HAI/MARK BENNETT
Once the flight day ends, the maintenance shift begins.
Each aircraft on the Watay Project is required to have on-site at least one licensed aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) to oversee maintenance on that aircraft. Hangars are a rare luxury, and maintenance is typically conducted in the open, in all conditions: rain, wind, snow, and heat. Lights assist the maintenance crews with seeing their work but also tend to attract insects. Te maintenance crews work from large trailers or vans
that carry tools, spare parts, maintenance manuals, mainte- nance record books, and consumables. Spare parts must be carried or ordered as necessary, with delivery times added into scheduling. Maintenance crews often help with refueling, with fuel another item that must be ordered. Winter adds another challenge: cold weather. Pilots and
maintenance crews must protect themselves, as well as the aircraft, from the harshest conditions. “Last winter, it got down to 44 degrees below zero centigrade [-47.2 Fahrenheit],” says Brown. “Most aircraft have limitations that prevent the aircraft from flying at minus 30 centigrade. It was so cold that some of the steel teeth on a loader trying to dig into the ground shattered.”
Type 3 helicopters
like this MD 500D are routinely used on power-line tower
projects due to their
maneuverability, with pilots providing fast access to crews
making adjustments at multiple towers along a right-of-way.
Let There Be Light … and Heat When crews finish the Watay Project—which is currently scheduled for completion in mid-2024—residents of the 17 communities will be connected to the power grid, no longer relying on diesel-powered generators. Connection to the grid will help First Nations improve their communities’ living conditions, infrastructure, health care, use of modern tech- nology, and ability to pursue economic development opportunities. For the helicopter crews on the project, it simply means
moving on to the next camp, the next project. As populations expand and everything from cars to aircraft require more electricity, the work of a utility helicopter operation is seldom finished. “I really enjoy all kinds of tower work,” says Hutchings.
“Once you start flying these types of jobs, it puts the hook into you, and then you’re always looking for that new chal- lenge, whether it’s a new type of load, new environment or terrain, or new ways to use mechanical advantage to make a job safer or more efficient. It’s a very satisfying feeling to have built and set something; it keeps you wanting more. I highly recommend it.”
32 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2022
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