quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Alas, we have no cheap Hispanic labour in the UK...

Sadly, if we had not been robbed of Trump, he probably could have arranged that.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:
Around here two guys with names like Jose & Manuel could frame up a concrete pad in the morning & have it poured & finished around lunch-time.

@ Tac: Are there such fellows in the UK?

Not for nothing, but those mats can't be cheap...

Alas, we have no cheap Hispanic labour in the UK...

cheap Polish labor....

That incident reminds me of me building a Lego ice cream truck for my grandson the other day. Soon he was frustrated that the roof came off and threw it and it came about half apart. Another 15 minutes of tedious reassembly.

All that crap coming loose and flying around could have resulted in loss of the aircraft.
Thankfully nothing hit the rotors.

quote:

Originally posted by mod29:
All that crap coming loose and flying around could have resulted in loss of the aircraft.
Thankfully nothing hit the rotors.

Nailed it. Crew was lucky the substandard/half-ass British helicopter mat didn't kill the crew and ruin a very spendy aircraft. They should have built it right the first time...looks like something built for RC aircraft.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-en...bridgeshire-56862258

Addenbrooke's Hospital's destroyed helipad site back in use

Air ambulances are able to land again at an NHS hospital that had its helipad destroyed by the draught of a departing military aircraft.

The landing site at Addenbrooke's in Cambridge was damaged as a USAF CV22 Osprey took off on Wednesday while carrying out medical transfer training.

Air ambulances had to be temporarily diverted to Cambridge City Airport.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed they could now land again "close to the usual" site.

After the structure was thrown into the air by the aircraft, air ambulances would land at the airport where patients could be transferred to road ambulances for the three-mile (4.8km) journey to the hospital with critical care staff on board.

The helipad site has since been cleared of debris and safety checks were carried out, meaning aircraft could now land on nearby area of grass.

The surface of the helipad is due to be replaced.

The Osprey was based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and a US Air Force post on Facebook ahead of the flight on Wednesday said: "Do not be concerned as training is conducted today".

So they had to land 3 miles away at an airport, because they couldn't land in the grass like the Osprey did?

What kind of pansy helicopters are they using over there?

Makes me think of the Three Little Pigs.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
So they had to land 3 miles away at an airport, because they couldn't land in the grass like the Osprey did?

What kind of pansy helicopters are they using over there?

The lifted pad was a temporary structure - situated nearer the hospital access than the permanent concrete pads.

Quote -
The NHS East of England Trauma Network is pleased to announce that a temporary helipad will be laid at Addenbrooke’s Hospital as the next step in enhancing care for the most seriously injured people across the region. This solution has been made possible by close partnership working between the hospital, ambulance service, air ambulance trusts and the land owners, Pembertons. The temporary helipad will be laid as close as possible to the Emergency Department (ED), but will still require patients to be transferred from the helicopter to ED by land ambulance. It comprises a matting system laid on the ground. The laying of the temporary helipad follows the introduction of the Network, which links all hospitals together to improve the way in which seriously injured people are cared for and includes making Addenbrooke’s Hospital the Major Trauma Centre for the region. Whilst the current arrangements for transferring patients who have arrived by air ambulance at the Major Trauma Centre are considered to be safe, the temporary helipad means that access to the hospital can be shortened even further for patients who need it most. Read more at https://helihub.com/2013/01/01...denbrookes-hospital/

End Quote.

Y'see, that in spite of the location among one of THE most heavily-populated areas of the UK, militarily-speaking, almost 100% of all helo flights use air-ambulance-sized helos, and not humungous military stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by a1abdj:
So they had to land 3 miles away at an airport, because they couldn't land in the grass like the Osprey did?

What kind of pansy helicopters are they using over there?

Basically, all medical choppers in UK looks exactly like YOUR medical/police choppers. Many ARE American.

The lifted pad was a temporary structure - situated nearer the hospital access than the permanent concrete pads.

Quote -
The NHS East of England Trauma Network is pleased to announce that a temporary helipad will be laid at Addenbrooke’s Hospital as the next step in enhancing care for the most seriously injured people across the region. This solution has been made possible by close partnership working between the hospital, ambulance service, air ambulance trusts and the land owners, Pembertons. The temporary helipad will be laid as close as possible to the Emergency Department (ED), but will still require patients to be transferred from the helicopter to ED by land ambulance. It comprises a matting system laid on the ground. The laying of the temporary helipad follows the introduction of the Network, which links all hospitals together to improve the way in which seriously injured people are cared for and includes making Addenbrooke’s Hospital the Major Trauma Centre for the region. Whilst the current arrangements for transferring patients who have arrived by air ambulance at the Major Trauma Centre are considered to be safe, the temporary helipad means that access to the hospital can be shortened even further for patients who need it most. Read more at https://helihub.com/2013/01/01...denbrookes-hospital/

End Quote.

Y'see, that in spite of the location among one of THE most heavily-populated areas of the UK, militarily-speaking, almost 100% of all helo flights use air-ambulance-sized helos, and not humungous military stuff.

The Osprey is pretty badass...and that is one very poorly constructed helipad. Helicopter operations produce downdrafts...if you're going to build something for helicopters to land on or near, that construction had better be able to withstand said downdrafts. We use helicopters for medical transport pretty regularly around here....they set them down on fields, roads, parking lots...you name it. They kick up some dust and throw rocks and sticks around, but I've never seen anything like that happen. All of our designated landing pads at the hospitals are asphalt or poured concrete, though. They're lucky that thing didn't take the aircraft out when it came off the ground, and should be grateful that the Osprey removed it for them so they can build a proper pad that won't endanger future crews.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
The Osprey is pretty badass...and that is one very poorly constructed helipad. Helicopter operations produce downdrafts...if you're going to build something for helicopters to land on or near, that construction had better be able to withstand said downdrafts. We use helicopters for medical transport pretty regularly around here....they set them down on fields, roads, parking lots...you name it. They kick up some dust and throw rocks and sticks around, but I've never seen anything like that happen. All of our designated landing pads at the hospitals are asphalt or poured concrete, though. They're lucky that thing didn't take the aircraft out when it came off the ground, and should be grateful that the Osprey removed it for them so they can build a proper pad that won't endanger future crews.

Like you, I've never seen a helipad like that BEFORE, made of what appears to be patio matting. In defence I'd like to point out that it is in daily use by the usual size of medi-choppers, and has been since 2013.

If it's what I think it is, or similar, it should just go back together without too much fuss. I'm sure some of the connector tabs may have broke off depending on what type it is, but it'll still work.

It didn't look like the perforated style like they use for sports courts, which probably would have been better, in case wind did get under it like happened there. I've seen and handled the solid stuff, but don't have any real experience with it.

I just want a fleet of Ospreys and related stuff/crew.

Step 1 when I win the title of World President.

Step 2 is to ban all advertising.

It'll be glorious.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
So they had to land 3 miles away at an airport, because they couldn't land in the grass like the Osprey did?

What kind of pansy helicopters are they using over there?

Read this part of the post above yours again:

quote:

The helipad site has since been cleared of debris and safety checks were carried out, meaning aircraft could now land on nearby area of grass.

The surface of the helipad is due to be replaced.

They couldn't land in the grass because they were worried about pieces of the erstwhile helipad hiding in the grass getting blown into the air by rotor wash and hitting the rotors or getting sucked into the engines.

Once they cleaned up the location they went back to landing in the grass even though the mat hasn't been replaced yet.

quote:

They couldn't land in the grass because they were worried about pieces of the erstwhile helipad hiding in the grass getting blown into the air by rotor wash and hitting the rotors or getting sucked into the engines.

There was plenty of other grassy area directly around the hospital. I'm trying to figure out why 3 miles away made more sense than a few hundred feet another direction.

Maybe in the UK helicopters are prohibited from landing anywhere besides an authorized helipad.