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Hoisting demo draws crowds to Vancouver Harbour at HAC convention

By Vertical Mag | November 16, 2015

Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 31 seconds.

Great Slave Helicopters demonstrated its offshore hoisting capability during the 2015 HAC Convention and Trade Show in Vancouver, B.C. Heath Moffatt Photo
A dramatic hoisting demonstration by Great Slave Helicopters (GSH) provided one of the highlights of the 20th annual Helicopter Association of Canada (HAC) Convention and Trade Show, held in Vancouver, B.C., over the weekend.
The demonstration, which took place just outside Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver Harbour, served not only as an eye-catching celebration of the arrival of Canada’s helicopter community in the city, but as a display of the hoisting expertise that GSH is using in its new contract for marine pilot transfers off the coast off Northern B.C. It was also a trial of new Switlik aircrew suits and a flotation collar for a safety harness (both provided through Canadian distributor DSS Aviation) — both of which the GSH crew used in the demonstration.
The GSH crew consisted of pilot Steve Harmer, hoist operator Rob Munday, and David Prestorius (the company’s IFR chief pilot), who served as the “marine pilot” for the demonstration, which took place using one of the company’s MBB BK-117 850D2s.
GSH’s David Prestorius is lowered to the water in Vancouver Harbour. Heath Moffatt Photo
“We wanted to do something with the hoist machine here during the convention to showcase it,” said Prestorius. “We couldn’t line up a boat [to hoist down to], so I said, ‘Just hoist me into the water.’ There was a lot of float plane traffic [in the harbor] so we only had a little window where we could jump in and do it. It was maybe five minutes — that’s how long it took us to do the whole sequence.”
Harmer said GSH had been live with the marine pilot program since Oct. 1, and wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the expertise the company has. “We wanted to demonstrate how long the cable is and to show that even without references we can pick a person up in the water. We’re not rescue — we are deliberately for marine — but to show the standard of the training we do is well above what we’re required to do.”
Hoist operator Rob Munday brings Prestorius back aboard the MBB BK-117. Heath Moffatt Photo
Blake Musgrave, service manager at DSS Aviation, explained that the GSH crew was testing out the Switlik U-Zip-It pilot immersion suits for the purpose of finding a crew suit to meet the standards required for offshore operation as defined by the recent amendment to Canadian Aviation Regulation 602.63.
“They went up and in and out of the aircraft with ease, so it was good to see the crew suits were exactly what they want,” he said. “They wore the suit from 11 a.m. to about 4 p.m. It was comfortable and it wasn’t a hindrance to their operation, which is always a concern. It did what it needed to do.”
GSH’s demonstration was one of the highlights of the 20th HAC Convention  the association’s largest yet. Heath Moffatt Photo
Musgrave added that the flotation collar was a relatively new product, having only been released within the last couple of months. “Search-and-rescue companies are loving it,” he said. “They can take whatever safety harness they want or need for their operation, and this collar is designed to physically attach to the harness — so they’re not having to put gear on top of gear. It allows the rescue swimmers and hoist operators to move around more, because they can limit the amount of equipment that’s attached — so it’s a big safety plus.”
Harmer said the demonstration showed great potential for the products. “One of the reasons we came down was to see DSS, because we wanted to see certain pieces of equipment — whether it would integrate with us — and it does. And we’re really pleased with it.”

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