Haverfield Aviation has announced the purchase of a Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter to augment its current fleet of 23 MD 500s and one Bell UH-1H. Haverfield worked closely with Arista Aviation Services, LLC to ensure the helicopter was equipped for their specialty operations. The addition of the Black Hawk further expands Haverfield’s capabilities in the medium and medium-heavy lift market. Serving primarily the electric utility industry, Haverfield is continuing to provide and develop services to assist in decommissioning, restoring, refurbishing, maintaining and building new transmission power lines. The UH-1H has a 3,700-pound lift capacity and the Black Hawk has an 8,000-pound lift capacity.
The electric utility market is continually looking for safe, efficient means to upgrade and maintain the electric grid. Haverfield’s president and CEO, Brian Parker, states, “The arrival of the Black Hawk in the civilian market provides additional lift capability to our customers. It is the right machine at the right time for the electric grid build-out.”The response from the market from an economical and environmental solutions standpoint has been very positive. Haverfield’s chief operating officer, Christine Cassell, states, “The biggest trend we are seeing right now is the need for environmentally efficient means to access remote areas. Time is money for contractors and we can eliminate much of the cost and time needed to safely and effectively access these remote areas.”
Helicopter use by Haverfield’s customers in the electric utility market has a long tradition in providing asset assessment in the form of patrols and comprehensive visual inspection (CVI). These services allow the managers of the electric grid to view the transmission towers and lines from the air for both routine evaluations and for emergency situations, such as post-storm events. Haverfield additionally provides maintenance and refurbishment capabilities using platform and human external cargo (HEC) methods. The additional capacity of the medium and medium-heavy lift is a natural evolution to provide a full range of services to the electric utility market.Brian Parker states, “Our commitment to invest in an aircraft valued at $4 million is in response to our customer’s repeated requests for additional lift capacity.” The market includes both the electric utilities and line contractors that support construction projects.
Added benefits of using these aircraft instead of traditional bucket trucks, cranes and matting include:
– Less time on site due to minimal set-up and tear-down time
– Protecting the environment due to minimal “footprint” in the right-of-way
– Eliminate expensive matting in the right-of-way
– Reduction of reclamation costs and private property owner disruption
