Messages

16

Irish Aviation History / Re: Irish Helicopters Ltd. Photos of fleet.

« on: October 02, 2010, 01:34:17 pm »

I have a few questions about some of the Irish Helicopters fleet. If you have any knowledge on these helicopters, please share.

1. Can anyone confirm if the markings on the Alouette II EI-AWC and Alouette III EI-ATO in the early all-white paint scheme have their lettering in black or dark green. It is hard to tell from the picture below of the Alouette III but it looks to me like the stripes and maybe the "Irish Helicopters Ltd" text are in dark green and the registration is in black lettering.

2. Did the Bell 212 EI-BAM have its registration repeated in white lettering under the nose? EI-BFH did but I'm not sure about -BAM. Also, did the Bell 212s have an emergency liferaft fitted inside the front left main cabin door for off-shore flights?



This is a long shot but if anyone can answer any of these questions, it would be a big help. Thanks.

BM. 

PS. The Hiller EI-AKT was flown by a company based in Shannon in 1958 onwards and was not connected to the company set up in Dublin in 1968. The Dublin-based Irish Helicopters did operate a Hiller FH-1100 EI-ART in 1968-1969.

17

Scale Aircraft Modelling / New Hawker Hector kit released.

« on: November 08, 2009, 11:51:43 am »

A-Model have released an injection moulded kit of the Hawker Hector in 1/72 scale. Hannants in the UK are selling it for £15.70 so it's not cheap. It probably requires a bit of work to get a good model from it. I don't think there are any decals for the Hector available, though it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to get suitable roundels from an old Maxdecals sheet. The Hector served for only a few years in Irish service but it is still great to have yet another IAC type in kit form.

 BM.
 

18

Irish Air Corps / Re: Air Corps PC-9 has crashed in Connemara

« on: October 12, 2009, 11:44:13 pm »

Very sad news.

R.I.P.

 BM.
 

19

Irish Air Corps / Re: PC-9's going into storage?

« on: July 12, 2009, 03:42:55 pm »

If 240 is gone for good, maybe the penny-pinchers in Kildare Street will suggest this for twin training;

http://www.worldairpics.com/photo/1009133/M/Beech-76-Duchess/EI-BUN/National-Flight-Centre/?&sid=0882614232&sp=1

Perhaps 240 is due for a major overhaul soon and it has been decided to retire and sell it, put the money from any potential overhaul towards a new twin in the coming years and do without a twin in the meantime.

The Air Corps is no doubt under orders to save money left, right and centre. I hope the first operation to get the chop is ministerial joyrides in the AW139. If it is necessary to haul their useless carcasses around the country the EC135 should suffice and that's only after there are no Cessnas available. Though it would be a gross insult to the Cessna pilots to have them carrying around our fearless leaders. 

 BM
 

20

Scale Aircraft Modelling / Whirlybits 1/72 SA330J Puma Conversion Sets.

« on: July 01, 2009, 11:10:24 am »

Here are another group of useful sets from Whirlybits, this time to convert the 1/72 Airfix SA330 Puma into the "J" version used by the IAC in the early eighties. The first set is for the composite main rotor blades that will replace the kit blades. The next one is a small set for the winch. There is one picture on airliners.net that shows this winch fitted to P242 and at least one SAR mission (and probably a good few more) was flown off the west coast that employed the winch. The main conversion set adds all the fuselage details to complete the conversion to "J" standard.



Decals were available from Maxdecals but that sheet is discontinued. Hopefully the markings for Papa 242 will be released again on a revised sheet soon.

 BM.

21

Scale Aircraft Modelling / Whirlybits 1/72 Sikorsky S-61N conversion set.

« on: June 19, 2009, 08:07:18 pm »

Here is an in-box review of the 1/72 Whirlybits Sikorsky S-61N conversion set. It requires the Revell Germany Sea King kit for the majority of the additional parts. The S-61N has a strong Irish connection. It was first operated in Ireland by Irish Helicopters Ltd to support various off-shore instalations and later in the SAR role. The SAR contract was then taken over by Bond Helicopters (which was later aquired by CHC). The Irish Air Corps also leased a SAR S-61N for a period. Six S-61Ns are currently resident in Ireland on the Coast Guard contract with four manning the bases in Shannon, Dublin, Waterford and Sligo (with two maintenance relief machines). A pair of KLM S-61Ns (leased by Irish Helicopters) also supported the Papal visit in 1979. Decals are available for IAC and Irsh Coast Guard machines from Max Decals.







The Whirlybits conversion set is quite comprehensive and the version I bought was the SAR one (WBA72050), which is based primarily on the SAR machines operated in the past by Bristows. There are plenty of small differences between the Bristow S-61Ns and the CHC SAR S-61Ns used in Ireland. Bristow converted their 61s at their maintenance facilities in the UK while CHC converted theirs to a slightly different specification at its workshop in Stavanger in Norway. Things like winches, FLIR turrets and aerial fits are all different between the two companies as well as the long range fuel tanks fitted internally. The CHC Ireland S-61Ns recently underwent an upgrade which has seen them gain new equipment again. The IAC version is based on the first SAR version fielded by CHC. Even with the differences between the two operators, the conversion set as supplied is a fine basis for any Irish S-61N.   

The conversion set included two fuselage halves in resin, with all doors opened up in their respective fuselage halves. Also supplied in resin are two sets of sponsons (one plain set and one with pop-out floats fitted), bulkhead, two of the doors, the cockpit floor, the front engine housing, a stairs, the tail pylon and tailplane and a set of rotor blades. The rotor blades can be replaced by plastic ones from the Airfix or Fujimi kits. The blades in the Revell kit are the new composite ones while the S-61N has the older metal blades. One bag of white metal parts contains the SAR equipment (FLIR and winch) and aerial fit. The second bag has the radar nose, engine intake guard and additional aerials and sponson supports. A sheet of plastic card is supplied for the cabin floor as is a template to accurately cut it out. A large etched-brass sheet includes the forward sliding door, innstrument panels and various aerials, rotor head and undercarriage leg details and grab handles. Other than the cabin floor, no detail is supplied for the main cabin, so a SAR cabin or passenger cabin will have to be detailed from the spares box or require some scratch building. The decal sheet covers three Bristow machines:

The Bristow Old Scheme; This is for a North Sea Oil Rig "Taxi" used in the seventies and eighties and is probably the paint scheme normally associated with the S-61N in Bristow service.

The Bristow New Scheme; This is again for an oil rig support machine. I think there are still a few S-61Ns in service in this role with Bristow and this is their current scheme.

The MCA Scheme; This is the Bristow SAR scheme many will be familiar with from the various English TV shows highlighting the work of the Coast Guard in the UK. A lot of the stenciling from this scheme also apply to the Irish SAR machines and will supplement the Max Decals markings already available.

This conversion set is not cheap at £36 sterling but it is a very comprehensive set. It is a vast improvemnt over the old Transport Wings conversion set and given that the S-61N is unlikely to ever be produced in plastic by one of the big manufacturers, this is the ultimate S-61N kit that is likely ever to be released and is highly recommended. It would be a very good basis for a superdetailing project. 

BM.
 

22

Irish Air Corps / Re: The Irish Air Corps, An Illustrated Guide.

« on: June 03, 2009, 09:37:58 am »

I have a reasonable grasp of the english language. I understand what the word "incredible" means. Incredible is what I said and incredible is what I meant.

All this debate begs the question; Is the new book 100% accurate? I don't know. I am an Irish aviation enthusiast, not an aviation expert, so I can't pass judgement on everthing in the book. Perhaps there are some small errors and inaccuracies in this book but I do know we are all much the richer for having such a volume available to us. There is plenty of new information in this book that is very interesting, things like the story of gliding at Baldonnel, the information on early RAF helicopters in Ireland and the rare photo of the recon pod on the SF260. I doubt that the authors knowingly included information that they knew was incorrect but they do accept that new information is coming to light all the time. The last paragraph in the "Author's Notes" appeals for any new information or photographs that may correct any inaccuracies, so there is your chance to set the record straight.

While I'm sure any author welcomes constructive criticism, perhaps we take things a little too far here in Ireland. It seems that any article or book published on the Irish Air Corps comes in for very close scrutiny and harsh criticism. A few years back, well known British modeller Tony O'Toole wrote a pair of articles on the IAC Seafire and two-seat Spitfire in Scale Aircraft Modelling. Such was the criticism levelled at him that he vowed never to build an IAC model again! Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot.

 BM.
 

23

Irish Air Corps / The Irish Air Corps, An Illustrated Guide.

« on: May 28, 2009, 02:10:29 am »

Joe Maxwell and P.J. Cummins released their new book yesterday, 27th of May 2009, at Baldonnel. The Minister for Defense and G.O.C. Ralph James lead proceedings.

The book is an incredible piece of research and sheds new light on the aircraft (and history) of the IAC, especially the earlier types flown. It includes many new photos not previously published. I've only had a chance to flick through the book briefly but it is highly recommended to anyone with even a small interest in the Air Corps. It also includes many colour side profiles that will be of huge interest to the modeller. I don't know how many books are being printed in the first batch but this is one you won't want to miss out on. It's great to see so much being published on the Air Corps in the last 15 years or so.

 BM.

24

Aviation Waffle / Re: You dont see Rescue 115 like this most days!!

« on: May 13, 2009, 12:16:21 am »

Dave, nice photos. The close-up shot of the newer dual winch is interesting.

BM.
  

25

Irish Aviation History / Re: IAC Avro Cadet article in "Aeroplane".

« on: April 05, 2009, 05:13:00 pm »

I believe the book from Joe Maxwell and Patrick Cummins might be available in mid-May. This is not confirmed but the hoped-for release date. From what I know of the work that has gone into this book, it will be spectacular. When I hear more and Joe has a definite release date, I'll post it here.

BM.
 

26

Irish Aviation History / Re: IAC Avro Cadet article in "Aeroplane".

« on: March 29, 2009, 11:30:43 pm »

Apologies to Patrick Cummins. Yes he is involved in the new book along with Joe Maxwell, as far as I know.

Do I think it is still a good article? Well, yes. I am not an expert on the Air Corps or Irish aviation, just a humble aviation enthusiast, but it is always good when any magazine publishes something on Irish aviation. That particular article may have some inaccuracies and they can be thrashed out on forums like this one.

BM.
 

27

Irish Aviation History / Re: IAC Avro Cadet article in "Aeroplane".

« on: March 28, 2009, 05:20:42 pm »

Gnat, the article is good and the photos are a mix of modern and old stuff. I think the old photos have probably been published before. I think Joe Maxwell's new book will have plenty of exclusive stuff on the Cadet and all the other Air Corps types.

BM.
 

28

Irish Aviation History / IAC Avro Cadet article in "Aeroplane".

« on: March 20, 2009, 09:37:12 pm »

The April 2009 edition of "Aeroplane" has an article on the Avro Cadet purchased recently by the Air Corps. It has some interesting details on the history of this airframe before it arrived back in Ireland.

BM. 

29

Irish Air Corps / AW139 in Mountain Rescue.

« on: February 10, 2009, 10:16:01 pm »

The T.V. and papers are reporting that Air Corps, Coastguard and RAF helicopters all participated in a rescue operation to save two lost climbers from the Wicklow mountains today. One casualty was brought to Tallaght Hospital by AW139 while a second was transported by S-61N. The RAF Sea King brought a Mountain Rescue Team from Wales. The Evening Herald reported that a pair of AW139s dropped a group of Rangers (as many as 50) into the area yesterday to assist in the search. It's good to see the Irish Air Corps still involved in the rescue business.

BM.
 

30

Air Corps News / NVG Training for IAC helicopter pilots.

« on: February 05, 2009, 05:49:14 pm »

Here is a link to an interesting little article on current NVG training for helicopter pilots in Bal;

http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?a=9881&z=6

Let's hope the credit crunch doesn't reduce hours flown by the IAC in the next few years or all this good training will be for nothing.

BM