Bag Swinging

[vortex]

We just finished about a 300km job and the whole thing was done 'the old fashioned way' with a guy on a quad / sled. I don't know about the economics of old versuse new but the A star was flying fuel to the 206 that was running bags. :shock: (both machines were working at good rates too!)

[Over-Talk]

I've used a 500, B2, B3 and 407 to swing plenty of bags on the prairies and in the Rockies. Personally I preferred the 407........a very stable platform, good visibility out the bubble, lots of power etc. (Unfortunately it gets temperature-limited easily in the Rockies in summer).

 

I hated the Astars at first because of the bent neck syndrome.........but eventually I got the hang-of-it. A very nice ship for lots of jobs, but for swinging bags, especially using a Bag-picker in trees, I prefer the 407.

 

Good (easy) visibility also becomes a real issue when you are using a Kodiac or Dyna-nav, and are working a spread that overlies some other company's spread..........

helicopters going everywhere and no-one watching where they are really going !!!!!!!!

Not a good time to be looking through a hole in the floor.

 

The 500 was a real hoot on the prairies with a 50' line, but uncomfortable after a while. It also wasn't much use if you had to move alot of crews each morning and evening. But great for flying the trouble-shooters that had to get in/out of tiny holes along the line.

 

We used mini-stagings alot.....often we had a 205/212 bring huge loads of bags out to there from the highway.

 

The 407, B2 and B3 had so much power that we would get tangles in the bags if we took all the bags we could lift and went over about 50 knots.

 

One thing for sure, swinging bags is **** good training for any other long-line work you may do in your career.

Over-all the biggest factors to me were the helicopter company you worked for, not the make of machine they used.........and of course the Production Manager.

But they are a whole different topic !!