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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0782.PDF
784 FLIGHT, 15 June 1956 HELICOPTERS IN THE ANTARCTIC . . . The surveyor was, of course, standing quite still on the snow,but the small irregularities in the flight path of the helicopter made him appear to be moving. Later I found the same thinghappening to myself, and it took a good deal of self-discipline to make oneself realize that the person or mark one was aimingto land by was quite solid and still. Nevertheless, we soon devised a good landing technique by throwing out markers beforetouching down. It was now the middle of February and the ship put to seafrom the sheltered harbour of Whalers' Bay in order to extend the area of the survey. We took off from the deck whilst underway and made a successful reconnaissance sortie of the southern part of the South Shetlands. We then landed a survey party byhelicopter on Snow Island in good weather while the ship hove to in the Bransfield Strait, awaiting a V.H.F. request from theparty to be lifted off after completion of their allotted tasks. But again the Antarctic weather caught us out, for a raging storm gotup in the night. The blizzard was so strong that for a day the ship could not make the passage through Neptune's Bellows intoWhalers' Bay. So, with the helicopter securely lashed, the storm had to be ridden out in inadequate shelter of the lee of DeceptionIsland. This blizzard lasted nearly seven days and, when it had blown itself out, the internal workings of the aircraft looked verylike the inside of a refrigerator which had not been defrosted for many months. As soon as the weather cleared, de-icing thehelicopter started and took nearly a day. From now on, whenever the weather permitted, the helicopterperformed a variety of jobs: V.H.F. link, freight transportation, movement of survey beacons, conveying rations to half-frozensurveyors, photographic sorties, ice reconnaissance for the Canso amphibians engaged on the overhead photographic work, andship-to-shore communications. On February 21 we were astonished to receive an unexpectedvisit, in those deserted waters, from another helicopter. It was Bob Smith (chief pilot of Salvesen's) in his S.55. He flew aroundOluf Sven several times and we exchanged greetings. Towards the end of March, as the season was drawing to aclose, it was decided to take the ship even farther south in search of suitable landing areas for the Canso aircraft next season. Thefirst night of this voyage was spent in the shelter of a group called the Melchior Islands. The next night was spent in the GerlacheStrait, surrounded by icebergs and thick fog. During the after- noon we were unable to find the entrance to the Neumayer Channelowing to the fog; but it cleared on the following morning. The next stop was Port Lockroy, where we did some flyingbefore the weather really clamped down, and then we moved farther south to the Argentine Islands, through the very narrow,uncharted, Lemaire Channel, with the ice becoming thicker and larger all the time. The Channel is an awe-inspiring sight, withsheer cliffs on either side some 2,0O0-3,000ft high. As the ship entered the Channel a sudden gust of about 50-60 m.p.h., in themiddle of a flat calm day, lifted one of the rotor-blades off its stanchion and the blade narrowly missed being seriously damaged. We spent a number of days at the Argentine Islands to do somemore helicopter flying, then we went still farther south. The ice- bergs were now gigantic, a quarter- to a half-mile square; and theywere also far more numerous. At last we reached the Martha Strait off Adelie Island. Here we made two sorties with thehelicopter, one photographic and one reconnaissance. It is truly a sight never to be forgotten to fly over hundreds and hundreds oflarge bergs. On the reconnaissance sortie a landing was tried on the mainland, but as we had not previously dropped markers itwas quite impossible owing to the complete white-out experienced. In such a condition the only remedy I know is to wind on thepower and climb away as quickly as possible. It can be overcome, of course, by dropping markers of a known size from a safe height. Unless we wanted to stay all winter surrounded by impenetrableice it was now time to leave. So we returned to Deception Island, flying a number of sorties on the way. Once back there, wedismantled the helicopter, stowed it in the hold, and set course for home. In all, we completed just under 100 sorties, and we learned agreat deal. We did not fly in rain or snow, and consequently no icing was experienced, although a height of 6,500ft was reachedon one occasion when climbing to establish a V.H.F. link. In general, the weather was such that it was either absolutely impos-sible to fly, or else it was little worse than flying in England on a bright winter's day. For ease in starting a heater was used, butoil dilution was not found to be necessary. The available space on the deck of Oluf Sven for landing was 30ft by 60ft and, withthe help of a deck-landing officer, we experienced little difficulty in putting-down even when the ship was under way. The system of control of the helicopter operations was evolvedpartly from naval techniques and partly from reports of various other previous flyers in the Antarctic. Of the two pilots aboard,the one who was not flying acted as controller, and he was in charge of flying. The ship had V.H.F. R/T. fitted on the bridge.When a take-off was required, the pilot of the helicopter would request permission over the R/T. The captain of the ship, whowas always on the bridge while flying was in progress, would be asked to head the vessel so that the wind was from port or star-board bow, and take-off clearance would be given when the head- ing was correct. The controller made sure that the fire equipmentand rescue boat were ready and the pilot then had to have a final clearance from a deck-landing officer, whose responsibility it wasto ensure that the helicopter was free from holding-down shackles and chains, and that the deck was clear. Landing was carried out along similar lines, the deck landingofficer having final say as to whether a landing could be made or not. After a few landings-on whilst the ship was under way thissystem proved to be very efficient and the captain soon knew what was wanted long before the requests were made. When in the air, the helicopter pilot was asked for his position,course and radio compass course (the ship had an M.F. beacon). By this method, the position of the helicopter was known to withina few miles. The voyage was an experience I would not have missed foranything, and we look forward to returning with the expedition when the season re-opens next year. The Antarctic is desolateand inhospitable, but has a grandeur which has to be seen to be believed. Most of the positions at which we landed the groundsurveying parties would have taken days, if not weeks, to reach by other means. Some, guarded by forbidding cliffs of solid ice,would have been completely inaccessible. Time and time again the helicopter proved its inestimable value in performing seem-ingly impossible tasks with ease and speed. • _. • THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS: FURTHER NAMES LAST week we listed some of the names in aviation whichJ appeared in the recently announced Birthday Honours list, and below are given further details covering the M.B.E.s and certain other orders and awards. These are in the civil categories; names of R.A.F. recipients of honours and awards in the military divisions are given on pages 790-791. M.B.E.—G. L. CardweU, chief die designer, drop forge dept., EnglishSteel Forging and Engineering Corporation, Ltd.; W. J. Clapham, engineer II, Directorate of Engineering Production, M.o.S.; W. H.Crossman, cttee. chmn., No. 406 (Willesden) and No. 1906 (Neasden) Sqns., A.T.C.; J. Crowther, chief metallurgist, James Booth and Co.,Ltd.; E. Faraday, chief supply official, N.A.A.F.I., Egypt; T. J. Flint, higher exec, offr., Air Min.; G. S. Grant, air traffic control offr. i/cKirkwall; Capt. I. C. Grant, gen. mgr., Scottish Airlines, Ltd.; O. F. Hamilton, airport mgr., Hongkong; C. W. Johnstone, lately eng. tech. I,R.A.E., Farnborough; J. A. Rowlatt-Jones, chief tech., Martin-Baker Aircraft Co., Ltd.; F. Lee, inspr. of works, R.A.F., Mardesham Heath;E. Linington, chief clerk, Sussex T. and Aux. Forces Association; J. A. F. MacKean, sen. exec, offr., M.T.C.A.; R. E. Manly, air trafficcontrol offr. II, London Airport; R. W. Ferrier-May, sen. exec, offr., M.T.C.A.; A. W. Menzies, process devpt. mgr., Sir W. G. ArmstrongWhitworth Aircraft, Ltd.; C. P. Oakshott, sen. exec, offr., No. 4 M.U., R.A.F. Ruislip; D. R. E. O'Neill, tech. sales mgr., London AluminiumCo., Ltd.; G. S. Palmer, mgr., Titanium Melting Plant, William Jessop and Sons, Ltd.; W/C. W. R. Parkhouse, mg. dir., Exeter Airport. Ltd.(for services to civil aviation); A. Radford, supply inspr., Aeronautical Inspection Service, No. 7 M.U., R.A.F. Quedgeley; J. Rue, sen. exec,offr., Air Min.; R. H. Sears, hon. sec, S.S.A.F.A. New Forest division; S. E. Shorter, higher exec, offr., M.T.C.A.; R. M. Smythe, head occupa- tional therapist, Rehabilitation Unit, R.A.F. Chessington; G. H. Steer,cabin service offr., B.O.A.C.; F. Taylor, sen. exec, offr., M.o.S.; S/L. A. R. Townsend (for services to the Malayan A.T.C., Singapore);C. W. B. Watford, higher exec, offr., Air Min.; R. J. Williams, sen. expmtl. offr., Meteorological Office, Air Min.; Obs. Lt. C. M. Wolsten-holme, group offr., No. 19 Group, R.O.C. Manchester. BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL.—A. C. Boyce, civilian warrant offr.,No. 2185 (Wareham) Sqn., A.T.C.; T. G. Devine, stores supt., No. 61 M.U., R.A.F. Handforth; S. H. Geoghan, stn. warden, R.A.F. Tang-mere; S. Georgiadis, sub-inspector, R.A.F. Police Auxiliary, Fayid; C. H. Humphries, grinder, expmd. dept., Rotol, Ltd.; E. F. Lefort, clubmgr., N.A.A.F.I. Korea; E. P. Mowles, chargehand R. and D. craftsman (painter), R.A.E., Farnborough; R. E. Newman, chief obs., Post 6/11,No. 6 group, R.O.C.; L. I. Pope, R. and D. (spec.) joiner, R.A.E., Farnborough; T. Smith, marine rigger, No. 238 Maintenance Unit,R.A.F. Calshot; W. Starr, toolroom foreman, Pulsometer Engineering Co., Ltd.; W. B. Winsor, supervising instr., grade I, No. 4 School ofTechnical Training, R.A.F. St. Athan. QUEEN'S COMMENDATION FOR VALUABLE SERVICE INTHE AIR.—Capt. D. Anderson, Flight Supt., Stratocruiser Fleet, B.O.A.C.; D. Haigh, 1st Offr., B.E.A.; D. C. Hellens, chief inspr., KenyaPolice Reserve Air Wing; C. A. Prichard, chief inspr., Kenya Police Reserve Air Wing; Capt. H. J. Rose, Sen. Capt., 1st class, ConstellationFleet, B.O.A.C.; O. B. St. John, sen. scientific offr., R.A.E.; D. G. W. Tayler, civilian test pilot, R.A.E.; Capt. E. R. Watts, Sen. Capt., 2ndclass, B.E.A.; Capt. S. G. Websper, Sen. Capt., Transair, Ltd. IMPERIAL SERVICE ORDER: COMPANIONS.—S. Stanes, dep.dir. of Navy contracts, Admiralty; J. W. Thompson, lately prin. district offr., Marine Survey Office, Belfast, M.T.C.A.; R. I. Wells, prin.scientific offr., Air Min.
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