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News from the Dart Lifeboat - RNLI |
The Dart ILB crews carried out intensive training in Start Bay with RAF Sea King helicopter 619 from Chivenor prior to the Dartmouth Regatta. A demonstration of the transfer techniques was in the Regatta programme to take place opposite the Boat Float on Regatta Saturday. Helicopter transfers form a vital area of training for all lifeboat crews.
All the volunteers, both helms and crews, have to pass their tests in the Sea Survival Pool at the Lifeboat College at Poole. In there , conditions of total darkness, drenching rain, strong winds and a noise volume so loud they cannot communicate can be reproduced before they are winched up from a D class ILB or liferaft in the heaving pool.
Training for helicopter transfers is vital as sometimes the condition of a casualty may deteriorate on passage, or the ILB may be a far safer option for the winchman to transfer to than negotiating the swinging mast and rigging of a yacht in heavy seas. UK pilots and winchmen are always on the starboard side of the helicopter and the French on the port side.
Transfers can be from a static craft or in formation. The helicopter weighs about nine tonnes and so has to generate that much lift to keep it in the air. When there is no wind the helicopter will require a lot more power, and consequently burn more fuel to maintain its position, than if it is turned into the wind or moving forward.
Continue reading "By the Dart" July 2009 edition... |
