HELICOPTER OPS

I’m writing this month’s column far from my family, at the tail end of several days of monstrous looting in South Africa; looting, staunched for now after regular citizens rose up against the organised chaos around them with brooms, buckets and arms linked in solidarity.

I’M NO GOOD WITH A BROOM and a bucket, but a helicopter? Now that I am comfortable with.

A few days into what the government has been calling an insurrection, with all of the violence, criminality and destruction up to that point restricted to KwaZulu-Natal, I was called out to what seemed to be an isolated protest action in Alexandra, Johannesburg.

To be honest, after my many years in the security industry, I believed that the media was blowing the kerfuffle out of proportion and that it would be over before it started. But in reality, our air wing at Bidvest Protea Coin was called upon heavily during this time, supplying 10 helicopters for security as well as a Cessna Caravan to transport critical equipment between provinces.

I ended up flying in many different roles, several new to me.

If you are a regular reader of my column, you will know that I normally fly a Robinson R44, a lightweight machine that lends itself to the observation type of security patrol flying we usually do. But as events transpired, and the full extent of the violent riots and looting gained momentum, it was clear that I needed some extra torque for better manoeuvrability and to be able to carry some extra report dispels weight.

Our arsenal of Airbus much of the Squirrel helicopters was out of the country on unreliable reporting various missions, so I turned to the Robinson R66, a reliable turbine workhorse, with much lower operating costs than the Squirrel as a bonus. Another important factor in the R66’s favour is that it runs on Jet A1 fuel as opposed to Avgas 100LL, which the R44 uses. This becomes particularly significant when flying longer missions away from our Gauteng bases, with possible fuel supply constraints. The R66 is also relatively easy on fuel in comparison to other light turbine-powered helicopters, at a modest 90 litres per hour, and you can easily store extra Jet A1 in its boot, allowing for even more flight time.

But back to my story. You might think, when the lawlessness first started, that I would have been called to fly in support of security forces, but my first real sortie was in a news and information gathering – a first for me. In the modern world of social media, much hype can be produced by sensational reports and fake news. A bird’seye witness report, live on television, dispels much of the unreliable reporting. The value of the helicopter is that it can be placed over multiple scenes very quickly, to gather news and establish facts. I got to work with some incredibly professional people in the news game and I learned some new flying skills while we were collecting images over the major centres in Gauteng, by that time also in a state of unrest. My next major mission saw me deploy to KZN, this time to assist with aerial support – much more in my comfort zone. Fuel planning, as I said earlier, was critical, as the N3 highway, the main arterial route in and out of the province, had been closed. This meant that airport fuel reserves had become critical. I sat and planned my movements carefully with contingencies, including an extra 120 litres of fuel onboard, factored in. The flight down was somewhat surreal as I followed the deserted N3 route, looking out for any trouble.

My first fuel stop was at King Shaka International Airport, the only local airport with Jet A1 stores. It seemed like an eternity waiting in line for fuel behind King Airs, as the sun started to fade. After topping up, I headed across to Virginia Airport, nestled a stone’s throw from the beach north of Durban, which was to be my base for as long as necessary.

Standing at the Observation Point at Mooi River.

The sleepy Virginia, with its 930m-long runway, was opened in the 1950s, It was slated to be closed in 2018 and is home to flight schools and heli-tour operators. But on the evening I arrived, it resembled Oshkosh, as every man and his dog seemed to be flying in with supplies. The radio was so busy that I simply slotted into the pattern, with little radio use, and landed.

The next morning, we started bright and early on the first of many missions over eThekwini in support of various law enforcement units, as they attempted to secure untouched infrastructure. I double-checked that the bulletproof vests we keep under our seats were properly in place. There had been reports of one of the first helicopters on the scene being fired upon. In all, I spent a week in KZN, flying sorties every day with different crews, as we provided the eyes needed to ensure the safety of the communities, warehouses and factories below. The R66 never missed reports of one of the helicopters being fired upon a beat.

An unexpected treat was a flight we made up the coast to Richards Bay: a stunning piece of coastline. The opportunity to do some coastal flying is always welcome but a pity it had to be in the shadow of such a dark time in South Africa’s story. However, operating from Virginia, I also had the chance to see some old pilot friends, all having been sent to help where they could. It was incredible to see such a response from the aviation community to support the folks in KwaZulu-Natal.