HELICOPTER OPS: GEORGE TONKING
This month, I’m giving you all a break from reading about my flying for the security industry. I won’t, however, be giving you a break from reading about one of my tried-and-true Robinson R44s. Being the workhorse that she is, she deserves yet another starring role in my column, especially when punching above her weight. A MONTH OR SO BACK I flew a newly liveried red R44 from the Highveld down to Cape Town. I assume helicopter rental in the Western Cape is nearly double compared to anywhere else in South Africa because of the tourism industry. Whatever the reason though, this forced me to ferry an R44 down to serve as a dedicated security helicopter in the Mother City and environs.
at that) she is not light in terms of performance. I’ve found that she packs a punch even in comparison with her only real competitors, the light single turbine market. The place where she makes up for the shortfall of turbine linear power is in her fuel usage. On a fair day, the littlehelicopter-that-can, sips away at her usable fuel load of 175 litres at a modest rate of 60 litres per hour, giving her a useful endurance of two-and-a-half hours, with a 30-minute (or so) safety margin. This translates to about a 300nm range.
a flea on a marauding e l e p h a nt ’ s rump
When planning a longerthan-you-are-used-to trip in a helicopter, it’s wise to spend a moment or three planning your route. Helicopters were always short-range aircraft compared to their fixed-wing cousins. However, more recently, modern helicopters have developed impressive ranges over their predecessors because of technological design wizardry, including more powerful and less fuelthirsty engines.
Although the Robinson R44 is categorised as a light single-engine machine (and a very light one
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September 2021
For our trip down to Cape Town, I planned three stops, with New Tempe, just outside Bloemfontein, the first. Having consulted the wind predictions on Windy, I planned the route well within the range that the R44 could afford us. Also, I packed in two extra 20 litre jerry cans - the peace of mind I needed in anticipation of headwinds that could consume up to 40% more fuel than normal. I also invited Albert Venter, a good friend who needed some
