Bell 47 Archives - The Rotary Wing Show Podcast

April 6, 2016April 6, 2016

RWS 45 – Rosemary Arnold – First Australian Female Helicopter Pilot – Part 2

Rosemary Arnold sporting a pink flight suit in a Hughes 500

In 1965 Rosemary Arnold became the first Australian female helicopter pilot, the first female helicopter pilot in the southern hemisphere and Whirly Girl No.99 In this episode listen in as Rosemary tells the story of her 50yr+ career in aviation.

You can find Part 1 of this episode here.

In Part Two we continue to follow Rosemary’s career through all the way into her eighties where she is still very much involved in aviation as an author and marriage celebrant performing helicopter weddings over Sydney Harbour.

There is also some life advice tucked in there at the end for anyone feeling the crunch from the current oil and gas downturn or having difficulty cracking that next flying gig.

[Tweet “Keep your standards high – you are only competing against yourself.”]

Rosemary Arnold with Australian Astronaut Andy Thomas

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In this week’s episode:
02:10 Campaigning for public use helipads – creation of Helicopter Association of Australia (HAA)
05:38 First Australian helicopter airshow 1977
06:20 First public helipad in Sydney at Piermont wharf
09:30 Gas pipeline inspections in a Hiller 12E using street directory
12:30 Intercepted by army helicopters
14:20 Running takeoff to get out of pad
15:30 Adventures in Indonesia
21:00 First Officer gig on DC-3
22:30 Tour leader Oshkosh airshow
24:20 Sold car and boat then went into debt to finance Bell 47
25:30 Job offer in US and down to last 90c and hunger pangs
29:30 Setup own company in the US
34:19 Helicopter weddings over Sydney Harbor
39:35 World’s longest blind date
42:01 Aviation degree at age 70 then lecturing a week later – Aviation History
45:50 First females above Australia encouragement awards
48:40 Mixing with aviation students starting their careers
52:30 What happened to original Bell-47
54:00 ‘Think Aviation’ book – careers in aviation other than pilot
59:40 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com – Facebook advertising tip

Links from this week’s episode:
Rosemary’s Website
World Helicopter Day – can you help out as a volunteer?

[Tweet “#Helicopters would deafen the Koalas – reasons for not allowing #Sydney helipads”]

[Tweet “#Helicopters would blow the leaves off the trees – reasons for not allowing #Sydney helipads”]

Rosemary-Arnold_bell47J-helicopter — Rosemary flying her Bell 47J – 1 seat in front and 3 across the back bench seat

Be part of the conversation on this interview by leaving a comment below.

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016

RWS 44 – Rosemary Arnold – First Australian Female Helicopter Pilot – Part 1

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Rosemary Arnold was the first and then only woman helicopter pilot in Australia for 12 years.

It is a career full of firsts – as well as the above, Rosemary was the first Australian woman to own her own helicopter charter company, be appointed a Chief Pilot, perform a helicopter air-display and be a consultant to rescue helicopter committees.

Rosemary also founded the Helicopter Association of Australia and organised the first helicopter airshow in Australia.

At age 70 she completed a Bachelor of Aviation and the next week was back at the university as a lecturer in Aviation History.

In 2012 Rosemary was awarded the Nancy-Bird Walton Memorial Trophy “for the woman who has achieved the most noteworthy contribution to aviation in Australasia”.

As you’ll hear in this interview – at almost every step of her career Rosemary had to overcome challenges and obstacles in her path. It is a story and example of incredible resilience and self belief.

Now 80-something years young, she is still full of life and operates her marriage celebrant business offering couples the chance to tie the knot in a helicopter over Sydney Harbor Bridge. Rosemary has authored several books about her career and pioneering Australian female aviators.

[Tweet “I didn’t know women could fly and especially someone that was a mother”]

Rosemary in a Hughes 500 during a trip across the US

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In this week’s episode:
01:00 Helicopter Easter Egg Drops
01:50 World Helicopter Day 2016 – can you help?
03:11 Listener mailbag
05:10 Case of mistaken identity
05:50 Rosemary Arnold – first Australian female helicopter pilot
08:00 First flying experience in a Sunderland flying boat – Gordon Peter Taylor
12:30 Taking flying lessons (fixed wing)- in secret
15:10 My god a woman pilot we’ll all be killed
16:00 Bell 47 J2A – hot pink uniform and floral paint scheme ‘Triple Happy Helicopter’
19:50 Following of joy ride passengers
21:00 Taking helicopter lessons – Licence no. 10
26:40 Media coverage and Whirly Girls
29:25 First commercial Hughes 500 helicopters and trip across USA
32:51 Gas turbine course
34:10 Denied endorsements by DAA (early version of CASA)
35:40 Solo’ing in the Bell 47 and CoG issues solved by carrying dog
38:35 Challenging weather and getting over the range
41:10 Hovering waiting for storm to pass
44:40 Other pilots and meteorologist backed up in court
47:50 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Links from this week’s episode:
Rosemary’s Website
World Helicopter Day – can you help out as a volunteer?

[Tweet “276 passengers in one day at the Dubbo airshow – 4 seat Bell 47”]

[Tweet “So stressful that I landed at 7:30am and asked the mechanic for a Scotch”]

Rosemary and daughters who acted as her ground crew in front of Bell 47 VH-THH with its floral paint scheme.

Be part of the conversation on this interview by leaving a comment below.

December 19, 2015December 23, 2015

RWS 37 – Tuna Helicopter Flying with Francis ‘Moggy’ Meyrick

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Look online for information about helicopter operations in the tuna industry and it won’t be long before you see mention of Moggy’s Tuna Manual. Author of the manual Francis ‘Moggy’ Meyrick is our guest in this episode of the Rotary Wing Show.

Francis is Irish born and had a number of years helicopter flying experience including a stint in the North Sea before venturing out to the tuna fields in the Pacific. His first day on the job saw him get a quick check out in a Bell 47 before being told to fly out and find his boat that had already steamed out of port. The rest of the job he learnt as he went with some close calls along the way.

Tuna fishing is big business and a good net full of tuna can pay back weeks of helicopter hire cost in one go. A ship’s helicopter is used to scout for signs of tuna schools over a much larger area than would be possible otherwise. They are used for herding the fish during the netting operation and for general hash and trash flights.

A typical tuna fishing boat - the only dry landing spot within fuel endurance.

Frequently the pilot may be the only english speaking person onboard the ship and the operations are remote from support and facilities. That small helideck on top of the bridge could well be the only dry landing spot with in fuel endurance and to make things even more exciting it might have moved a considerable way since you last saw it at takeoff.

There are lots of traps waiting for the unwary green pilot on their first trip out. For instance Francis spend a lot of time in the ‘Manual’ about tiedowns and as he puts it, ‘trying to external load a tuna trawler with an MD500 and a rear right tiedown strap’ and the predictable results on the attitude of the helicopter.

Before you ring [helicopter operator] read every word of “Moggy’s Tuna Boat Manual”.
It should be compulsory reading for aspiring Tuna Boat pilots — apart from saving your life one day, the wisdom and experience it contains is presented in a very readable fashion.
For sheer entertainment (some of the stories are hilarious) grab a cold one and enjoy “Blip on the Radar”.
Moggy you have saved lives with “Manual”, and enriched lives with “Blip”.

– Hunter8 , 2012, bladeslapper.com

Once you get past some of these things then tuna boat flying just might be some of the most interesting that you get to do. Life onboard and steaming around Pacific with a mix of nationalities is also sure to give you bar stories for years to come.

Francis went on to be Chief Pilot for Tropic Helicopters and in this episode he shares this thoughts on the industry and ways that you can be more prepared.

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In this week’s episode:

01:30 Moggy Intro
02:20 Tuna boat flying is a thing
03:45 Prior flying experience – Puma’s in the North Sea, Instructing, A&P Mechanic license
05:00 First landing on a tuna boat
07:10 How do they pay for a helicopter to help with fishing
09:20 Herding fish with a helicopter
10:30 Conditions onboard the vessels
12:00 Operating areas and main companies
14:20 Licences required, maps / charts
15:00 Navigation at sea and keeping track of a moving boat
19:40 Zero accidents goal is possible – caution caution, don’t let people push you
21:15 A tuna boat helideck setup
24:10 Weather conditions and aircraft exposure
25:25 Underwater breathing bottle carried on you
27:20 Flying clothing and dress code
29:10 Key people onboard and getting on with the crew
34:10 Observer’s role
37:20 Dealing with pressure
41:10 Culture and asking for co-operation
43:30 Radio buoys and logs, autorotating over water
51:10 Caution the advice ‘just learn on the job’
53:30 What makes a good log?
55:20 How to prepare for a tuna boat trip
1:01:50 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Links from this week’s episode:

Moggy’s Tuna Manual
Blip on the Radar
Hansen Helicopters
Tuna Pilots group on Facebook
Tuna Spotter Helicopter Pilot Facebook Group
Daniel Lucentini Instagram
‘Just another Tuna Pilot Guide’ – Nick Henderson

Matilda & The Fox II – a youtube clip of tuna boat flying
[leadplayer_vid id=”5673F69BE17DA”]

The helideck is usually located on top of the vessel bridge and in front of the lookout and radio masts.

A well secured MD500 on a rolling deck. Note the tiedown straps - Moggy has a lot to say in the Manual about trying to take off with one of these still attached.

Got a question for Francis that we didn’t cover in the episode or have you read Moggy’s Tuna Manual and want to leave some feedback? Continue the conversation in the comments below.