SAR - AW101 med enorm rekkevidde

Bildet viser undertegnede i maskinen under demoen på Gardermoen i 2003. Foto Chr. Baklund

 

Jeg hadde gleden av å fly maskinen ved to anledninger sammen med Tim Noble. Jeg ble ganske overbevist om at denne og S-92A kommer i en klasse for seg når det gjelder rekkevidde og kapasitet forøvrig. Her ser du pressemeldingen fra Agusta Westoland etter testen i Protugal. Der nede ble de overbevist og gikk for typen. Selv har jeg introdusert mitt eget scenario: I perioder hvor en ikke kan nå Jan Mayen med C-130J på grunn av landigsbanens tilstand, så kan følgende utføres av AW101: Fly fra Bodø til Røst og toppe opp tanken. Ta av mot Jan Mayen, 487NM unna og cruise på 2 motorer. Fyre opp nr. 3 på innflygingen, gjøre en avbrutt innflyging på grunn av tåke, sette kursen mot Røst og der lande med 1t. reserve brennstoff. Helikopteret vil uten videre kunne dekke hele vårt redningsansvarsområde fra de faste basene på land.

Home / EH101 Demonstrates Search & Rescue Credentials

EH101 Demonstrates Search & Rescue Credentials

15/05/2000

A civil utility variant of the Anglo?Italian EH101 helicopter has completed a 945 nautical mile (1750 km) simulated search and rescue (SAR) mission lasting more than eight hours. The flight was part of the proving trials for the EH101 to demonstrate the aircraft's unrefuelled range capability in a typical operational scenario. Flown by GKN Westland senior test pilot Mike Adam Swales and Captain Tim Noble of Bristow Helicopters, the EH101 took off at 15600 kg AUW with 5500 kg of fuel in the internal and auxiliary long?range tanks.

Climbing to 2000 feet, one of the EH101's three engines was shut down and the aircraft settled into a 120 knot cruise on the remaining two engines. A key feature of the EH101 in SAR service is its ability to undertake long range cruise on two engines whilst reverting to three engines for the rescue operation. The three engine configuration is especially significant in search and rescue operations since, unlike current SAR helicopters, the EH101would be able to continue with its mission even if one of its engines failed in the hover.

At a distance from base of some 400 nautical miles (750 km), the aircraft performed a 30 minute hover out of ground effect, as if conducting a rescue mission, before commencing the two-engine, 120 knot return cruise. On arriving back at base some seven hours fifteen minutes later, the aircraft still had considerable fuel reserves and continued flying for a further hour before landing back at GKN Westland's Yeovil airfield.

This practical demonstration of the EH101s ability to undertake missions with a 450 nautical mile (834 km) radius of action plus 30 minute hover and 30 minute fuel reserve, or self- ferry over ranges of more than 1,000 nautical miles (1,853 km) the equivalent of a non stop flight from London to Helsinki, proves the maturity of the EH101. That it has achieved this level of maturity so early in its service life is a result of 10,000 hours of development and intensive operational flying undertaken by the pre-production EH101 fleet.

In Europe, the EH101 is under active consideration by the UK Ministry of Defence for the Support Amphibious Battlefield Rotorcraft (SABR) programme; by Portugal, for up to 12 SAR and 2 fishery protection variants; and by the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) which between them need some 50-100 helicopters over the next ten years. It is also expected to be a leading contender in Canada which is looking for some 30 shipborne aircraft to replace its existing Sea King fleet. Other expressions of interest have come from elsewhere in Europe and North America and from the Far East and Asia Pacific