake? It's a tad more involved than you might think...!
Would be happy to take a PM to assist you further.

To Fly 7,
You know it's too windy when your lineman looks at you from the skid with that "your f&$#ing kidding me, right?" look in his eyes.

AirWon (one of the two "limeys")

Did anyone else notice the short scene in the programme where there was a close-up of the H500's spinning rotor head - but it was spinning clockwise (viewed from above). In the corner of the shot you can see part of the reg, which shows a reverse letter 'N'.

I wonder how a couple of seconds of mirrored footage came to be edited among the rest of the scenes?

AirWon - thanks for showing up on this thread. And before anyone else says it but now that we've all seen what you do on a daily basis, maximum respect goes out to you. :D:D There's a beer waiting for you here if you ever come back to Blightly. :ok:

Out of interest, how come the two of you are Brits? Or was that just a rostering/manning coincidence?