Medevac 112 with new shoes

vulcan57

Medevac 112 at Galway Hospital today still wearing the snow shoes used over the last couple of days or so in N. Ireland. She was one of 2 Irish Air Corps helicopters up there along with a RAF Chinook to help bring supplies to farms cut off by the Snow.

seven_eleven

Its great to see her out and being put to use. Any idea how often its called to transport patients? I'd hazard a guess of at least once a day.

vulcan57

seven_eleven wrote: »

Its great to see her out and being put to use. Any idea how often its called to transport patients? I'd hazard a guess of at least once a day.

She's in most days, twice today and there have been days when she's been in three or even four times.

seven_eleven

vulcan57 wrote: »

She's in most days, twice today and there have been days when she's been in three or even four times.

Clearly a desperately needed service then. I'm sure hr frequency and noise will draw a few complaints though.

Storm 10

seven_eleven wrote: »

Clearly a desperately needed service then. I'm sure hr frequency and noise will draw a few complaints though.

Quite the opposite, people like to see them, RESCUE 115 always stops traffic!

Oscar Bravo

Follow them on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Medevac-112/499155760107215?fref=ts

seven_eleven

Storm 10 wrote: »

Quite the opposite, people like to see them, RESCUE 115 always stops traffic!

Really? Strange seeing as most airfields in the country seem to plagued by wackjob neighbors yelling about planes flying at 1000ft over their homes.

How we ever operated without this service in the past I will never know. It definitely saves lives. Also, I'm curious to know what kind of facilities they have in Athlone?

Storm 10

seven_eleven wrote: »

Really? Strange seeing as most airfields in the country seem to plagued by wackjob neighbors yelling about planes flying at 1000ft over their homes.

How we ever operated without this service in the past I will never know. It definitely saves lives. Also, I'm curious to know what kind of facilities they have in Athlone?

Well it is a Hospital

Delta Kilo

seven_eleven wrote: »

Also, I'm curious to know what kind of facilities they have in Athlone?

Its just based at the army barracks in Athlone, flies down from Baldonnell very early in the AM and returns to baldonnell in the evening. It is a great service, think they can get to sligo in less than 11 minutes from Athlone!

They are very busy, I follow them on facebook and most days sees them called out about twice.

St. Leibowitz

vulcan57 wrote: »

Medevac 112 at Galway Hospital today still wearing the snow shoes used over the last couple of days or so in N. Ireland. She was one of 2 Irish Air Corps helicopters up there along with a RAF Chinook to help bring supplies to farms cut off by the Snow.

Lovely rotor blur. Well done, great photos.

flazio

I presume the wheels can't be retracted in flight while those things are on?

Duffer2010

Looking at those pics, reminds me of when I'd see the Dauphins with similar attached in some of the heavy snows of late eighties/early 90's.

vulcan57

flazio wrote: »

I presume the wheels can't be retracted in flight while those things are on?

I believe, although open to correction, that they can still retract the undercarriage and the Skis lie flush with the bottom of the fuselage.

Joe 90

Delta Kilo wrote: »

Its just based at the army barracks in Athlone, flies down from Baldonnell very early in the AM and returns to baldonnell in the evening. It is a great service, think they can get to sligo in less than 11 minutes from Athlone!

They are very busy, I follow them on facebook and most days sees them called out about twice.

If this is true it's one fast heli.

Approximate distance as the crow flies in miles from Athlone Ireland to Sligo Ireland is 107 miles or 172.16 Kilometers

Airwolf or Blue Thunder?:)

Peregrine

Joe 90 wrote: »

If this is true it's one fast heli.

Approximate distance as the crow flies in miles from Athlone Ireland to Sligo Ireland is 107 miles or 172.16 Kilometers

Airwolf or Blue Thunder?:)

It's not that far even in road distance :eek:

Displacement from Sligo town to Athlone town is 100km, but Athlone town to a point in county Sligo is less than 65km.

That's still 355kmph ground speed..must have been a huge tailwind

It's still not far from 11 mins to Co. Sligo, maybe 15-17 mins

burke027

vulcan57 wrote: »

I believe, although open to correction, that they can still retract the undercarriage and the Skis lie flush with the bottom of the fuselage.

You are incorrect there the undercarriage can't be retracted while slump pads(snow shoes) are fitted the reason medevac 112 is still wearing them if that they land in very soft ground and it stops a couple of ton weight of a Heli sinking into the ground.
I have first hand experience with medevac 112.

burke027

vulcan57 wrote: »

I believe, although open to correction, that they can still retract the undercarriage and the Skis lie flush with the bottom of the fuselage.

You are incorrect there the undercarriage can't be retracted while slump pads(snow shoes) are fitted the reason medevac 112 is still wearing them if that they land in very soft ground and it stops a couple of ton weight of a Heli sinking into the ground.
I have first hand experience with medevac 112.

vulcan57

burke027 wrote: »

You are incorrect there the undercarriage can't be retracted while slump pads(snow shoes) are fitted the reason medevac 112 is still wearing them if that they land in very soft ground and it stops a couple of ton weight of a Heli sinking into the ground.
I have first hand experience with medevac 112.

Thanks for the info Burke027 and I am only too happy to be corrected. Makes sense why you say they still have them.

Storm 10

Its a great service that medevac 112 provide, I hope that its going to be made a permanent operation, any news on this

burke027

Storm 10 wrote: »

Its a great service that medevac 112 provide, I hope that its going to be made a permanent operation, any news on this

At the min the word is to continue the service indefinitely. No word on it being changed in any shape or form