Over the horizon

Former Pupils’ Section those flights which have provided a lifeline to tens of thousands of workers over the last 40-plus years.

Typically, 12 or 19 passengers are transported in what are very technically referred to as ‘medium’ or ‘large’ helicopters respectively, travelling out to destinations ranging between 40 and 200 miles out of Aberdeen, the Shetland Islands, Norwich, Blackpool or Humberside. At speeds in the region of 140mph, outbound flights take anywhere between ten minutes and two hours, with weather (and especially strong winds) often heavily influencing the flight times.

Costing tens of millions of pounds per airframe, modern helicopters have many of the sophisticated autopilot and navigation systems found in present day airliners, meaning that the pilots no longer have to spend the flight ‘welded’ to the flight controls. ‘Flying by hand’ is these days reserved for take-offs and landings, with the autopilot taking up the burden at other times, reducing fatigue for the crew (and – let’s be honest – allowing them to enjoy their lunch whilst looking out of the window). The North Sea is renowned worldwide for providing a very challenging aviation environment, but modern aircraft are built to withstand freezing temperatures, lightning strikes and severe turbulence, and can safely operate in near zero visibilities. Essential on those days when the haar rolls in!

Old hands might describe flying offshore as being 95% boredom, interspersed with 5% hard work; after all, the waves and seagulls look pretty similar on a clear day whether you’re 80 miles west of Shetland or 150 miles east of Newcastle, but that hugely undersells the satisfaction of safely delivering passengers to work and returning them home in whatever conditions prevail - and every day sitting in an office with an unrivalled and incredible view of a unique part of the world. When the sun shines brightly and the wind is calm, an all-round view of up to 70 miles is a privilege. Arriving in an oil field with its cluster of platforms, ‘homes’ to many and each adorned with a bright flare-stack glowing in a dim early morning or evening light, evokes a warming sense of coming across a remote, close-knit and privately hidden highland community after a long journey through the hills. At the other end of the comfort scale, landing a 12-tonne helicopter at night, without a visible horizon, in a 50mph snowstorm, on a helideck that measures 70ft square, as it heaves up and down through almost 20 feet is undeniably demanding and rewarding in equal measure.

Throughout the recent pandemic, helicopters have played a critical role in serving the offshore community, ensuring ‘business as usual’ for the energy industry and responding immediately to any suspected cases of Covid-19 discovered offshore; each time returning ‘patients’ to the beach for the necessary medical attention or isolation. This continued activity meant that for a number of weeks at the height of the national lockdown, Aberdeen Airport claimed a record of being busier than Heathrow where flight numbers had been significantly reduced.

The mechanical complexity of helicopters means that approximately eight hours of maintenance is required for every hour flown and whilst pilots take approximately 18 months to train, engineers’ apprenticeships take several years to gain the required levels of technical knowledge and hands-on experience. Dedicated engineering teams are on shift 24 hours a day to ensure that aircraft are fit and healthy for flight and whilst pilots are often seen as having the ‘headline’ role in aviation, the maintenance professionals are truly the unsung heroes of the industry.

Generations of offshore aviation professionals have made northeast Scotland home and, with huge changes in industry afoot, some may be wondering what is in store in the coming years. The development of new technologies such as electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (or eVTOLs as they are known) runs at a pace similar to the technological developments during the 1960s ‘space race’, and is set to transform the industry, with the momentum further driven by the global agenda to reduce carbon emissions. Discussions over the use of sustainable fuels across aviation will inevitably include helicopters – it’s amazing what can be run on recycled ‘chip oil’ after all!

Small, unmanned aircraft (where the pilot is literally sitting in a shed on land) are flying in the North Sea today completing tasks such as methane detection using highly sophisticated sensors to detect leaks in underwater pipelines. Indeed, as the energy industry itself shifts towards renewable sources, it is easy to imagine a future without today’s recognisable helicopters flying regularly overhead. But given their unique ability to take-off and land on the proverbial ‘postage stamp’, their resilience in our all too changeable weather conditions and their essential ability to provide lifesaving search and rescue services to the 12,000 folks currently working offshore in the UK, it’s likely that they’ll be around in one form or another, serving ageing oil platforms or newly built windfarms, for some time to come.

The helicopters we will see tomorrow may be built of different materials, run on different power sources and be manned by one instead of two pilots - some may even fly autonomously - but they will undoubtedly continue to provide a uniquely rewarding professional career in a very unique environment to those budding engineers and passionate aviators of the future. Exciting possibilities lie over the horizon…

More Centenaries

Last year’s Magazine contained an account of the work of Prof. John McLeod (1883-93) on the discovery of insulin. It seems appropriate now to record other significant events in which Former Pupils were involved a hundred years ago this year.