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I'm torn on this one, its embarassing for the military but, at least it makes less of a chance that a Sea King drops out of the sky. :-[ :'(
Navy forced to use private helicopters
Civilian choppers do supply runs because Sea Kings too old, costly
ABOARD HMCS ATHABASKAN - Canada's navy has hired a private contractor to fly civilian helicopters out to its ships at sea, as a way of reducing the flying pressures on the military's aging Sea Kings.
In a major naval training exercise this month, the navy hired an American civilian helicopter service to make transport flights to the four helicopter-carrying Canadian ships, sailing roughly 100 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia.
Civilian helicopters and pilots have been ferrying people, mail and other supplies to and from the fleet -- creating the unusual spectacle of shiny, blue Bell helicopters landing on the decks of naval ships in the midst of military operations.
The head of Canada's East Coast fleet says it's the first case he knows of in which civilian helicopters have been hired to service the navy's ships.
"I'm trying to save money," says Commodore Tyrone Pile, "and I'm trying to save Sea King flying hours, by contracting a helo-delivery service.
"We've had a lot of years of flying and landing off the backs of our ships. I know Coast Guard and other navy helicopters have landed on our ships. This could be a first for private helicopters," he said.
Commodore Pile says he's not afraid to let the Sea Kings fly, but because their old age makes them so expensive to maintain and operate, he wants to limit their time in the air to tactical training and other non-transport duties.
"Every training day is extremely valuable to me," he says. "I only have so many days per year to get out here and do these kinds of exercises. I've only got so many resources to train my ship's crews, and my Sea King crews.
"So instead of ferrying personnel, mail and cargo, the (Sea Kings) are out there doing the pointy end of their business -- tactics, operations related to hunting, finding and destroying submarines, and providing surveillance."
Canada's military has increasingly been contracting out non-combat business to civilian companies in recent years. Commodore Pile says the U.S. navy also uses the same civilian helicopter service for its ships.
However, contracting civilian companies to do the work of the military can create problems. Four years ago, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan -- the flagship commanding the navy's exercises this month -- was itself ordered to intercept a civilian freighter, the GTS Katie, after the ship was contracted by the federal government to bring hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment back to Canada from Kosovo.
When the freighter refused to deliver the military gear during a contractual dispute among its owners, Canada was forced to intercept and take command of the ship at sea.
In Norfolk this month, the civilian helicopter service also had reliability problems. During a two-day storm in the midst of the naval exercise, the contractor shut down flights to the fleet because the company was unwilling to let its pilots fly during the gale. The navy was forced to put its Sea Kings back into the air, on transport duty, until the weather cleared.
The Conservative government said it would purchase a fleet of 50 EH-101 helicopters to replace the Sea Kings more than a decade ago, but the Chretien government scrapped the program when it came to power in 1993.
The Martin government announced this summer it planned to buy 28 new Sikorsky ship-borne maritime helicopters, but the first of those aircraft -- described by Defence Minister Bill Graham as "the right helicopter for the Canadian Forces at the best price for Canadians" -- will not be delivered until 2008, and it will be several years after that before the new fleet was phased in and Sea Kings were completely decommissioned.
So precarious is the state of some Sea Kings that during a flight this month, as journalists and academics were being flown to sea to observe the training exercises off Virginia, a Sea King crewmember asked passengers to be on the lookout for signs of "leaking fluid" coming from inside the aircraft.
"Let us know," he said, "if you see any pink fluids leaking into the cabin."
Navy forced to use private helicopters
Civilian choppers do supply runs because Sea Kings too old, costly
ABOARD HMCS ATHABASKAN - Canada's navy has hired a private contractor to fly civilian helicopters out to its ships at sea, as a way of reducing the flying pressures on the military's aging Sea Kings.
In a major naval training exercise this month, the navy hired an American civilian helicopter service to make transport flights to the four helicopter-carrying Canadian ships, sailing roughly 100 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia.
Civilian helicopters and pilots have been ferrying people, mail and other supplies to and from the fleet -- creating the unusual spectacle of shiny, blue Bell helicopters landing on the decks of naval ships in the midst of military operations.
The head of Canada's East Coast fleet says it's the first case he knows of in which civilian helicopters have been hired to service the navy's ships.
"I'm trying to save money," says Commodore Tyrone Pile, "and I'm trying to save Sea King flying hours, by contracting a helo-delivery service.
"We've had a lot of years of flying and landing off the backs of our ships. I know Coast Guard and other navy helicopters have landed on our ships. This could be a first for private helicopters," he said.
Commodore Pile says he's not afraid to let the Sea Kings fly, but because their old age makes them so expensive to maintain and operate, he wants to limit their time in the air to tactical training and other non-transport duties.
"Every training day is extremely valuable to me," he says. "I only have so many days per year to get out here and do these kinds of exercises. I've only got so many resources to train my ship's crews, and my Sea King crews.
"So instead of ferrying personnel, mail and cargo, the (Sea Kings) are out there doing the pointy end of their business -- tactics, operations related to hunting, finding and destroying submarines, and providing surveillance."
Canada's military has increasingly been contracting out non-combat business to civilian companies in recent years. Commodore Pile says the U.S. navy also uses the same civilian helicopter service for its ships.
However, contracting civilian companies to do the work of the military can create problems. Four years ago, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan -- the flagship commanding the navy's exercises this month -- was itself ordered to intercept a civilian freighter, the GTS Katie, after the ship was contracted by the federal government to bring hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment back to Canada from Kosovo.
When the freighter refused to deliver the military gear during a contractual dispute among its owners, Canada was forced to intercept and take command of the ship at sea.
In Norfolk this month, the civilian helicopter service also had reliability problems. During a two-day storm in the midst of the naval exercise, the contractor shut down flights to the fleet because the company was unwilling to let its pilots fly during the gale. The navy was forced to put its Sea Kings back into the air, on transport duty, until the weather cleared.
The Conservative government said it would purchase a fleet of 50 EH-101 helicopters to replace the Sea Kings more than a decade ago, but the Chretien government scrapped the program when it came to power in 1993.
The Martin government announced this summer it planned to buy 28 new Sikorsky ship-borne maritime helicopters, but the first of those aircraft -- described by Defence Minister Bill Graham as "the right helicopter for the Canadian Forces at the best price for Canadians" -- will not be delivered until 2008, and it will be several years after that before the new fleet was phased in and Sea Kings were completely decommissioned.
So precarious is the state of some Sea Kings that during a flight this month, as journalists and academics were being flown to sea to observe the training exercises off Virginia, a Sea King crewmember asked passengers to be on the lookout for signs of "leaking fluid" coming from inside the aircraft.
"Let us know," he said, "if you see any pink fluids leaking into the cabin."
