AW 139 questions

[Fouga]

Hey all, a 139 visited UCHG at 20:00hrs exactly last night ( 27th Feb ), circled about 2 times over my house, i went down with a mate of mine got right up to the barrier at the helipad and as i missed the first arr/dep i decided to stick around for a few more and luckily there was 2 more arr/dep and all i can say is wow! What a powerful machine and very quick!, my mate was in her car she said the car shook!! I dont know what number it was but a big cheers to the crew at the door who gave me a wave! If they are reading i was the guy in the blue Superman T-Shirt!


 

[SARMAN]

Here is a SAR 139...

If I understand correctly, CHC will replace its current fleet in the UK with 2 Sikorsky S92 in the Scottish Bases, and 2 AW139 in its south of England bases. Any reasoning behind the North/south split, apart from the Larger areas the S92 would be routinely expected to cover, Heberdies, Orkneys, Highlands etc?

The main reason for the two different type of aircraft is simple its what the HM CG wanted, no real need for 2 S92's in the south.

[sealion]

Thanks for that Sarman. South of UK is pretty well covered already, with the concentration of RAF, RN and numerous independant air ambulance and police helis for the more routine work.

[skyview]

AFM/March issue, has an article on Spainish (SAR) 139s... Picture shows AW139 with FLIR pod, and Search/Weather radar...

[Tempest]

Are the 139's now fully 24 hour operational?  And if so, how much night work is being done?  And what kind of tasks are being carried out/trained for?

[Viper]

Are there any pics of a 139 with the FLIR ball? Had a quick look through the picture database, and couldn't spot one. Thanks

[Frank]

FLIR balls have yet to be delivered, think one is due in with the last helicopter to be delivered.

[Viper]

Good stuff, thanks for the update Frank. You say FLIR balls - does this mean that they are getting more than the one?

Were any FLIR ball(s) delivered for the 135s?

[Frank]

Viper,

I have no idea how many FLIR turrents are on order, I just headed that the last AW139 is being delivered with a turret fitted, don't know about the rest.

As for the EC135's, I don't think they were ever to have FLIR turets fitted.

As always I'm open to correction on any of this information.


Regards,

Frank.

[Viper]

No probs, thanks for the update. Apologies if the questioning was getting a bit persistent 

There were a few posts about some Engineers Ireland (Irish Institute of Engineers) articles a while back

http://www.worldairpics.com/forum/index.php?topic=848.0
http://www.worldairpics.com/forum/index.php?topic=1489.msg14165

which I think mentioned that the 135s were to be fitted for FLIRs. 'fraid the links to those articles are gone from the Engineers Ireland website, pity they were pretty good.

Keep up the good work

Viper