That type of Human External Cargo (HEC) ops are used by various SAR operators around the world. That is especially true in territories where utility aircraft that are normally used for placing structures or equipment inch-perfect in wild or mountainous country are also used during SAR operations. It can be used to insert rescue personnel to an accident location. In at least one territory, air ambulances maintain the capability to insert a paramedic to the accident locations, where the aircraft cannot land, using this method.

However, at a number of ICAR Air Commission meetings, HEC accidents have been far too prominent a part of the proceedings. Engine failure, collision with obstruction, inadvertent IMC, and attachment mistakes all played their part.

Hoist is way easier to assure safety than heslo hec.

In case of OEI or a strong downdrought, a briefed flyaway height is the helicopter crew safety whilst the hoist operator has the call of either cut or flyaway&raise hoist, deciding for the safest option for the crew on the line. Nothing left to chance.

When possible due to lower weight or steady headwind, a “safe oei” callout is a blessing, no need to do a flyaway, just make it safe for everybody and go when possible.

Ensuring the Bubble Door latches are in very good condition properly adjusted and engaged is important.

Some surplus UH-1's that had gone forestry logging and had large bubble windows installed on the Left side of the aircraft could prove a nuisance otherwise.

The airframes did some interesting warping and shape shifting activities and it was not unusual at all for the door to pop open if you had any significant forward speed and really liked to stay open until you slowed right down.

That amount of force that could generated by the bubble shape is pretty impressive and offers one a remedial course in aerodynamics and the way lift is generated in curved wing like surfaces.

That might be more of a concern than any sort of flutter causing wake turbulence in my way of thinking about it. The Huey door is pretty big and when it stuck out at about a 45 degree angle....and not wanting to come back in...gets your attention.

Ours all have the bubble doors, and we have additional latches the are manually locked…… they break off if you open the door without unlocking them——-ask me how I know…..:bored:

There is a big hole in the bottom of the bubble to try and alleviate some of the airflow issues. The hole has a “plug” which you remove when you fly—-it is fun to put the plug in while flying and watch the attitude and subsequent speed changes when installed.

We also have the “logging seat” installed. The seat is on rails, when coming to a hover and you transition to vertical reference, one taps a “paddle” with your left elbow and lean the seat—-the whole seat rotates to the left about 30-45 degrees allowing you to keep your back in the seat. Takes a tad getting used to. I can take pictures tomorrow ifen anyone is interested.

Sometime in May`65,I was on a detached `Flight` of 225 Sqdn in NW Sarawak,1 Whirlwind,2 pilots,and about 7 g/crew,operating out of a village football field.The resident Army in the locality may have been the Argylls,or 42 Cmdo. A`runner` appeared with a message to `Scramble`,to go to an LZ(R123) and pick-up 4 SAS troopers who were`on the run`,believing they had been `compromised` by either Indonesian troops or by locals who would report to the Indos,as they were well over the Border..We had dropped the guys off in that LZ,a week before,and a usual patrol was about 10-14 days,so something was really amiss.
We loaded up,put in some more fuel,and I being the `JP` was in the back as `loady,winch-op,etc.We carried a couple of SAR rescue strops,for winching,and also a couple of rolls of `abseil tapes`, 250-300Ft long,3-4 inch wide,fabric tapes used at that time for `abseiling`,or as tape to secure fuel barrels in the aircraft.The LZ was part way up a mountain ,but was big enough to manoeuvre in,and if the troops were there it would be judged `secure`; if they weren`t,then it was a` no-go`.

All SAS patrols carried a Sarbe` beacon,and so after we had got around the mountain(which went up to 5000ft),Dick S got a signal on the homing indicator,but it didn`t line up as we approached the LZ,so we carried on until we were orbiting over/around an area about 3/4 of a mile further on,over primary jungle.Dilemma..if we hung around ,it would attract attention,from those chasing,it would take the patrol an hour at least to get to the LZ,and there maybe a `reception party ` there.Now,I dont recall if the Sarbe had a `voice` channel at that time,whether Dick used it,or not,but,we flew away,and then `homed back -in,just over the tree-tops,scaring sleeping fruit bats,and maybe an `orang-utan `or two in the process,until we came across a slightly more open area,and there was a red scarf being waved ,and 4 happy faces..!There was no way we could winch them out as we were still 200ft+agl,so we`d use the tapes,with the strops and a couple of sandbags as ballast,attached to the aircraft.
I launched them over the side and tried to get the strops clear of any swirling branches and onto the ground.
This then created a problem as 4 troops tried to get into 2 strops,but eventually,by much waving of arms,shaking of head,they began to get the message that we could only take 2 at a time ,and come back for the other 2.Eventually , we lifted the first 2 out and above the trees,and set off for a beach about 3 miles away,I misjudged our height a bit as one trooper went into the top of a tree sending it all spinning and he lost his Armalite into the forest,so we dropped them on the beach,recovered the tapes and strops,and went back,as the last pair had the Sarbe,found them,same procedure,back to the beach,a little higher this time,recovered the other 2,kit on board,and then set off for base.The trooper who had lost his gun was very pi$$ed off,as he thought he`d get CtMartial``ed,but we said to tell his Boss(P de la Billiere)that it was the Air Force` fault,not the trooper..nothing more was heard..We also explained how to fit strops properly,and to pass it on to the `others`...
This was not the first time the `long-line abseil tapes` had been used as there had been another one earlier in the year,lifting Sgt Ed Lillico out`..can be read in `Borneo Boys`,by Roger Annett...
and it wouldn`t be the last either..part2 another day...

The other pilot was Dick Symonds,a great guy,even used to go out with the troops on a `patrol` with his trusty SLR,;sadly died in the Wessex mid-air at Odiham.

Great dit Sycamore, thanks a lot.

I've done fast roping from Wessex, Lynx and Dauphin in my time and the safety of the guys on the rope is very much uppermost in your mind.

In the Lynx we would have 2 or 4 ropes out at once and one of the drills was a flyaway following a simulated engine failure - this got the troops on the ropes to 'lock off' so they didn't keep going down the rope until they fell off. Flying with 4 guys underneath focusses the mind regarding height and speed!

Fast roping is still one of the best ways of air assaulting a building - and great fun (for the pilots).

As others have mentioned earlier, winching is a variation on a theme and you would brief your actions in the event of an engine failure so the winch operator could make the decision to cut the cable (if the winchman/cas were close to the ground) or winch in at max rate to try and get them safe during the flyaway.

I thought doing HEC for a TV show was poor TEM, especially given the terrain and confined area they were deploying from. It's one thing to do it to save lives (as in the Alps) but for simple entertainment???

They may have used a twin but, as has been discussed on these pages before, there's far more that can go wrong with a helicopter than just an engine failure and in pretty much every case, the people underneath are toast.

Rocks For Bogner: Try a BAS scientist hanging to a winch strop from a Wasp in the hover close to a cliff face on a SA island. It's amazing how quickly they forget the briefing about weight limits as larger chunks of the cliff drop into a stout canvas bag.

Another tale of the `Tapes`.
At this point it may be useful for you to `google` Wiki`Operation Claret`,,and then scroll to the bottom, `External links`,Capt John Masters RNZA MC`,to give the back-ground to our operation, on 4Sept `65.
We had 2 Whirlwinds,4 pilots,, at the 2/2 Gurkha HQ in Lundu,W Sarawak in support of `OP Hell-Fire`,an op.that had been running for about 8 days across the Border. with ambushes,fire-fights,and the troops were withdrawing back from where they had started,but there were unclear `whispers` about 2 troops missing/injured,and that we may be required for a`casevac.``We` decided that we would send 1 helo,plus 2 pilots and myself ,when as a J-P(again!) as loady/winchy,leaving one aircraft plus one J-JP,at HQ as a reserve,in case we went u/s,etc.So we loaded up the SAR strops,few sandbags,a `Neil-Robertson` stretcher,fuelled-up ,ready to go..It was mid-afternoon,and clouds were building,when the Colonel appeared,complete with rifle,ammo,and `light-kit`,and `said` `,Go to Kandai`,so off we went,no further explanation,as he wasn`t on i/com.Kandai was an old LZ, that was used in support of the troops,with a 105mm pack-howitzer,and heavy mortars,brought in by Belvedere..When we arrived ,he told us that the troops had a badly wounded CSM,troops were cutting a clearing,for us to p/up the wounded and get him to hospital.He(Col.) was going to get the latest from the Signals/iNT,and `authorisation` to cross the Border for the pick-up,when the troops had a clearing sorted..So,we then considered what we would do/how we`d do `it`,whatever `it` would be..It was now late afternoon,,total cloud cover,and light rain...We knew the troops had an SAS trooper and a `Sarbe`,and that it `usually` worked,I had attached the stretcher to the tapes(2),and the aircraft with lots of knots ,,and Mick and John(pilots) had briefed the `man`i/c the LZ ,to set out lamps,and flares when /if we returned.! Suddenly the Colonel ran over,told us the clearing was done and the Sarbe was working...How far is it/direction.???...West,about ` X`k yards...?Okay,let`s go..and then he jumped on board ,hadn`t thought he was coming,as we started up,took off,turned the `homer` on`,and noted that it was now raining,the horizon,barely visible,and occasional lightning.flashes up ahead.We had climbed to about 5-600ft above `tree-top level`,and flew probably around 60 kts,to minimise noise,and then got the Sarbe `beep` and a vague heading.It was now `dark`,but the lightning helped,but the rain didn`t,The homer signal improved,so we slowly descended until we were about 100ft above the trees,and then a few`pinpricks` of lights became visible,agreeing with the homer indications..We`d arrived,but sadly ,this was not a clearing that was big enough to land in,or even get low enough to winch into ,as we crept lower and lower,until we were about level wIth the treetops,being blown about by the downwash;they blow outwards when you go down ,then close up over you..just like the `pitcher plant`..No lower,this height is okay,..as far as I can see..So,plan..B,..C? The Colonel is looking over my shoulder,so with the agreement from Mick,I send the NR stretcher down into a `black-hole` surrounded by a few torch lights.It doesn`t get tangled in the branches and reaches the ground with some `slack` on the remaining tapes,but not a lot.. now we wait,hovering in pouring rain,and a bit of a headwind,whilst the troops sort out the patient and stretcher.It was actually SSgt Smith,the SAS man who actually sorted it correctly.At this point I said `Put the landing lights on`..and on they came,pointing straight down ,illuminating those on the ground,and the surrounding tree-tops...they were close,all around,Then the Colonel unfastens himself from his monkey harness,and goes to get onto the abseil tapes,to go down to the ground...!!!fffs.I yell at him that he is `Not going down...using a lot of Anglo-Saxon vocabulary,and `eyeball to eyeball`.I doubt he had ever had anyone,let alone a JUNIOR RAF orficer tell him to` FO`...
Anyway,waving arms from the `floor-show` indicated they were done,so it was now a case of `up-gently`,and it had stopped raining.We missed all the branches ,and with the landing lights still on,established a climb until there was a clearish shadow of the stretcher against the trees,up to about 600ft,then turned and flew back towards Kandai at about 30-40 kts.Probably another 10 minutes ,we avoided the hill near the LZ,put the stretcher on the ground,hauled in the tapes,the Colonel jumped out,and another medic checked the patient,put him into the aircraft,picked up the Colonel,to whom I apologised later,We now needed fuel so full speed back to base to hot refuel,another medic checked the patient ,change of pilots,medic comes along,then off to Kuching hospital....
Later,next day or so the Colonel apologised,as he had not considered he could have got jammed in the wet tapes,or slipped 200ft to the ground,and become another casualty.
The wounded Gurkha CSM recovered,but later retired,went back to Nepal,got married and had children,so still some`lead in his pencil`..
The Colonel got a `no tea or biscuits` with the Brigadier, as he`d taken it upon himself to `authorise` the rescue,;Mick got a `carpet-shuffle` from OC 225 Sqdn,as he`d not been told,until after the event,and I think I went on 2 weeks leave,or into Changi Hospital to have my varicose veins removed...

John Masters received an `immediate `MC`,which to my mind should have been a VC...

Sycamore, that is one hell of a story.

Bravo Zulu!

The induced 'half crown, sixpence' effect is gradually wearing off ! :eek:
:D :D:D to ALL involved !

sycamore,

​​​​​​​The link is not working. Could you expand?

I42,sent by e-mail,as it`s rather long...

Of course he had “lead in his pencil” All of you guy’s have “balls of steel” with those type of Ops, respect to all of you!

When it all goes wrong.

is that the gotcha of not putting a knot on the end of the abseil rope ?

H500,..YES,but it does make yr eyes water if you hit the knot at speed.
Think that one wasn`t on the deck either..

NOMOREHELOS; if you`ve read the full story,we wouldn`t have been able to do our `small bit`,if it wasn`t for the fortitude and courage of JM...

Lloyd helicopters (Adelaide base) used static line pickups (for training) of South Australian Police (STAR GROUP) from deep water a few hundred metres from the beach back to the beach. Done in a B206L1 (C28 with water meth and all the rescue / ems gear- upgraded to a C30) in the 1980s til replaced with a 412 in 1990 ish. Plenty of rappelling trading done too. I’ll dig out a pic of that
VH-BJX

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....bb6bb1807a.jpg
After much hunting about I finally found the only pic I took of 2 of the 4 SAS troops sitting astride the rescue strops referred to in #25.. Not of good quality ,but I was hanging outside at the time..Direction of travel is right to left.