Winching in the UK
 

Just a quick question to those of you in 'the know'.
If a small helicopter outfit (one aircraft) were to offer a HEMS service that included a winching capability, what rules would affect the winching? I thought that in the case of a single power unit failure, the helicopter must be capable of recovering the winchman?????
If not, what is the score using a single engined ac?

You'll need a specific permission from you-know-who.

I would be surprised if winching from a single would be allowed.

:=Winching is when you pull along the ground,:D Hoist is vertical , PT 133 D in the states:rolleyes:

The title says "In the UK".

In the UK we have winches on helicopters. We have winch operators and winchmen, too. They go up and down.

JAR OPS 3

JR

From JAR OPS 3 Annex 1 to 3.005(H)
This would seem to be sensible except for the get-out clause - implying that that a single would be OK at a 'HEMS operating site'

Why would a HEMS unit want to winch? First they want to fly at night now they want to winch. Whatever next for the ambulance service?

Don't start that one again:)

:rolleyes:I'm sure B,F Goodrich/Lucas would be happy to outfit your helicopter with a "hoist" doubt they would send you a winch for lifting people.:= The manufacture is who calls the shots,:*

"Winching is when you pull along the ground, "

Try doing SAR in a singled engined helicopter and you may just end up doing that:eek::eek:, if you are lucky:{:{:ooh:

Heads down, look out for the flack.

Clearly Hillberg meant to say "wire stringing", I doubt your CAA would allow such a thing...

Well they do!

people have been wire stringing very successfully in the UK for decades Gordy! Don't let that stop you bashing the CAA though! ;-)

Interesting, I have been saying it cant be done, but jar says it can be at a hems site! Watch this space then.........

UK wording: A 'hoist' is used to 'winch'. (and it goes 'in' and 'out')


Been allowed in principle to winch at HEMS sites for years, with a twin, same as we've been allowed to accept the potential of crashing while manoevering at a HEMS site, if an engine fails (as long as you wear a helmet!)

It's just you need 'a little bit of practice' to swing the wire tensioner and its virtually impossible to get the required decent SSE hover for training, in any light twin.

Hi Bertie, next time you speak to your old mates at Search and Rescue Standards, don't forget to tell them that hillberg wants the British military to change all their SOPs to remove the word "winching".

Might take some time for it to catch on though. It's been going on for so long now, we're just relative newcomers. My intro to SAR helicopters (in 1978) was as a full-time winch weight, over the sea, in a single engined Whirlwind HAR 10, being winched up and down, all day long. My outro was some twenty years later, winching people up and down, over the sea, in a twin.

Is someone from the other side of the Atlantic really trying to argue the finer points of the use of The English Language with us???:E

Yes, there is a whole new world east of the Atlantic. ;)

Bravery of the highest order

Where's that tube of purple hearts (childrens sweets in England for the uninitiated).

Also a shame that, having successfully winched your injured person into you single engine helicopter, you can't then land at most hospital landing pads as you don't meet the performance criteria...