Tag Archives: helicopter

Regional Parks Astar

While I was getting lucky catching the Huey at Hayward, this wasn’t the only helicopter I came across in action. A short distance away from me, an Astar was running up on the ramp. Before too long, it lifted, taxied across to the active runway and then departed to the southeast. It turned out to belong to the Regional Parks service. I had actually seen this airframe before when it had been at Livermore. This time I was a lot closer to it and able to get a far better view.

It is actually quite a nice paint job that they have applied. Some quick research suggests that they have a couple of these Astars. I wouldn’t mind finding out more about them and what they are used for. It could make for a more detailed piece at some point.

Coast Guard Air-to-Air (ish)

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My flight over LAX was intended to get lots of shots of airliners. We did also get a little benefit. For the time being, the Coast Guard have a base at LAX. They will be moving soon but, until that point, operations continue as normal. One of their MH-65 Dolphins returned to base while we were airborne. ATC vectored them behind us and around to land on their pad. We managed to yaw around to provide an angle on them as they came in.

Shooting the Dolphin was a bit harder than some of the other aircraft. I was using a 100-400 lens which was fine for the jets when I could keep the shutter speed up high to compensate for any motion or vibration. However, dropping the shutter speed for the rotors, even if I didn’t take it too low, meant a very high failure rate on the shots. Even then, we were still a reasonable distance away which didn’t help. A few of the shots are passable. However, they won’t handle too much scrutiny. I’m glad we got them though since they will be gone if I go back for another shoot.

Farewell to the Junglies

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The end of the line has come for another UK military type. The Sea King HC4 has come to the end of the line for the Royal Navy. The Navy operated many Sea Kings in the anti-submarine role and for search and rescue before the Commando role was taken on. The Wessex fleet was aging and Westland had already come up with an assault version for the export market. Distinguished by its lack of radome and sponsons, the RN decided to use them as the replacement for the Wessex. I have seen them on many occasions. Living near Portsmouth as a kid, they frequently flew by. I also saw them at Navy Days. However, I have far fewer shots of them than I expected. They were not big airshow regulars.

The Junglie name had come from operations before their time and will, I suspect continue with their replacement in service, the Merlins that have been transferred from the RAF. With over 30 years of service, I guess they have done their job well.

Huey at Hayward

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Given the number of times that I have been specifically trying to catch something out in the wild, it is a little funny when I get completely lucky and come across something cool without ever trying. I was out walking along the shore in Hayward through the parkland that includes the marshes out there. The weather was not particularly nice but I was checking out the area as a place to walk on another occasion. While I was walking along, I heard the unmistakable sound of a Huey in the distance. I scanned the horizon for a sign of the helicopter and picked it up low and coming towards me. Could I be so lucky as to get it coming right by me?

No, as it got closer, it turned away. I was a bit disappointed but not too surprised. It dropped out of sight and I figured it had landed at Hayward airport. I went on with my walk and didn’t think much more about it. Before too long, it popped up again and a similar situation occurred. As I headed back to the car, the same thing happened again. I was a bit closer at this point and got some shots but it was still some way off and the sky was a bit grey so still nothing worthwhile.

As I got to the car, some rain started to fall so I figured I was heading home. As I drove away, the rain stopped again and I figured I was going to be coming right by the airport so I might look and see if I could see the Huey or not. When I got to the fence, the sound returned and right behind me was the ubiquitous shape on its downwind leg. It turned in to the field and ended up hovering a short distance from me. Not only that, but the sun came out! A dark background with sun on the foreground is always a great combination. They were flying a bunch off circuits so I stayed around for a while to catch a couple of them before the light went away and my desire for lunch started to take over.

The aircraft is a restored airframe run by a volunteer group to commemorate the emergency medical service provided in Vietnam. They are called EMU Inc. and are based around here. I hope to spend more time finding out about what they do so watch out for more in the future.

Bell 430

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If you watched Airwolf many years ago, you would be familiar with the Bell 222 helicopter. It is a sleek looking machine and one that gave the impression of being powerful. Consequently, I have always been pleased to see one. Bell have taken the airframe and made some updates. The result is the Bell 430 and I saw one recently at San Jose. The addition of a four blade rotor to replace the two blade system is a good change. While it doesn’t have the thwack sound of the old rotor, it provides a cool sound of its own.

The replacement of the retractable gear with the skids, though, it’s not a cool update. The retractable gear helped make the airframe look so purposeful and the skids really hurt the lines. For me, it is a combination of a hit and a miss with these changes. No doubt there are many more subtle improvements that have been made but, overall, I still think the 222 is cooler.

How to View a Potential Property

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While Pete and I were flying over Cowes, we were keeping an eye on a helicopter that was orbiting not too far from our location. A short while later, we couldn’t see it anymore and were trying to find it. As it turned out, the helicopter had landed next to a property near Osborne House. Pete understood that the property was currently on the market. Therefore, we concluded that the people were visiting the house to check it out. I must confess, I have not previously inspected any properties by helicopter but, thinking about it, this seems to be the perfect way to make an entrance!

EC145

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The EC-145 is an helicopter I have yet to decide about. A bigger type than the EC-135, I am not sure it carries the extra size as gracefully as it could. It has a slightly bug-like look to it I think. The most recent updates have added a Fenestron to replace the tail rotor. That can sometimes be a good thing but on this type it seems like they have picked a slightly larger unit from the parts bin by mistake. The fin section seems pretty large. Even so, I am not totally against it. It certainly seems smooth and quiet as it flies by. This one did look kind of cool…

Sleek Looking 429

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While I don’t have any particular brand loyalty when it comes to helicopter manufacturers, I have never been a great fan of Bell products from an aesthetic position. They may be great machines but the fact the majority of the line look like pumped up Jet Rangers has never impressed me. Of course, a decent color scheme can go a long way to making something look better. The 429 is a chunky looking version of the basic shape and not a favorite for me but this example showed up at Boeing Field. Someone came up with a cool idea for this airframe. The gloss black paint with the color trims looks pretty cool to me. Good effort whoever did this.

Nemo the Seahawk?

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A few years ago I was on a visit to NAS Fallon. As part of the visit we headed to the hangar used by the local search and rescue unit. They were just in the process of transitioning from the Huey to the Seahawk airframe. The Huey had been painted in a bright white and orange scheme and there was some discussion as to whether the Seahawk would get the same treatment. Would it get to look like Nemo. The thought was that low viz would end up being the rule.

At the time, their new Seahawk was in a hybrid scheme. We were pleased to see it since it was thought it might not last. As it has turned out, they have adopted some far more vibrant colors on the airframes since according to the images I have seen online. Hopefully I will get up there again some time to see what they look like now.

Farewell to the 58

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CHI Aviation recently said goodbye to one of their fleets. They posted online a couple of videos of three Sikorsky S-58Ts carrying out a flyby of their Howell MI headquarters before departing. Their fleet covers many types and a lot of airframes and I guess the 58s no longer fulfill a role for them. Consequently, they have gone.

I visited Howell a few years back as part of another project I was working on. While I was there, I got a few pictures of the 58s that they had in the hangar at the time. Here are a few of those shots.