A novel concept in dropping underslung loads without assistance from the ground has passed hangar testing and is being readied for flight trials.
Amsafe - a UK performance-fabrics specialist that traces its history back 800 years to the provision of ropes for King John's navy and is still a major supplier of ropes, slings and nets to the UK Royal Navy - is set to start flight trials next year with the German air force, which has bought 86 of the cockpit-controlled release systems for use on Eurocopter NH90s.
Business-development manager Mark Hennessy says Quick Drop, claimed to be the first complete aircrew-controlled system qualified for military use, is being tested with an Amsafe sling, but could accommodate other load-carrying devices and be adapted for use with any helicopter. Quick Drop's appeal to military users is speed, he says; a Chinook helicopter, for example, burns fuel at the rate of $40 a second at Afghanistan fuel prices.
But civil operators would also benefit from being able to deposit supplies in remote areas in advance of the arrival of ground-based personnel, he says.
Source: Flight International
