From Great Heights

The helicopter is an infinitely universal tool. Helicopter companies have discovered all kinds of useful niches for their machines, but inner-city airlifting is probably one of the lesser-known uses.

The versatility of the helicopter, with its combination of strength and precision, makes it a very useful means of transporting heavy equipment and materials to difficult and largely inaccessible sites that often can’t be reached by the usual method of the crane.

Helipro has been involved in inner-city airlifting in New Zealand for more than 15 years. From pouring concrete foundations to replacing airconditioning units on the roofs of buildings, Helipro’s From great heights large fleet of twin-engine aircrafts can provide up to 1200 kg of lifting. They have hauled spa pools, building materials, timber frames, large volumes of metal and many other heavy loads into areas that would pose access problems for a crane or other lifting devices.

Every year, Helipro spends thousands of hours of flight time conducting aerial crane operations nationwide. In the capital alone, about a quarter of their work involves aerial crane operations. Jobs have included lifting an air-conditioning unit onto Wellington’s tallest building, the 29-storey Majestic Tower, as well as a generator onto the 24-storey Vodafone Building next to a popular mid-city park.

Tricky lifting and placing

The versatility of a helicopter is due to its ability to hover at a point above the ground. This makes it ideal for lifting tasks in numerous tricky lifting and placing situations, allowing Helipro pilots to place signage, heating, ventilation and airconditioning equipment onto high-rise buildings with incredible precision. It’s not until you witness a pilot manoeuvring a twinengine BK117, with its whirring blades and heavy load, between an apartment building and a busy road that you appreciate the level of technicality involved in an inner-city airlift. These pilots often have to place the material they’re lifting directly on top of an identified point, all the while keeping the load stable and secure during placement and ensuring that any risks posed by the surroundings are mitigated.

The fact that something so technical can be done in less than ten minutes of flying time is the really impressive bit.

Helipro’s airlift service has proved hugely beneficial for construction companies working in hard-to-access areas because it enables them to get concrete and other building materials dropped directly at the site where they are working. It also means they don’t have to worry about the issues involved in erecting cranes, including the time it takes, and the requirement to clear the operation path which can include having to remove overhead wires.

Identifying limitations

Following an examination of the site location on a Google Earth map, a Helipro pilot is able to estimate the cost of a lift. The costs start at $2000 for a standard inner-city lift. Something more complex that requires a series of loads will cost more. A site inspection follows this to identify job limitations, aircraft and ground crew requirements, as well as possible traffic and pedestrian control requirements.

Each inner-city lifting job that Helipro conducts requires a thorough site inspection to identify jobspecific standards, in addition to the usual inner-city risks like apartment buildings, cars and pedestrians, as well as foreign object damage (objects that the rotor wash will pick up and fly around). Items like loose rubbish have the potential to get caught in the blades and damage the helicopter. These machines also create enough rotor wash to pick up items as large as full sheets of ply, so safety is paramount.

A site plan is then drafted by Helipro; the council and police are notified, and public notification; via a letter drop is conducted in the local area. Inner-city lifts are usually conducted early in the morning on the weekends, and during the school day in the suburbs to limit traffic and pedestrian issues.

Operations are fully supported with experienced ground crew who have been comprehensively briefed on the site-specific safety issues, and have ground-to-air communications.

A helicopter hovering above a high-rise in the CBD is no doubt an unusual sight for most, but these flying machines are capable of a number of things that cranes, and other heavy load transportation methods that we are used to seeing in the city, are not.

The benefits of this aerial operation are being seen by a number of clients, and the demand for these services is increasing all the time. For further information visit www.helipro.co.nz