Pete Gillies is a legendary, 18,000-hour helicopter pilot who has previously been honored as the Helicopter Association International’s instructor of the year.
In this interview Doug Williams captures a conversation at his house with Pete Gillies about teaching autorotations. Pete shares a story that highlights the differences, especially in turbine helicopters, between touchdown autorotations with the engine idling and with an engine completely off.
Have you ever flown an auto with the engine completely off – be that on purpose in training or as a real emergency? What differences did you experience? Be part of the discussion below.
Dan Wells is an experimental test pilot at Leonardo who has been on the AW609 program since 2011.
Tiltrotor technology aims to push the envelope on helicopter top speeds while retaining the ability to land and take-off vertically. The Leonardo AW609 will be the first civilian tiltrotor design to undergo FAA certification and brings with it some unique mission profiles.
Dan Wells started his flying career on the AH-1 Cobra before transitioning to being a US Army fixed pilot flying the twin turboprop Grumman OV-1 Mohawk. After test pilot’s course Dan began to rack up experience on a number of programs – both rotary and fixed wing. They included UH1 Huey, MH-47G Chinook, S-70 Blackhawk, C-130 Hercules and Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey amongst others. Dan was also involved in the X-48 research project flying a blended wing remote piloted aircraft which he flew using the video feed from a camera in the scaled down cockpit.
In 2011 a test flying job for AgustaWestland was posted through the Society of Experimental Test Pilots looking for a tiltrotor test pilot. Dan got the job and has been test flying on the AW609 ever since.
In hover mode the AW609 flight computers provide helicopter-like control responses for the pilot.
In terms of the main numbers posted for the AW609 you are looking at 275kt VNE, 25,000ft ceiling (currently an engine limitation that may be extended) and range of 750NM. The AW609 is powered by two PT6C-67A engines with a whopping 1,940shp rating giving it flyaway performance at MAUW on one engine.
The biggest difference over other tiltrotors in service and currently being developed is the pressurised cabin allowing for a much higher operating altitude and the ability to fly above many areas of bad weather. There are also advantages in the EMS world that a pressurised cabin allows for patient care.
One of the more interesting test flight schedules that Dan was involved with on the AW609 called for the proving of the ability to transition the aircraft from a forward glide where the prop-rotors are windmilling due to forward incoming air, through to a stable autorotational state when the engine nacelles are rotated to the vertical position and the airflow drives the prop-rotors from rate of descent airflow.
For their work on this testing, Dan and his colleagues Pietro Venanzi and Paul Edwards were recognised in 2014 with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ Iven C. Kincheloe Award. This is an award that they share with the Apollo 11 astronauts, Mercury astronauts, B-1B, B-2, NOTAR and Concord test pilot amongsts many other amazing programs.
The AW609 will be the first civilian tiltrotor with an expected FAA certification in late 2019. Dan Wells was made a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in Sep 2018 in recognition of his contributions over this career and on the AW609 program.
This documentary recounts the story of Matt Gane, a helicopter pilot in the Northern Territory, Australia who required an airlift to hospital following a mustering crash. The film was produced by Aeromedical Innovation Australasia as part of their efforts to lobby for the AW609 as an EMS platform in Australia.
Have a question about the AW609 for Dan or insight into how it will fit into the current aviation market mix? Be part of the conversation around this episode by posting a comment below.
Kevin Humphreys is an experienced military and EMS pilot who bounced back from a period of mental illness and is now an ambassador for a number of mental health organisations.
Part 2 of the interview with ex-Australian Army and current Search and Rescue pilot Kevin Humphreys looking at the topic of aircrew mental health. In this episode the focus shifts from Kevin’s military career to his personal experience with mental health challenges, the recovery process and what other aircrew can take away for their own careers and perhaps more importantly, for their long term wellbeing.
Mental health is just such an under-represented topic in crewrooms and hangars the world over that I’m really glad that we can cover it here and that Kevin is so open and willing to share his story and what he has learnt on the way through.
Kevin’s career at-a-glance:
* Blackhawks, Chinooks – Australian Army Aviation
* Deployments – East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan
* OC CH-47 Chinook Squadron, twice Detachment Commander of Australian Chinooks in Afghanistan
* Search and Rescue – Bell 412, BK117, AW139
* Check and Training Captain, Chief Pilot, Director of Operations
There is an assumption here that you have listened to Episode 70 before starting into this particular podcast.
I’d recommend that you stop and go do that to get the entire context if you are not up to speed – as this interview launches straight back into where we left off – and this time around the discussion is much more focused on the aircrew mental health side of things – both Kevin’s person experience and a discussion for general aircrew applicability.
In the last episode Kev speaks about an air assault mission he flew in Afghanistan with 9 other Australian Army aircrew in 2 Chinooks to extract Canadian special forces soldiers which saw them involved in a fierce firefight at the extraction point. All done on NVGs with essentially zero illumination with RPGs being fired around the aircraft.
For the last 7 or so years Kevin has been flying in the civil search and rescue role and is currently a check and training captain on the AW139 type.
There is a lot more in that interview but that quickly gives you the bare bones to understand that Kev has been around the block a few times and is speaking to us with some solid experience behind him.
Kevin picks up the story talking about when things started to go off the rails for him.
A number of links are provided below to mental health resources for anyone looking to take advantage of them.
Australian Army CH47D Chinook releasing flares just outside Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, 2006
GENERAL COMMUNITY Mental Health Support Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health R U OK? – suicide prevention charity that aims to start life-changing conversations Moodgym – online self-help program designed to help prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. Free for Australians. Beyond Blue – information and support to help everyone achieve their best possible mental health Be a Looper APP – App that keeps you in contact with up to 5 people for regular check-ins, peer support that is unique to you
AVIATION SPECIFIC Mental Health Support CASA Fact Sheet on Depression and Aviation Safety
Australian Federation of Air Pilots – Welfare Services
A couple of points I’ve pulled out from my notes that might be worth summarising:
* Kevin points out it being important to talk about mental health – even if you don’t know how, or the words to use, just the act of talking about how you are feeling with someone starts the recovery.
* Kevin’s Cheeseburger and coke analogy – comparing mental fitness to physical fitness is an easy way to remember and visualise the whole concept.
* If you encounter a mental health episode that it is not flying career ending with the proper intervention and support – just like any other medical issue
* Statistically most of us are going to deal with periods of mental illness either ourselves or with close friends and family at some time in our life.
* It can afflict anyone and that there is no shame or guilt or personal failing attached to it. It is just a function of living in a homo sapien body with an organ called a brain, and that its probably actually amazing that our brain works as well as it does most of the time.
* And lastly – The longer you ignore it or suppress it – the more you’ll have to work through when it finally does catch up with you.
Kevin’s story especially, and I’m sure there are many more like his, illustrates that you just wouldn’t want to have to go through those years of mental anguish, perceived isolation and that pain if you knew it was normal just to talk to someone early and that it is something that so many other people are going through or have gone through.
Kevin Humphreys with a BK117 on top of a Sydney hospital padChinooks at Sunset – Kevin was a Detachment Commander for two trips to AfghanistanSep, 2018 – Kevin (2nd from left) with King and Queen of the Netherlands for the awarding of the Military Order of William to Dutch Apache pilot Roy de Ruiter. Kevin and Roy struck up a friendship serving together in Afghanistan.
If there was a part of Kevin’s story that really resonated with you or if you wanted to provide some feedback or be part of the conversation around this episode in particular then please post a comment below
Kevin Humphreys is an experienced military and EMS pilot who bounced back from a period of mental illness and is now an ambassador for a number of mental health organisations.
Kevin Humphreys is a veteran of a number of overseas military deployments on Blackhawk and Chinook, currently a check and training pilot on AW139 helicopters and an ambassador for a number of mental health charities. He joins us in the interview today to share some of his flying experiences and his personal story of struggling with and overcoming an episode of mental illness.
With almost half of Australian adults estimated to experience a mental disorder at some time in their life it would be ludicrous to suggest that it is not something that would impact on the helicopter aircrew population.
This is part one of a two part interview. I’ll update this blog post with a link to the second half once it is published. Part 1/this episode is more focused on Kevin’s career and deployments which establishes the context for much of the mental health discussion in part 2.
Kandahar, AFG – Ready for departure, CH-47D with AH-64 escort
Kevin graduated from the Australian Army’s officer training course at Duntroon in Canberra before being posted to Point Cook, Victoria for initial flying training. He flew with the Australian Army throughout the 90s and 2000s, flying Blackhawk and Chinook types and serving up until 2011.
Video Extract “From the Shadows: Australia’s Special Forces” where Kevin talks about flying in Afghanistan.
He discusses a number of deployments to East Timor, one to Iraq and then a number to Afghanistan with some of the lessons learnt from each along with some of the organisational and operational challenges at the time. Kevin also re-tells the events around OP NILE which was a multi-national, joint operation involving Australian Chinooks, Canadian special forces, Afghan forces, Dutch Apaches, a US AC-130 and predator UAVs.
They said a rocket propelled grenade passed under us and another RPG went over the top while we were on approach
C Sqn, 5 Avn Regt just prior to Afghanistan deployment 2006 – Kevin as Officer Commanding in front.
We don’t spend a lot of time talking about Kevin’s post military flying career in rescue and the medical transport roles but he has held job titles along the way of – check and training captain, director of operations and chief pilot roles. Additional aircraft types are BK117, Bell 412 and AW139.
Outside of flying and on the mental health side of things Kevin is a speaker for BeyondBlue and a community ambassador for both the Mates4Mates program and the RUOK charity.
Kevin Humphreys with a QLD Government Air Wing Bell 412 on top of the Mater Hospital, Brisbane
Kevin suffered from anxiety for many years, PTSD, turned to alcohol abuse and eventually reached a point of mental breakdown where he finally was given support. From here he started the long process of recovery and return to work. He is very open about his experiences and displays an incredible vulnerability and courage to talk about it in the second part of this interview (Episode 71) with the aim of helping anyone else that might be in the position he was and to help normalise the conversation.
One of Kevin’s messages is that mental health is a spectrum – no different from physical fitness – that there are times when we are very mentally fit and other times when we are mentally out of condition and need some more mental ‘pushups/exercise’ to get back into condition. The sooner the intervention and positive addressing of any issues the quicker the rebound is.
It is by no means a career ending event for aircrew and if we are trying to be professional aviators then it’s a topic that needs to be more widely discussed.
A number of links are provided below to mental health resources for anyone looking to take advantage of them.
GENERAL COMMUNITY Mental Health Support Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health R U OK? – suicide prevention charity that aims to start life-changing conversations Moodgym – online self-help program designed to help prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. Free for Australians. Beyond Blue – information and support to help everyone achieve their best possible mental health Be a Looper APP – App that keeps you in contact with up to 5 people for regular check-ins, peer support that is unique to you
AVIATION SPECIFIC Mental Health Support CASA Fact Sheet on Depression and Aviation Safety
Australian Federation of Air Pilots – Welfare Services
Kevin unveiling the plaque to name the Australian base at Kandahar CAMP BAKER in honour of CPL Mick Baker who was the loadmaster killed in the Black Hawk crash (Townsville, Australia) in Jun 96A15-104 was callsign Patriot 47 captained by Kevin on OP NILE – one of two Australian Army chinooks taking part in a special forces operation in Afghanistan
CH-47 Chinook dust landing examples in Afghanistan
Have a comment or feedback about Episode 70? A question for Kevin or a good resource to add to the list? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Currently flying for the UK Police Air Service Jim Vince has a background with instruction on both multi- and single engine helicopters
Learn about multiengine helicopter operations in this episode. A great primer for those that have only flown single engine machines and hopefully a useful refresher others.
Putting this together has been a great refresher for me personally as it is just over 10 years since I last flew anything with a second engine. Thankfully though we’ve got someone with a lot more experience than me to help us cover the topic.
Jim Vince is currently a pilot for the UK National Police Air Service flying an Airbus EC135 over London and the surrounding areas. Jim has 25 years experience in the helicopter world. Before that he spent 10 years as an engineer in the New Zealand Army.
RAF Chinooks on exercise Northern England ANZAC Day 2013
His first helicopter role was as a reconnaissance pilot flying Kiowa (Bell 206) in the Australian Army then transferring onto CH-47 Chinooks where he was a troop commander, chief instructor and then Sqn commander and lead an Australian Chinook deployment to Iraq.
Jim then moved to the UK and served with the RAF first as an instructor on AS350 Squirrel on the UK Defence Squirrel Basic Course then on the Bell 412 for the Advanced course. He ended back up on Chinooks then got out of the services and did some consulting work before instructing on the UK Army Advanced course in AS350 Squirrels once again covering everything from formation to NVG to Instrument flying.
Hours wise Jim is sitting around 4200 hours helicopters at the time of recording and another 1100 fixed wing. He holds ATPL Helicopter and Aeroplane, CIR Multi Heli + Aeroplane, Flight Instructor and is endorsed on types – R22, R44, B206, AS350, AS355, EC135, Bell412, Chinook and Augusta 109.
That’s just the highlights and with Jim’s mixed background flying and instructing in both singles and multi engine types he made a good candidate to tackle the intro to multi engine operations which is the topic today.
UK Police Air Service H135 over London – Jim Vince flying.
Some of the things covered in this podcast episode:
Multi-engine power application to transmissions
How power from engines mixed/transferred to single transmission
How engine ECU/FCUs talk to each other
Engine start process
APUs/starters
Dual starts
Throttle control of two engines
Locations – Overhead panels, collective levers
General manipulation
Emergencies: primarily achieving a safe flight configuration
Single Engine: enter autorotation… assess when you can…
Multi-Engine: achieve OEI flight then assess
Departure & Arrivals:
Single Engine: Avoid curve.
Multi-Engine: Single engine profile ensuring safe landing with no injury to crew/pax or damage to aircraft/property.
Risk balance – exposure time vs flight manoeuvre
Flyaway – F1, F2, F3 External loads/external full tanks jettison
Terms – Vtoss, Vy, CAT A, Performance Class PC1 vs PC2, PC2 limited exposure
En route planning and considerations.
SE: safe point of landing.
ME: drift down altitude & alternate landing. PNR, Critical Pt planning
CRM:
Single / Multi Engine: Single Crew
Multi Engine: Multi Crew
Identify, Confirm, Select
Video showing gearbox arrangement for how power from two engines is mixed into the main transmission.
[leadplayer_vid id=”5B9CCFAA465F4″]
Australian Army Chinook helicopter night landing in Iraq 2003 – Jim Vince was the detachment commander for the Australian Chinooks deployed.Overnighting with a Squirrel helicopter after a tailrotor chip light during a UK Army training flight.RAF Advanced Course Bell 412 after landing with a TXMN Oil Hot light. Jim on right. There are still single points of failure in a twin engined helicopter.Pratt & Whitney PT6T Twin Pack used in Bell 412 models. Photo: pwc.ca
Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.
World Helicopter Day 2018 is this Sunday! Wishing everyone in the industry a fantastic day for it as we celebrate what we do and the machines we love.
A big thank you to Mike Young from aircrewinterview.tv for being kind enough to allow the syndication of this interview with RAF pilot Paul Kennard. The audio version is on the podcast feed along with more information about events lined up around the world for this Sunday.
The video below is the original interview with Paul.
2018 World Helicopter Day event locations:
Australia, Cairns – Nautilus Aviation
Australia, Brisbane – Aeropower Flight School
Australia, Newcastle – Skyline Aviation Group
Australia, Perth – Corsaire Aviation
Belgium, Wevelgem – Heli Business
England, Leicestershire – Helicentre Aviation
England, Somerset – The Helicopter Museum
England, Ramsgate – Polar Helicopters
England, Manchester – Flight Academy Ltd
England, Chard – Historic Helicopters
Germany, Munich – Sky Magic
Hong Kong – Hong Kong Aviation Club Foundation
Scotland, Fort William – Helisafari
Scotland, Kinloss – Morayvia Science and Technology Centre
Serbia, Belgrade – Balkan Helicopters
Spain, Balearic Islands – Balearic Helicopters
South Africa, Johannesburg – Henley Air
USA, Pennsylvania – American Helicopter Museum
USA, Hawaii – Blue Hawaiian Helicopters
USA, Washington – Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team
USA, California – Wings Over Camarillo
USA, New York – Independent Helicopters
USA, Arkansas – flyARH
USA, Alabama – Wallace State Community College
As a 21 yr old Harry Benson experienced the Falklands War from the cockpit of a Wessex helicopter. Years later he has caught up with squadron mates to bring together an amazing collection of stories from the helicopter side of the war.
6834 nautical miles south west of London in the South Atlantic some amazing helicopter stories were being lived out during the Falklands War. Many of these were even unknown to the other aircrew flying in the same operational area.
Harry Benson was there as a 21 yr old pilot and many years later has interviewed 45 of his fellow aircrew and pieced together the story of the helicopter side of that conflict. You can read the result in the book Scram!: The Gripping First-Hand Account of the Helicopter War in the Falklands.
Scram was the radio codeword for inbound Argentine jets and the ‘actions on’ for helicopter crews was to find a depression and land the helicopter as quickly as they could to minimise the chance of being sighted.
Logistically getting the UK forces down to the Falklands was an amazing feat as everything had to go by sea or be dropped into the ocean from the air. Helicopters were crammed onto vessels wherever they could fit. A requisitioned Cunard container ship ‘Atlantic Conveyor’ carried a cargo of six Wessex helicopters from 848 Naval Air Squadron and RAF Chinook HC.1s from No. 18 Squadron RAF. At Ascension Island, the halfway point, she picked up eight Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers (809 Squadron) and six RAF Harrier GR.3 jump jets.
Atlantic Conveyor underway to Falklands with a Wessex on Spot 1.The Atlantic Conveyor was sunk by two Exocet missiles with the loss of 3 Chinooks, 6 Wessex and a Lynx. This had a big impact on the course of events as it only left 15 troop-carrying helicopters available for the ground force breakout from the landing area – 10 Seakings, 5 Wessex and a single 1 Chinook. The Chinook remained the only one in theatre for the rest of the war can could forward position 4 fuel blivets/’bollocks’ vs the Seaking’s one.
The harsh South Atlantic weather proved one of the biggest challenges for aircrew rather than enemy action. Harry tells the story of his port engine shutting down due to heavy snow blocking the intake. At times aircraft had to hover taxi next to cliffs above the waves due to poor visibility in fog.
Unloading a Wessex on a bleak Falkland hillside.
Just some of the stories in the book:
Going head to head with fast jets
Sneak single aircraft mission with missile strike on Argentine high command
Rescues of sailors off burning ships
One way Seaking flight to Argentina mainland to assault airbase
Radalts going from 30′ to 200′ flying over glaciers
SAS missions in 60kt winds
Getting low on fuel and shutting down one engine
Night unaided casualty evacuations from front line
HMS Fearless in San Carlos, during the Falklands War. Typical of the ships that the helicopter fleet was flying to and the barren terrain of the islands in the background.HMS Hermes was due to be decommissioned in 1982 after a 1981 defence review (that would have made the Royal Navy considerably smaller) by the British government, but when the Falklands War broke out, she was made the flagship of the British forces, setting sail for the South Atlantic just three days after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. She sailed for the Falklands with an airgroup of 12 Sea Harrier FRS1 attack aircraft of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, and 18 Sea King helicopters.
Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Adrian Park is an experienced military and rescue helicopter pilot who is currently completing a phd thesis in aviation human factors and communication.
A podcast that I get a lot of value from is the Jocko Podcast which deals in leadership, mindsets, ju jitsu, military history and has nothing to do with helicopters… or does it. In this episode I chat with Adrian Park a former Australian army helicopter pilot and now EMS pilot who has a special interest in aviation safety and human factors about how some of the material Jocko Willink talks about relates to aviation.
Extreme Ownership is a book written by Leif Babin and Jocko Willink (host of podcast mentioned above) who are both ex-US Navy SEALs who held leadership roles during deployments in Iraq and later in SEAL training units.
The book details some of the leadership lessons they learnt that they see as applicable to leadership in any situation. Their examples start with a military example from their own experience and then apply that in a business setting.
Today I’m talking with Adrian Park and we break down some of the ideas in the book and discuss how they play out in an aviation context with examples from our own experiences.
Adrian Park (right) next to an Australian Army Huey in Bougainville. The bright orange paint scheme was part of the peace keeping role.
Adrian or ‘Parky’ has a background in Australian Army Huey and Blackhawk operations along with experience flying in the EMS sector. Along the way he has picked up a Bach. of English Literature and Communication (something he has in common with Jocko Willink) and is working towards his PhD.
Parky is a frequent article contributor to Flight Safety magazine here in Australia, runs crew resource management training, has been involved in youth leadership development and also hosts an aviation podcast. A busy guy! But someone with a lot of helicopter experience paired with some thoughtfulness on the application of leadership and human factors in how we go about our operations.
Some of the ideas we discuss are:
Extreme ownership
– If mindset of victim of circumstance then you can’t have any input to fixing
– accepting feedback
– not blaming people / weather / aircraft
– admitting to and owning mistakes/errors
– opposite of ‘someone else’s problem’
– if someone tells you to do something that you know is a bad idea, and you do it and it turns out bad, you’re still responsible for the outcome.
– implications for accident investigations / companies that have accidents / forum discussion
Detach
– long term view rather than short term task pressure
– viable company/career in 5 years over any single task
– EMS operations and weather decisions
– risk vs reward
Check Your Ego
– proving your skill / pushing on
– unnecessary risks
– putting others down for mistakes
– not seeking input
– not accepting feedback and constructive criticism
Cover and Move (Teamwork)
– crew, ops, atc
– back others up
– share information
– help them do their job
– mateship
We end up running out of time to cover everything that we had in our notes – look out for a part 2 sometime in the future.
Adrian during an exchange posting to the US working as a Blackhawk instructor
This is the first time both of us have discussed this topic/content as it relates to the book Extreme Ownership. If you are familiar with the book or with Jocko’s other ideas and can share aviation examples of your own we would love you to add to the comments section here on the blog post.
On the ramp in East Timor with a Blackhawk from B SQN, 5 Avn Regt. Hopefully these aircraft can continue in a flying role when retired from the Australian Army
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Richard Butterworth spent time in the military, instructing and EMS before taking up a role at Kestrel Aviation in support of a night firefighting capability.
Helicopters are amazing assets to have working in a bush firefighting role. Every year around the world they contribute to lives saved and property damage avoided. Now for the first time in Australia we are starting to see the move into night time firebombing operations.
Richard Butterworth is head of training at Kestrel Aviation based in Mangalore, Victoria. It is about 1 1/2 hours drive north of Melbourne. Kestrel has been developing a night aerial firefighting capability and has put a significant amount of private investment behind Richard, their other staff and equipment to become one of the first Australian operators to gain CASA approval.
Dropping water on a fire during trials – part of final approval from CASA to commence live, night-time aerial firefighting.
Internationally night firefighting with helicopters goes back a surprisingly long way.
“On June 16, 1974, the first night water drops were made on a wildfire on the Angeles National Forest with Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Bell 204B helicopter, equipped with a fixed tank”
“In 1977, an L.A. County Fire helicopter and the USFS Rose Valley helicopter collided while inbound to a heliport on the Angeles National Forest”
After this collision, night firefighting was essentially canned until 2005 when it again became an operational capability in the US. The quotes above have come from this article which gives a pretty good run down on the history. There is a ‘Part 2’ of the article too.
Dropping water low level at night on fires while flying on NVGs at first glance looks like ‘risky’ business. As you’ll hear from Richard in the interview they have taken a very slow step by step process to building the capability up and have done so using existing frameworks and procedures already in place that govern night flight and aerial firefighting. They have then just incorporated them together.
It is not an activity that just any company can turn around do. Aside from procedures and regulator legal instruments you also first need experienced NVD crews with extensive day firefighting time, access to goggles, NVG compatible aircraft modifications, an aerial platform with waterdrop equipment and supporting ground crews. So don’t expect this to come cheap for fire agencies and governments.
The benefits on a fire scene range from not just the extended hours avaliable (Richard also talks about the daylight hours lost on current fires due to morning briefing requirements) but also the generally calmer conditions and colder temperatures reducing the intensity and speed of fires. This ‘quietening’ of the fireground provides more of a chance to affect the outcome with water drops.
Ground filling of water tanks for night firefighting – provides aircrew a chance to catch a break.Trials moved onto proving hover fill capability at night too.Another shot inbound on fire at night for trials.Richard Butterworth is one of the Kestrel Aviation pilots instrumental to the development of the night capability – here in front of the Bell 412 used during the trials.
(Photos supplied)
Do you have a question for Richard and the Kestrel crews about night firefighting? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Skip Tackett has almost 4 decades of military and civil experience across a diverse range of operations. He is President of Utility Aviation, Inc
Imagine you are sitting in an apache cockpit during a refueling operation. Suddenly the world outside, in every direction you look, is one giant fireball. You can feel the heat cooking through through the windshield. What do you do next?
That is the situation that today’s guest Boyd ‘Skip’ Tackett found himself in. He received second and third degree burns over 42% of his body in his escape and credits the fire resistant clothing he was wearing with his life. Skip has been sharing his story with aircrew for the last 2 decades to drive home the message of the importance of wearing the right gear and being prepared because you never know if your next flight could be one that puts you in a life threatening situation. He hopes to avoid other aircrew avoid the recovery process he went through where “there is not enough morphine in the world” to treat the pain of such extensive burns.
Skip Tackett in the rear seat of an Apache helicopter with the door open. This is approx 8 feet off the ground and the same position Skip had to escape through the fire from.
In 1994 Skip was the rear seater of an AH-64A Apache that had just landed at a field hot refuel point. As they started to take on fuel, a fault in the hose pressure nozzle caused fuel to spray up into the rotors, splash against the cabin and into the inlet of the right hand engine. The accompanying vaporisation of the fuel along with the hot engine exhaust immediately caused a fireball to engulf the aircraft and continue to burn. Skip and his co-pilot had to exit the aircraft through the flames or be cooked inside. Skip covers the incident and the steps involved in the escape in the interview.
His story provides a big wake up call for all aircrew to revisit the clothing and equipment you fly with and have on your person. In a situation like this there was no time to reach for or put on other equipment. It also emphasises regular evacuation rehearsal as both Skip and his co-pilot in the rush to exit and confusion failed to properly release their shoulder straps, wasting precious seconds.
The smoldering remains of Apache 235.
What you should wear:
* NOMEX or similar flame resistant material outer layer.
* Natural fiber (wool, cotton, silk) underwear covering as much of your body as practical.
* Alternatively a flame resistant material clothing under flight suit. Skip recommends Massif and DriFire as places to start looking at these.
Stay away from synthetics (eg. polyester, nylon) unless they are especially designed for fire protection. When they burn they turn to liquid and can melt into the skin. The only way to remove the material then is to cut the skin off.
To their credit one popular manufacturer of tactical/sports wear clothing has this text on their website product listing:
“WARNING! This product will melt when exposed to extreme heat or open flames, posing a risk of serious injury where melted product comes into contact with skin! “
For those in white shirts and gold bars charter situations there is nothing readily available. From a quick internet search you will have to look like a roadside construction worker or rambo. Massif did prototype a white business-style flame resistant shirt but didn’t receive enough demand for it. If you know of any solutions for corporate work please get in contact.
Skip’s burn injuries. Note the lack of burns to chest and shoulders where two layers of clothing were. Not to be confused with the white of Skip’s face where the skin is completely burnt through where he had no covering at all. It took almost 3 years to return to flying medical fitness.
For even more information and photos on the events of the crash and Skip’s recovery take a look at this article –> AirBeat Article 2010 Tackett Fire
Skip is one of the rare pilots in the world to have considerable hours on both AH-64 Apache and Mi-17 helicopters – machines that are normally in very different national and ideological fleets.
Joining the US Army first as a Ranger, Skip moved into aviation in the Aero Scout mission flying OH-58 Kiowa (see Episode 22 for more information on the Kiowa helicopter type) and then into Apaches as soon as non-Cobra qualified pilot training slots became avaliable.
As an Apache driver Skip conducted deep strike missions against Iraqi armour units during the Gulf War. He became a Master Gunner and was involved in a number of unique capabilities with the introduction of the Apache Longbow into Army service including replicating the airborne fire control computer targeting data transmission into a laptop system for use on firing ranges, using a similar system to pass targeting data from Apaches to F-16s and developing procedures for mixed Apache/UAV hunter killer teams.
Kitted up ready to fly a Mi-17 in Afghanistan on Counter Narco-Terrorism mission.
Jumping forward in time we find Skip, now out of the Amy, piloting Mi-17s in Afghanistan in combat operations as Chief Pilot for Northrup Grumman on a Special Operations Counter Narco-Terrorism program. While we don’t go into these operations in detail in the interview, Skip had a number of close calls that he indicates the robust construction and massive power of the Mi-17 engines was what got them home safely. In that operating area and its high altitudes the Mi-17 was one of the most capable rotary wing assets in country.
Skip is currently President of Utility Aviation, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Brunner Aerospace which itself has an interesting crew of aviators with unique backgrounds. “Break glass in case of war” is how I would describe them.
Under that umbrella and with G and T Outfitters, Skip trains and flys customers on wild hog eradication flights in Texas, USA. Normally this involves either a Bell 206, MD530F or H125 helicopter with Skip in the pilot’s seat, an onboard safety observer and two client shooters operating over an approved aerial shooting range in the eradication area. The observer doubles as a professional shooter, “We are out there to kill pigs, not just shoot at them”. With 37 years of air gunnery and special operations experience Skip indicates this is a highly controlled activity and they work closely with local wildlife rangers.
Aerial gunnery and hog eradication in Texas
Skip somehow finds time to also be founder/CEO/Chief Pilot of an unmanned drone company focused on high end, professional services to the energy facilities market and law enforcement. Rather than an off-the-shelf consumer drone platform they have gone with one that has been used by special forces overseas and that with the advances in miniaturization of electronics now has many of the capabilities that Skip used to use in the Apache’s nose mounted TADS (Target Acquisition and Designation Sights).
The AO Flight truck and Skip next to a Aeryon Skyranger drone.This photo shows the Afghanistan dust and huge cockpit windows of the Mi-17More aerial gunnery. This time in a MD500. Skip was a Master Gunner on Apaches so was involved in all kinds of range template creation and fire control instruction and supervision.
Do you have a question for Skip about protective clothing or his experiences? Have a fire resistant clothing option for charter pilots? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Logistically getting the UK forces down to the Falklands was an amazing feat as everything had to go by sea or be dropped into the ocean from the air. Helicopters were crammed onto vessels wherever they could fit. A requisitioned Cunard container ship ‘Atlantic Conveyor’ carried a cargo of six Wessex helicopters from 848 Naval Air Squadron and RAF Chinook HC.1s from No. 18 Squadron RAF. At Ascension Island, the halfway point, she picked up eight Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers (809 Squadron) and six RAF Harrier GR.3 jump jets.
