Domestic Stories: Cyclone hits Shearwater
 Credit: DND Sikorsky's CH148 Cyclone helicopter set down at 12 Wing Shearwater, N.S., February 19 to begin Ship/Helicopter Operational Limitations trials. |
“There is certainly a degree of excitement on the Wing as our members are getting to see tangible evidence of progress with respect to our transition to the Cyclone,” Colonel Sam Michaud, 12 Wing’s commanding officer, said earlier that day. “That said, people will be even more excited when our own aircraft is actually here.” The real anticipation, he says, is based on what the new helicopters will enable the CF to do for Canadians.
The fleet of 28 maritime helicopters will replace the CH-124 Sea Kings that were first put to work by the CF in 1963. Delivery of the first interim helicopter is scheduled for this November.
Faster than the Sea King and equipped with a sophisticated surveillance suite, the Cyclone can monitor most of the Eastern Seaboard in one trip, and provide the CF with an enhanced capability to detect submarines and observe marine traffic. Its ability to fly in known icing conditions makes it an important player in sovereignty operations in the Arctic, and its pilots can fly wearing night vision goggles, providing an improved search and rescue capability. Additionally, the helicopter’s fly-by-wire capability, a computerized flight control system, puts it at the forefront of modern technology.
“It carries more and does more than the Sea King, but it still fits in the same hangar on the ships,” says Col Michaud. That has made modifying the Halifax-class ships that will carry the Cyclone much simpler.
At the moment, HMCS Montréal, currently alongside in Halifax, is the only ship that has been modified to support the CH148. Many of the modifications are not immediately visible, although the green filters on the flight deck landing lights, friendlier to pilots wearing night vision goggles, were the envy of many during the 2009 holiday festive lighting competition.
The Canadian Recovery Assist Securing and Traversing system (C-RAST), more commonly called a bear trap, has been adjusted to secure the Cyclone to the flight deck and move it in and out of the ship’s hangar. The flight deck has also been reinforced because the Cyclone is heavier than the Sea King.
“We’re proud to be the first home of the Cyclone,” says Lieutenant-Commander James Allen, Montréal’s executive officer. “It’ll be in the hangar [at 12 Wing] first, but it’s a maritime helicopter. It belongs on a ship.”
Now that the prototype is on-site, it will be put through its paces in the SHOL trials . “We’re going to do the operational testing, kick the tires, figure out what we can do and what risk level is associated with that,” says Major Wayne Joy, the MHP staff officer.
The testing will be progressive, starting simply and growing more complex as the evaluators push the operational envelope. First, the helicopter will sit on the jetty beside HMCS Montréal with all systems running to make sure none of the helicopter’s systems interfere with the ship’s, and vice versa. Then after some testing to verify its performance on Canada’s east coast, in a climate that’s relatively colder than that of its Florida birthplace, the helicopter will be embarked on Montréal.
“When we take it out to sea, first we’ll probably anchor somewhere with a low sea state and we’ll just try taking off, hovering and landing,” explains LCdr Allen. “Eventually, we’ll see how it works at night-time in poor weather. By the time we’re done testing, we want to be able to say that the helicopter can operate at this degree of pitch and roll. That will provide us with a baseline of knowledge so that we can determine proper wind and safety conditions.”
Having the prototype on base and on board is an emotional event for everyone who has been involved in the project. “People are excited about the Cyclone and, though this is not delivery, it is still the first CH148 to land in Shearwater or in Canada for that matter,” said Major William O’Gorman, MHP flight test engineer and combined test force lead. “It’s a rare opportunity to be the first operators to test an aircraft and one we’ve been looking forward to.”
“It’s real, it’s here, it’s something the community gets to see, touch and smell, but we also have to appreciate what this is,” says Maj Joy. “This is the test aircraft for ship/helo operating limitations testing. It’s a real sign of progress but it’s not our aircraft and there’s a lot that has to happen between now and then.”
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