Helicopter Stuff and Things

VFlutter

VFlutter

Flight Nurse
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General helicopter discussion. Post pictures or talk about whatever

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BK117, EC145, MD902

Lot of money on one helipad
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Honolulu Fire Department Air 1
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MD500D NOTAR. Used primarily for Search and Rescue. Can only sling load non ambulatory patients on a litter (an ambulatory patient can sit inside) or sling load a Bambi Bucket for brush fire water drops. Closest thing we have to air ambulance here. Air 1 plucks patient off the mountainside/ocean, flies them to a waiting ground ambulance for transportation.

Air 1 is staffed 24/7. They just stood up Air 2 (identical airframe) during "daylight hours only", plans to get a third helicopter mostly as a spare for maintenance.
 
Jim37F said:
Honolulu Fire Department Air 1
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MD500D NOTAR. Used primarily for Search and Rescue. Can only sling load non ambulatory patients on a litter (an ambulatory patient can sit inside) or sling load a Bambi Bucket for brush fire water drops. Closest thing we have to air ambulance here. Air 1 plucks patient off the mountainside/ocean, flies them to a waiting ground ambulance for transportation.

Air 1 is staffed 24/7. They just stood up Air 2 (identical airframe) during "daylight hours only", plans to get a third helicopter mostly as a spare for maintenance.
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REACH/AMR/GMR has a rotor EMS somewhere in the Hawaii area, not sure where it is based out of.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
REACH/AMR/GMR has a rotor EMS somewhere in the Hawaii area, not sure where it is based out of.
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OK, correction, its the only air ambulance to respond on island. There is Inter-island transports (so if you wreck on Maui, you can still get to the Trauma Center here). They're probably based at Honolulu International (HNL).

Some years ago, we used to be able to call up Army National Guard UH-60 MEDEVAC helicopters but that was suspended after they kept getting deployed and weren't available anymore.
 
How old are the BK117s? They aren’t produced anymore correct?

Wish we had more variety than A-Stars and 407s here.
 
@Tigger I believe they just turned the old BK 117 into the EC-145, and now they turned them into the H-145 T2 model. Supposed to be legitness. We still fly the EC-145, great aircraft, we've just put alot of miles on them.
 
Ahhhh, flying around the Philippines in a ST 212 or 214. Multi-patient, hoist ops, NVG...had so much fun and gained some serious experience during that time period. Being on the larger size, I do love the roominess of those birds.

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Tigger said:
How old are the BK117s? They aren’t produced anymore correct?

Wish we had more variety than A-Stars and 407s here.
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Most still around were produced in the late 80s. They are fantastic helicopters for HEMS and are still heavily used worldwide. The EC145 (BK117c2) is current generation of the airframe however unless it is an E model I wouldn't be too eager to transition to it. Parts availability has been issue for a while now and it is probably long overdue for us to retire them tho.

I understand the economics of single engines and that they work for a large majority of flights however there is nothing like flying in twin engine that was purpose built for doing work.

Our BK117 with the children's program EC145
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I am not a flight medic by any means, but in Delaware, flying with DSP in their 407 was not fun. I equate attempting to do patient care in it as riding in the back seat of a Chevy chevette, while all of your drunk friends are crammed in trying to get a ride home from the bar.

I am also a bigger guy. 6’2”, 240. It was a tight squeeze for me.

We frequently flew with them if we had RSIed a patient on the ground or they were going to need anything while in flight. I almost always gave the flight to my smaller partner. The fun and thrill wore off quickly for me.
 
Quality vs Quantity. When other companies can operate 3 Bell 206 bases for the cost of one BK117 it is hard to compete when every rural hospital wants a helicopter sitting on their helipad.

Back in the glory days of having a fleet of BK117s flying 100s of flights a month

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VFlutter said:
Most still around were produced in the late 80s. They are fantastic helicopters for HEMS and are still heavily used worldwide. The EC145 (BK117c2) is current generation of the airframe however unless it is an E model I wouldn't be too eager to transition to it. Parts availability has been issue for a while now and it is probably long overdue for us to retire them tho.

I understand the economics of single engines and that they work for a large majority of flights however there is nothing like flying in twin engine that was purpose built for doing work.

Our BK117 with the children's program EC145
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I like the comfort of a second engine in an IFR program.

Our pilots are currently being 407 trained due to a shortage of 135 spares, but at least we wont give up any speed. 206's must be awful on long legs.
 
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@GMCmedic I used to fly in 206/407 down by the border of Mexico and very rural Texas, yea I dont miss it. The 145's give me everything I could need in HEMS. Although........them aw169 be looking Fuego
 
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