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Aviation History
1984
1984 - 0015.PDF
CIVIL HELICOPTERS "dunker" at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, work was put in hand by the School of Mechanical and Offshore Engineering to produce a design for such equipment. A model of this was demonstrated at the Offshore Europe '79 Exhibition, and with the considerable backing of BP Petroleum within one year the Huet had been constructed, installed, and had success fully completed trials. The RGIT Huet is a very simple device which harnesses the forces of gravity and buoyancy for motion. The cylindrical body has stainless steel endplates and glassfibre sides, which have openings the same as those found on an S-61N. Buoyancy tanks are attached at the bottom of the endplates and the assembly is hoisted by a winch which is attached via a steel rope and hook to a circular track and roller. The track is fixed around the walls of the Huet, which is free to rotate. A pneumatic brake can hold the Huet in any position. When out of the water, gravity will right the cabin when the brake is off. Once partially submerged, if the brake is released, the buoyancy tanks turn the Huet over. AF Craig of Paisley, Tonnes-Force (UK), and Mitra-Glass built the Huet under supervision and it cost about £40,000. Assembly took 14 days and RGIT has had only two afternoons of downtime since the equipment started work more than three years ago. McLean and Gibson International holds the licence to build and sell Huets, and the company reports interest from Canada, Singapore, USA, Norway, and the UK. Several military organisations are looking at it. RGIT now has well advanced plans to build another Huet and a purpose- designed tank which should come closer to North Sea conditions. The cabin will have room for six trainees, and the pool will have a wave maker and water below 15 °C (present Huet water temperature is 15-20°C). Trainees will wear survival suits instead of overalls as they do now, and the scuba divers will have dry suits. But even with the new Huet, RGIT would still be faced with a capacity prob lem if all North Sea oil companies put all their workers through the course. Unfortunately, operation of the Huet is labour-intensive. It requires qualified divers and instructors. But the ultimate solution must be the establishment of a facility at any location around the world where offshore oil workers pass in large numbers. Only a small proportion of North Sea oil workers have been through RGIT's Huet. But the UK is fortunate in having most North Sea traffic passing through Aber deen. It could be worthwhile establishing a large-scale Huet facility at the airport and bringing in new oil workers a few hours early so that they could go through it before boarding a helicopter. Both oil company and helicopter oper ator attitudes towards safety have always been extremely positive. Perhaps collabo ration towards such a Utopian idea is possible. rj FLIGHT International, 7 January 1984 __ y- Top The first exercise simulates a controlled ditching, with the Huet flooding to about knee height. Centre Next, the Huet is fully submerged, and, bottom, the full capsize exercise comes last. Divers are always present to assist any students who have difficulty
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