Helicopter Victory in Simulation Space

During the competition, the helicopter crews had to accomplish the tasks of four flight disciplines requiring intensive teamwork, namely successful landing on terrain after engine failure, with minimum descent speed at landing; suppression of engine fire in a helicopter with maximum take-off load, and then precision airplane- like landing in a designated zone; taking off in dense fog (with zero-meter cloud base and visibility), climbing to a height of 100 meters, and then flying for 30 seconds with pre-set direction and altitude without changing the flight path; and flying all the way down on an aerial racetrack inspired by the Red Bull Air Race in the shortest time possible.

Besides, the onboard technicians of the helicopters also had opportunity to compete with each other in manual flight during the “Red Bull Air Race". Beyond the precision of flying techniques, they were given scores for the professional operation of the aircraft, compliance with the emergency standard operating procedures and the level of crew resource management (CRM).

The Hungarian helicopter crews achieved outstanding results at the competition. The team composed of Lt.-Col. Krisztián Kovács, Maj. Péter Stark and WO Ferenc Kaliba won the overall competition by giving an almost flawless performance. With his 47km/h descent speed, Maj. Péter Stark became champion of the flight discipline “landing with engines offline". WO Sándor Böröczfi was placed third in the onboard technician flying competition.

The team including Lt.-Col. Tibor Balla, Maj. Szilárd Bakó and WO Sándor Böröczfi was placed fourth at the competition.

Photos: HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base and archives