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Aviation History
1977
1977 - 0061.PDF
FLIGHT International, 8 January 1977 kopter Service detachments at Bergen, Oslo, Bodo, and Tromso, plus a German operation at Wilhelmshaven (Wiking Helikopter Service). The use of aircraft built by two different manufacturers obviously results in an increased spares holding, but this has caused no significant problems. Overhaul of the GE CT58-140 engines from the S-61Ns is carried out by Rolls- Royce at Leavesden, which is contracted to a turn-round time of 45 working days. Internal inspections are per formed locally. Seven spare engines are kept at Forus, two or more of them in built-up form for immediate installation. The Bell 212's PT6Ts are overhauled in Montreal, with three spare units being held locally. Most of Helikopter Service's avionics came from the King Gold Crown range, and they are overhauled locally along with other electrical items. A comprehensive safety- equipment section is also located at Forus. In addition to requiring all of its passengers to wear life-jackets, Heli kopter Service aims to equip its aircraft with individual survival suits under each seat. Oil companies are encouraged to supply these for their employees, who wear them at all The Sikorsky S-6IN is the standard Norwegian rig-support workhorse. One of Helikopter Service's fleet is seen here at Forus times while airborne. Helikopter Service engineers have carried out three 9,000hr inspections on the S-61Ns without finding any trace of corrosion (post-flight washing-out of engines is standard). Bell 212 performance is equally good, and Jet- Ranger snags have been minimal. Work on installing a cockpit blade-inspection method (BIM) indicator in the S-61Ns has begun, but Heen feels that the long-term answer is the glass-fibre blade. Virtually all of Helikopter Service's engineering per sonnel come from the Royal Norwegian Air Force. For the new S-61N tradesman a two-part course has been estah- lished: five weeks of general helicopter principles plus seven weeks on type. The Bell 212 syllabus is similar, apart from a five-week second part. The separation of the Forus centre from the remainder of Stavanger's aviation activity causes some problems, particularly in air traffic control, but in general the opera tion has been highly successful. A strong environmental lobby exists in Norway and the Forus region is no excep tion. Even so, much local goodwill has been generated— despite the obvious comings and going of the Bell 212s— by having a Helikopter Service representative on the local environmental committee. Forus currently generates between 70 and 100 commercial departures weekly, and during 1975 handled 136,000 passengers plus 19.900 tonnes of baggage and freight. Stavanger (Sola) is one of Europe's oldest airports and reputedly one of the first with surfaced runways. Now the centre of most, of Norway's fixed-wing oil-related opera tions, it is served by SAS (international and domestic), Braathens SAFE (domestic) and Air Anglia (International). 1 here is also an Islander service to Haugesund. Shared with the Royal Norwegian Air Force (F-5s and 55 Orions), the field handled over 44,500 civil movements and 627,000 passengers during 1975. Traffic for the first quarter of 1976 was 30 per cent up on the same period for the previous year. The wide mix of civil, military and heli copter types in Sola's airspace is occasionally further complicated by the odd floatplane using the adjacent fjord. Surveillance radar and GCA are available, and the area's first-class weather is also an advantage. SAS station manager Hansen says that traffic on domestic sectors through Sola, much of it oil-related, is developing very satisfactorily despite recent fare increases. Braathens SAFE station manager Olsen also reports increasing traffic on his company's domestic sectors, and says that Air Anglia's daily F.27 service From Aber deen (Braathens is the handling agent) is doing very well. Braathens SAFE operates the Boeing 737 and Fokker F.28 into Sola, with the larger type gradually taking over additional sectors as traffic builds up. Only one F.27 remains on the Braathens fleet list, Busy Bee having recently bought the second for use on charter work. Sola has been the site of Braathens SAFE'S engineering and maintenance division for many years, and the com pany is using these skills more and more in support of offshore activity. With this in mind, an industrial division has been set up at Sola and links with oil operators have been established. Avionics workshops have had no trouble diverting their talents into the repair of offshore communi cations equipment, and Braathens' engineers have little difficulty overhauling the gas turbines used as power sources on many of the rigs. It may appear unusual for an airline engineering com plex to diversify into non-aviation fields, but vice-president Arne Stangeland and his team make it very obvious that they welcome the challenge and are determined to get deeply involved in oil-related activities. Although Sola's terminal facilities—a fine example of how additions can be harmonised with existing structures- are far in advance of anything currently available at Aberdeen, the Norwegians have plans to provide a com pletely new building during the next few years. This will also accommodate area and local air traffic control, and a rescue centre. The Sola Rescue and Co-ordination Centre has played a major part in various oil-related incidents SAS domestic DC-9s operate to Stavanger (Sola), where this example was joined by a visiting Loganair Trislander in the Norwegian sector. A recent example is the rescue of survivors, despite atrocious weather conditions, from the oil rig Deev Sea Driller stranded north-west of Bergen on March 1, 1976. The new airport at Haugesund (Karmoy), opened in April 1975, is beginning to make a mark in oil-aviation circles. Its situation between Stavanger and Bergen cur-
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