Dear Editor,
Mr. Learie Barclay proceeded to distort the facts in his letter captioned “This helicopter cannot carry a credible force and will be effectively limited to reconnaissance” (08.08.11) and included deliberate comments to embarrass the Government’s decision as the GDF Air Corps operates the low cost and proven law enforcement operated Bell 206 helicopters.
I am appalled about his comment that the government made a “knee jerk reaction to the explosion of crime and loss of life at the time.“ Mr. Barclay’s lack of respect for the government’s decision to replace aviation assets utilized by GDF Air Corps in the past should not go unchallenged. The government made the decision because helicopters work in crime fighting all around the world.
Presently various governments still continue to buy new and used Bell 206 helicopters, cheaper restricted category military surplus OH58 helicopters and in some cases piston engine helicopters like the R22 when the governments cannot afford to buy a new or used Bell 206 helicopter. All done in order to battle growing criminal challenges around the world.
I will list several of Mr. Barclays distorted facts included in his letter. There are as follows:
1. Mr. Barclay has inflated the operating costs of the Bell 206 BIII helicopter and stated it is about US $600 per hour to operate. This is totally untrue. Please see the attached 2008 Bell 206 operating costs available on the internet from Bell Helicopter. It states the operating costs for 2008 to be US $224 per hour after the fuel deduction of US $86.52 per hour. Where did Mr. Barclay get US $600 per hour? Even, if you include fuel costs it doesn’t reach US$600. The government doesn’t insure their helicopters, etc. – Mr. Barclay is playing with the numbers.
2. Mr. Barclay estimates the operational costs of the Bell 412 helicopter for his convenience. I would like to add that there is no need to estimate the operating costs of the Bell 412. It can be factually determined by the government, merely by taking the flight hours of the Bell 412 helicopter which totals approximately 4,500 total hours flown in 28 years and millions of US dollars in expenses including several engines, transmissions, major component and other changes. Once, these costs are released by the government, Mr. Barclay would see that the operating costs of the Bell 412 far exceed US$3,000 per hour for the several millions of US dollars spent on the Bell 412 helicopter over the years.
3. Mr. Barclay did not go on to state that the Bell 412 helicopter is older than the refurbished and newly certified Bell 206 helicopters.
4. Mr. Barclay did not mention that the Bell 206 helicopter can be flown at night by capable pilots with the required equipment. Mr. Barclay erroneously states that the Bell 206 cannot be flown at night.
5. Mr. Barclay stated that the Bell 206 BIII Jet Ranger helicopter is old and no longer in production. This is untrue because the Bell 206 has been in production since 1967 and will continue being produced until 2010 by Bell Helicopters. The decision to discontinue the Bell 206 Jet Ranger after 2010 deliveries is based on their decision to focus on the other helicopters in the product line that has a larger profit margin than the Bell 206 helicopters, this includes the Bell 407 and Bell 206 L4 helicopters which are all derivatives of the Bell 206 Jet Ranger. There are several movements afoot to demand that Bell Helicopters continue the manufacturing of the Bell 206 helicopter.
6. Mr. Barclay did not include in his statement that the equipment installed in the Bell 206 helicopters can be easily removed to increase the payload and carry 1+4 persons, depending on the mission type.
7. Mr. Barclay stated that the government buys parts from middle men and purchases inferior parts. This is a deliberate and disrespectful attempt to discredit the staff of Air Corps. I am sure Mr. Barclay has heard about the crimes and penalties associated with buying, selling or trading in bogus parts. He must report this matter to the relevant civil aviation authorities, if he knows that Air Corps is buying bogus and inferior parts. All parts are traceable and accompanied with documentation
Therefore, it’s easy to trace all parts installed on the helicopter. Where did Mr. Barclay get this misinformation? Since the Bell 412 is a general category helicopter, the parts are not military surplus and must be sourced from Bell or their suppliers. Over the years, the Bell 412 helicopter has cost the government so much of money to maintain, it would not surprise me, if various sources of credit had to be obtained through various suppliers in order to get parts when it was unable to fund cash purchases or obtain credit from factory or original equipment suppliers. I am sure that Mr. Barclay is aware of the fact that credit comes at a price and it’s not cheap. The real reason why the Bell 412 helicopter has such a high operating cost is because it takes such a long time to get funds (because of the expensive nature of Bell 412 parts) the helicopter sits on the grounds for months and years waiting for parts. The parts are finally bought and installed when funds are raised and then something else fails because the helicopter is not flown, underutilized, and often times unserviceable for such a long time. When the parts arrive, the pilots have been sitting on the ground for so long they must now be sent out to the Bell 412 Factory courses costing approximately US$20,000 each time in order for them to be re-oriented to operate the Bell 412 helicopter safely. This endless cycle continues several times per year at times at a tremendous cost to the taxpayers. The Bell 412 parts are not cheap and include major components (engines, transmissions, gear boxes, rotors, etc.) that can be sourced from only a few places for a hefty sum, often in the hundreds of thousands of US dollars. The Bell 412 helicopter has flown less than 4,500 hours in 28 years – it means that the helicopter operates only 160 hours per year. The government spends several hundred thousands of dollars per year to fly 160 hours per year waiting for search and rescue missions, medivacs and troop insertions.
How many troop insertions, rescue missions and medivacs were done in 28 years? How much money was spent? The cost to overhaul the Bell 412 engines is close to US$850,000 etc. In other words the parts for a multimillion dollar helicopter is not cheap. Mr. Barclay should apologise to the GDF Air Corps for stating the reason why the Bell 412 is so expensive to operate is because inferior parts are bought from middle men. This is not true. It’s the government to decide with the information at hand on file whether spending millions of US dollars on a helicopter is worthwhile to fly only a mere 160 hours per year, waiting for a troop insertion, rescue mission or medivac. The government will also have to decide whether it’s practical to fly it more at an operating cost of around US$3,000 per hour (based on the actual costs on record over the 28 years which can be easily verified by looking at the parts purchased and the prices paid, etc.).
8. Mr. Barclay did not include in his letter that once fuel is staged around the locations, the Bell 206 helicopter can carry 1+4 persons at all times and achieve the mission objectives. This is typical in all operating platforms of the Bell 206 helicopter in order to benefit from the affordable and cost effective operations.
9. Mr. Barclay did not state that the Bell 206 military version, the OH58 is available only as military surplus, sold as a restrictive category helicopter which cannot be commercially operated, cannot carry any non military personnel and cannot be commercially insured or licenced to commercially operate.
10. The Fuel Control Unit replacement and failure occurred after the engine mishap with the 100% contributing human factor. It must be noted that Fuel Control Unit failures can occur when the engine mishaps include fuel starvation or excess fuel insertion. Mr. Barclay tries to make out the replacement of the Fuel Control Unit was an independent component failure because of a defective component. This is not true.
11. The Bell 206 helicopters were flown in Guyana and operated by GDF Air Corps without any problems and didn’t have any stabilization issues or complaints. The multipurpose missions were accomplished in the two Bell 206 BII helicopters which are older and more under powered that the newly acquired two Bell 206 BIII helicopters.
12. Mr Barclay states because the Bell 206 helicopter is a single engine helicopter is should only be flown in urban areas. This is incorrect because the Bell 206 helicopters are operated in Alaska, the jungles of South America, Central America, etc. and various rugged areas since 1967. Also, the derivatives of the Bell 206 helicopter, the single engine Bell 206 L4s and single engine Bell 407 helicopters are operated in rugged, mountainous and other difficult areas. Mr. Barclay’s logic should then mean that the growing demand for the single engine Cessna Caravan aircraft around the world should not take place.
The single engine Cessna Caravan has a reliable single engine and is flown around the world in rugged and remote areas without any problems. The same applies for the reliable and dependable Rolls Royce Allison engine in the Bell 206 helicopter. This reliable engine enables the Bell 206 helicopter to boast the best safety record of any helicopter in the industry according to the NTSB statistics .
The Bell 206 helicopter has logged more than 38 million flight hours on over 7,300 aircraft and still has a proven track record with mission flexibility, low operating and maintenance costs. The Bell 206 helicopter is also the most survivable, supportable, mission capable helicopter for the money.
13. Mr. Barclay states that the Bell 206 has no utility purpose and value. This is not true. He plays with the numbers and does not state the fact that the Bell 206 helicopter can lift external loads up to 1,500 lbs, and with aft seats removed, the cabin can accommodate up to 1,400 lbs of cargo. The Bell 206 can operate at speeds up to 115 kts (213 kph) and a range of 374 nm (694 km). Over the years, the two Bell 206 helicopters previously owned by the GDF Air Corps provided utility support around the country and performed well.
Mr. Barclay fails to mention several key and important points which must be taken into consideration, they include:
1. Two Bell 206 helicopters were successfully operated by the GDF many years ago. One Bell 206 helicopter operated by the government was destroyed in a crash and the other one sold because it was cannibalized for parts to support the Bell 206 helicopter that later crashed.
They were highly utilized helicopters in various multipurpose roles, including surveillance, aerial patrol, slinging, medivac, etc.
2. The fact that the government has a budget and there is no other affordable helicopter to substitute for the two recently acquired Bell 206. This enabled immediate operation, maintenance and readily available support without a learning curve.
3. The Bell 206 helicopter doesn’t have a life limited airframe. Mr. Barclay attempts to discredit the Bell 206 helicopter airframe hours because the current airframe hours is wrong. There are several Bell 206 helicopters operating beyond 18,000 flight hours. If it took the Bell 412, 28 years to fly 4,500 hours then we can safely say that Bell 206 helicopters will be around far beyond 2036 with only an additional 4,500 hours added to their airframe, well below the current and already proven 18,000 flight hours on several Bell 206 helicopters still operating.
4. The local talent exists at Air Corps to fly, support and maintain the cost effective and low cost Bell 206 helicopter which has been operated in the past by the GDF.
5. Other Caribbean governments operating new helicopters receive significant funding from the international entities, including the US government, etc. to perform anti narcotic patrols, drug interdiction missions, etc. Therefore, their operations are heavily subsidized and supported in order to assist the Caribbean governments.
6. The Bell 412 helicopter needs re-wiring in order to replace the outdated and breaking, cracking and failing wiring harness which has been the cause of several inflight fires in the past. The total cost to re-wire the Bell 412 helicopter will be close to US$1,000,000 to cover the parts, labour, re-certification, etc. and might not be able to be done in Guyana.
7. The Bell 412 helicopter will never be able to operate on any offshore or international contracts because all offshore helicopters must be ten years old or newer.
The government will obviously have to make the necessary determination in dollars and cents whether a Bell 412 helicopter can be maintained and parked to wait for a search and rescue mission (occurring less than 5 times per year), troop transportation to remote areas and medivac – all occurring very infrequently.
The down side will be that it will take over US $100,000 – $300,000 per year or more in expenses to keep the Bell 412 on standby for these events and substantially more if operated (US$3,000 per hour based on current operating cost experienced over the past 28 years) and even more, if a part breaks and needs replacement.
I would like to conclude by saying that Mr. Learie Barclay should apologise to the hard working members of the GDF Air Corps and the Government of Guyana for his reckless and provocative statements.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Haynes
