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Aviation History
1984
1984 - 0020.PDF
EHA members converse While the European civil helicopter industry is about the same size as that of the USA, it suffers from a lack of standardisation be tween countries.The EHA is making big efforts to sort things out. Standardisation of helicopter single-pilot IFR requirements in Europe, better distri bution of accident and incident data, sorting out the route structure on both sides of the North Sea, and the establish ment of helicopter joint airworthiness requirements are all significantly closer because of the European Helicopter Asso ciation's first symposium on European Helicopter Operations. It was held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on November 16-17, and attracted more than 170 attendees. Mr 0. Kruger of West Germany's civil aviation authority says that some acci dents have been attributed to having only one pilot when workload has been high. Any crew has to deal with ATC, naviga tion, communications, handling, systems, checklists, vigilance in VMC/VFR, performance, weather, and traffic. A single pilot needs some assistance and Kruger suggests an autopilot with coupling, automatic checklists, flight and duty time limitations, and perhaps a non- pilot crew member to deal with R/T, systems etc. Recommendations include a 5,700kg MTOW, nine-passenger maximum, with the pilot having at least 400hr on instruments and lOOhr on type. The lOOhr should be within 12 months. Weather minima should include a cloud base of 100ft and a visibility of 200ft for take off. While there is a similarity in single- pilot IFR rules in Europe, some significant differences occur. All commercial helicop ter flights in Holland require two pilots. Most countries have a nine-passenger limit, but the UK has no such limit. There are 12-passenger helicopters flying single pilot IFR in the UK, and Bristow says that it would resist a restriction to nine. It has been suggested that weight and passenger- carrying capability are not related to the safety with which a single pilot can fly a particular type. Perhaps it is better to certificate each type on its own merits with a specific equipment fit. Now that the UK helicopter code of practice has been dropped, legislation is being prepared and could be implemented within two years, says Mr. A. Hutchings, Head of Rotorcraft Section of the UK CAA. When comments on the code were requested, there was some difference of opinion, but Hutchings says that there is "no disagreement, just a lot of different views". The legislation will be "a mini mum". The distribution of accident and inci dent data in the helicopter world is not as good as in fixed-wing air transport. Kruger says that the West German CAA learns about fixed-wing incidents on the same day, but helicopter incidents sometimes take weeks to filter through and occa sionally never arrive at all. The author ities monitor the information, but it would cost a lot to do more. 20 Hutchings says that "some helicopter certification standards are well out of date". He wants to get away from safe-life towards damage tolerance. He says "if you certificate at three take-offs an hour but do nine you should look again at fatigue - critical components. Two manufacturers can calculate a fatigue life for the same component and come out with answers two orders of magnitude different". The CAA cannot do the testing; it can only look at the testing process and the results. The UK CAA is discussing data acquisi tion systems to record limitation infringe ments and the operator can use the data for maintenance. Westland "is getting quite sophisticated" in this, but points out that the operator will have to pay for it. No helicopter has come close to gaining Category Al certification. It would need to be capable of surviving major failures in addition to engine failure and continue flight. As long as a single control loss can bring down a helicopter it will not be given Cat Al. North Sea routes Bristow's Capt Mike Norris is also chairman of the EHA offshore committee which is sorting out the route structure on both sides of the median line which splits the North Sea. He reports considerable success. Another aim is to achieve a common North Sea route guide. Jeppesen and Aerad charts are adequate, but a concise document is needed, says Norris. An interchange of information between the two publishers has been arranged. The offshore committee is highlighting the differences between helideck require ments in Norway and the UK. Offshore alternates is continuing to reveal a range of different views, but the UK CAA chief inspector of flight oper ations Tony Lister says "we will not write on tablets of stone". The risk is acceptable if the aircraft and system are right, he says. "Platform availability is the single most important factor. . . .", but the industry should not operate with the concept of always having a runway avail able. Most flights from the UK are two- thirds of the way to the destination plat form before the offshore alternate becomes the only one available. Shell Expro's John Hopson says "The level of co-operation required between oil companies to make the offshore alternate system work is completely impossible. Other oil companies are not so sure, but none of them likes the idea of other company's operators using its decks". Edwin van Cauwelaert, vice-president of the Belgian Helicopter Association, wants to start a scheduled service between Brussels and London. He estimates total journey at 2hr compared with 3hr for the fixed-wing service, and it should operate at about the same cost—roughly £200. Capt Eric Brown, chief executive of the British Helicopter Advisory Board (BHAB), says that the board receives many enquiries from big businesses who ask about operations up to 200 miles from base. The question that always comes up is heliports. Capt Brown says that it took ten years to establish the Trigg Lane heli- stop in the City of London, and that "every possible obstacle was put in its way". No formal opening ceremony was held, but on the day that operations started, a crowd of protestors gathered. After about an hour, they began to leave and Capt Brown asked them why. They said that they had been engaged for only one hour. Heliports are the major problem being addressed by the EHA. The landing pad should be about 100ft in diameter or 30 per cent larger than the rotors-running length of the largest helicopter which will use it. Two approach lanes at least 90° apart should be provided, and the approach should be clear for I5 n.m. to allow single- engine safety. An 8° line going up from the heliport surface should not cut any obstacle out to 200m. The BHAB handbook lists 130 helipads in the UK and the next issue will have 50 per cent more. But urban heliports present the biggest problem, and Capt Brown advises that the best place to build them is on water. This avoids high site costs and reduces environmental problems. "The public don't mind the idea of you falling in the water, but not on their heads." A new legal ruling says that if 70 per cent of the buildings within 400m of a site are resi dential or factories then the area is congested, and only twins are allowed to use rooftop sites. Buildings between 75ft and 300ft high can only be used by twins anyway, because a single would be in the "dead man's curve". Rooftop sites are environmentally more acceptable. Capt Brown says that local authorities should be given control over noise, frequency, and opening hours so that they feel the heliport cannot get out of hand. Now that the first-fixed wing aircraft has been certificated to a Joint Airworthiness Requirement (JAR)—the BAe 146—and eight others are under way, the attention has been turned to helicop ters. It is hoped that helicopter JARs will be common on both sides of the Atlantic, but a European code might appear if FARs are not totally acceptable. Q FLIGHT International, 7 January 1984
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