FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1390.PDF
15 May 1959 673 Winter transport: a Bell 47 of Ostermans delivers the mail to a Swedish village Most powerful "crane" helicopter in the Western world is the Westland Westminster, which is photo- graphed lifting a three-ton section of pontoon Standard light helicopter of the British Army is the Sounders-Roe Skeeter, which has also been supplied to Western Germany "Flight" photographs chemical factories in populated areas; but that is not to say thatthe helicopter could play no part in civilian firefighting. The U.S.A.F. is going in for crash-rescue helicopters in a big way, withreported orders for 18 piston-engined Kaman H-43As, to be fol- lowed by 74 turbine-powered H-43Bs. Stationed at U.S.A.F. air-fields, these aircraft are intended to haul asbestos-clad firemen and a 1,000 lb pack of foam chemical, axes, saws and special toolsquickly to the scene of any accident. The firemen would then tackle the blaze, helped if necessary by the helicopter, which couldbeat down the flames with its rotor downwash. And, of course, the helicopter would be able to fly any casualties speedily to thenearest medical unit. For such roles the H-43 carries its cargo-pack slung under thefuselage at the end of a cable attached to a central quick-release nook. This ability to operate as a "flying crane" is one of thema)or advantages enjoyed by the helicopter compared with fixed- wing aircraft, because it means that the loads it carries need neverbe limited by the space inside its cabin. In fact, as the new West- land Westminster and Sikorsky S-60 demonstrate, a cabin becomesredundant in an aircraft that will be used solely for this type of work; it can therefore be dispensed with, to the benefit of the pay-load. The condition of the terrain also matters link to a crane neUcopter. Where landings are impossible, it does not have to resort to air-drop, with consequent risk of drift or breakage, butcan simply hover a few feet above the ground whilst loads are attached to or removed from its cargo-hook.The possibilities thus opened up were demonstrated when Okanagan helped to build the Palisades Dam, high in the moun-tains five miles from Vancouver. There were no paths and no patch of mountainside big enough to land even a Bell 47; so thefirst task was to blast flat a ledge near the proposed site of the dam. Men, explosives and tools were put down at a suitable spotwhilst the little helicopter hovered above the surface. Having built its own airfield, the Bell then made 40 round trips daily formore than a month, bringing in every pound of cement, every tool, man, generator and cement mixer needed to construct thedam. The larger items had to be ferried in pieces, as the heli- copter's payload limit was 450 lb, but the job was done; and sincethen Okanagan have built up a reputation as the most experienced helicopter mountain fliers in the world.Availability of helicopters of steadily-growing size has increased enormously the variety of jobs that can be tackled by cranehelicopters. Powerline poles have been airlifted and dropped gently into previously-dug holes in almost inaccessible moun-tain regions; and a variation on this theme was the hauling by a single S-58 of 1,185,378 lb of steel for high-tension towers, in
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
