Daniel Riesen joined “Air Zermatt” in the early 2010s. “Air Zermatt”. Around the same time, the Swiss mountain flight and rescue company put its first of today’s two Bell 429 aircraft into operation. On the occasion of a Militär Aktuell visit to Valais Militär Aktuell author Georg Mader was able to spend a day with the former Heli Swiss (Kamow-32) and current “Air Zermatt” chief pilot. In preliminary and follow-up discussions with Daniel Riesen, we also talked about the mountain suitability and user-friendliness of the Bell 429, as well as the simulation part of training and night missions.
Mr. Riesen, practically all helicopter manufacturers today refer to the virtual element, i.e. simulators, which help to save costs. Does this also apply to the very special missions of “Air Zermatt”?
Yes, this is becoming increasingly important. As part of their training, new pilots and, according to EASE, us old guys go to the full-motion Level D flight simulator at Bell’s training center in Valencia, Spain, for ten hours once a year. At around 17 million Swiss francs (about 16 million euros), it probably costs more than some real helicopters. These simulators, which are commonly used today, are also very suitable for IFR and many other procedures – but only as long as the speed is above 30 knots. Only very few are capable of speeds below this, which is why our company has teamed up with Virtual Reality Motion (VRM for short). The VR goggles from VRM Switzerland have largely overcome this shortcoming. They are already good for mountain or underload training. Simulation also helps to meet the considerable requirements for check and training flights at significantly lower costs and with a reduced ecological footprint. But of course you can’t simulate everything. However, this is where our wide range of tasks becomes an advantage: if we do everything from tourist flights to material for mountain railway construction to rescue missions, we more or less get the training for the rescue missions en route. But the procurement planned in Austria will probably also include a simulator, right?
From what we hear, yes. But to what degree of realism will probably be a question of cost. How does the training of new helicopter pilots generally work here?
With more than 50,000 rescues in more than 50 years, we at “Air Zermatt” can contribute and pass on a great deal of our own knowledge in practical flight training. As already mentioned, thanks to the thousands of sightseeing flights, we have a better starting position here than companies that mainly fly underload flights. Young pilots with a completed commercial pilot’s license can build up their mountain extension (MOU) within a year thanks to the sightseeing, cab and heli-ski flights. The entire five-year training program includes the steps HESLO (Amm.: external load), HEC (people on the load rope), Zweimot (for Bell 429), HHO (winch) and NIT (night flight). It costs the company around a quarter of a million francs (around 240,000 euros), but then you can and know everything. But that is absolutely essential, because unpredictable weather, extreme temperatures, strong winds and missions at high altitudes at the helicopter’s performance limits leave no room for error. Perhaps also worth mentioning: We are currently in the process of being certified to train flight instructors.
Austria is now looking for a military helicopter to replace its Alouette III fleet, but is reliant on basic models of civilian designs in the light twin-engine segment. From a pilot’s point of view, what can be said about the Bell 429 in terms of performance – both positive and negative?
I don’t know if this is a negative aspect, but you could perhaps mention that the Bell 429 is twin-engined and therefore somewhat more sluggish than the singles in our fleet. In terms of take-off weight – in our configuration, mind you – we are at around 2,900 kilograms, including reserve at 3,175 kilograms. If we have to go to high altitudes of 4,500 or 4,600 meters for a rescue, then we unload personnel or material that is not absolutely necessary beforehand to get to around 2,650 kilograms. Then we can actually get up anywhere, even at temperatures of ISA+20, as we have just done on a mission. However, we are already flying far above the highest summit regions in Austria, so the Bell 429 should be a really good fit for your terrain and has already proven itself on our firefighting missions with a bucket or conformal container. What is of course also relevant in terms of performance is the “downwash” that the 429 produces. A lot of dust and small stones are whirled up. From our point of view, the 429 has reached an environmental hazard that we can still tolerate. However, depending on the location, an even more powerful or heavier helicopter could also endanger people and rescuers, and we don’t want to blow them over the ridge.
What can be said about the user-friendliness and the man-machine interface?
Well, when this type was introduced, it was definitely state-of-the-art, but today the cockpit would probably look a bit different. In the meantime, for example, the moving map has been supplemented or replaced by a tilting tablet twice the size with all the maps and current obstacles, but otherwise everything is very well and logically presented. All the schemes you can call up, fuel management or the weights and balances for CAT A and CAT B departures are all easy to remember and user-friendly. I did my type rating here in Zermatt within a week, so there were no problems getting used to it. And even after 530 hours on the type, 80 of them at night, I have no complaints.
Speaking of which, how can we imagine flying at night? You mentioned two night vision systems in the preliminary talk.
Of course, it’s hard to get used to at first and very steep. The dimensions, the speed, everything is very different. This was demonstrated again last night when we had a night winch rescue up on the Matterhorn. But the weather has to play along, otherwise it won’t work. As far as the NVG images are concerned, there is a white and a green image. The white one is generally clearer, but in winter we still mainly use the green image because the snow and ice reflect too much into the white phosphor-based image.
You can also read the report “Visiting Air Zermatt: Flying high with the Bell 429” and our interview with “Air Zermatt” CEO Gerold Biner.
Here you can also find the other articles in our series “5 questions to” and here for further news about the helicopter manufacturer Bell.
