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Getting high with help from a friend
By Cpl Corinne Boer
Edition 1174, September 6, 2007 |
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| Uplifting: A disabled Kiowa helicopter being returned to Dili from Baucau by a Black Hawk. |
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A BLACK Hawk from 5 Avn Regt was called in to recover a 2600-pound Kiowa in Timor-Leste on August 16.
The Kiowa had experienced problems and was grounded in Baucau.
Three members from 5 Avn Technical Support Sqn (TST) assessed the aircraft, but were unsure whether there was a problem with the helicopter’s flight control, so the decision was made to sling it back rather than fly it back.
Loadmaster Tpr Mark Connery said it was the first time he had been involved in such an operation and he remained vigilant during the hour-long flight back to Dili.
“The pick up was interesting and it was quite a difficult load because when you get the load off the ground it can spin. The first few minutes were a bit challenging, but after a while it settled down,” he said.
“I didn’t take my eyes off the load the whole way back because every now and then it would shift and you could actually feel it pull from side to side.
“We had to do a few turns to put some inertia on the load to stop it from swinging. It wasn’t the heaviest load that we have worked with, but because it is an aircraft I assumed it would fly quite well – but it flew broad side, catching the wind.”
The Black Hawk pilot, Capt Ian Henning, said he had flown with underslung loads before on different aircraft, but the load did fly quite differently.
“We had to be careful that we didn’t damage the Kiowa because it can swing around a little bit underneath,” he said.
“If there is turbulence it can cause the load to be a bit unstable, but we had good flying conditions.”
On arrival in Dili, the Kiowa went into the hands of aircraft maintainers for repair.
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