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Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines

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Curves
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
All this technical talk is getting me hot.

And airsick.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
OK, after some wicked Googling, I found out the company featured in the picture above. They are Uni-Fly A/S I found some videos on the YouTubes of them doing this at the windfarm pictured above, which is in the North Sea:

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Leandro Oliva
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
they should use ospreys
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@Leandro Oliva: That's a very OLD osprey video. The current Ospreys in service work very well due to close interaction between Boeing and the units who service them. I saw a special on the Pentagon Channel interviewing the crews who service and fly them, and since the initial incidents, they have really worked out the "bugs".
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Leandro Oliva
01/06/09

@Tues_SteveDave: In other words, meticulous maintenance.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@Leandro Oliva: If you are saying that military crews weren't maintaining the Ospreys, in disregard to the pilots and crews, you might want to talk to some military technicians. So no, redesigning them. The crews tell them that this is a problem, and this might be how to fix it. Boeing looks at it, runs it by their people, and if it won't interfere with anything else, they implement it.
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bandit
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
1. This has got to take more than 5 minutes of flight time to perform, so it's more than 5 gallons of gas.

2. There is no reason why there wouldn't be interior stairs in the shaft, like on other high-rise power structures, so this photo must be an unusual situation or an unusual design.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@bandit: Considering they are just dropping off the techs, 5 minutes is all it should take any competent pilot to drop someone off. That helicopter doesn't look like it carries cargo, just people by the winch it is using.

Yes, there ARE stairs, but if you notice the pulley located on the platform, I wonder if this isn't for repairs that require items that can't be brought up through the shaft, either due to their size, or that they have to be installed from the exterior.
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Ryan Dearth
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
how much windpower does it take to run a helicopter long enough to fix a windmill? This seems a bit ironical
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@Ryan Dearth: As I said in a previous comment, that model helicopter uses ~1 gallon of fuel a minute. A gallon of gas has the potential to ultimately produce ~36 kWh. Those turbines produce 3.6 MW. So it produces about 1000 times the power the gallon of gas does every hour running at proper speed. So it's not very "ironical".
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strider_mt2k
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
Nice helicopter. Crazy ass work.

I got about 100 feet up a 300 foot tower and I got bad vertigo and came right the hell back down.

Aircraft? No problem. Structures? Problem.

It's me.
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KyleCaballo
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
I look at this picture and all I see is a huge waste of money.

I'll wager that the helicopter uses more energy in this maintenance procedure than that huge turbine generates in a year.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@KyleCaballo: And you'd be wrong. That helicopter uses 205litres of fuel an hour, which is about a gallon a minute. In the 5 minutes it would take to lift off, drop off the guy, land, start back up and pick him up and land again, he uses 5 gallons of fuel. You are honestly saying this turbine generates LESS power than 5 gallons of gas could in a year? Please research your comments.
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The Brain
01/06/09

@Tues_SteveDave: Yeah, that trip to the windmill in the middle of nowhere took 5 minutes. Please research YOUR comments.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@The Brain: Did you watch the video? The turbines are near a floating platform/support ship for easy access. The trip is shortened by that fact. You use the ship/platform to bring your personal and equipment out to a central point, then use the helo as a ferry. Cuts down travel time by HOURS.

But you're right. Since this turbine puts out 3.6 MW and a gallon of gas is ~36kW, the helicopter would need to use over 8000 gallons of fuel in 8 hours to beat out the turbine.
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92BuickLeSabre
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
Who is that guy?

Bond. James, from Bond Air Services.
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NerissaJobo
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
You know what's unnerving? Standing underneath one of those things with the blades spinning. Then imagining the blade flying off. Scary as hell.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@NerissaJobo:
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kexline
01/06/09

@Tues_SteveDave: Holy cow! Do you have any background on that -- was there a tornado, or just high winds?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@kexline: Giz posted on the story, but, IIRC, the thing that stops it from spinning too fast was busted. A wind storm came in, and it literally just spun faster than it was rated to spin, and it suffered a catastrophic failure. There was warning that this could happen, but it came after the storm was already inbound, so nobody was stupid enough to try and get up there to fix it, and which is why there were cameras on that ONE turbine.
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danmandle
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
Interesting... On Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, they show how they climb up the inside of the tower. These helicopter people must have been doing some quick, emergency repairs.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@danmandle: How did the scaffolding get up there is what I wonder. Surely that isn't up there all time, right?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
And Tom Cruise wanted us to believe flying a helicopter through a wind mill farm was dangerous. God Damn Tom Cruise.
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Pixlmonkey
01/06/09

@Tues_SteveDave:

And Xenu Bless Him.
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banmojo
01/06/09

@Pixlmonkey: dude, you made me snort my coke zero!! dammit!!!
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@banmojo: Coke Zero? Hey, if you want Coke, you're going to have to pay for it.
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WinduSucks
01/06/09

@Tues_SteveDave: "Back to the Future" reference (except it was Pepsi Free) FTW!
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
01/06/09

@WinduSucks: I know, but you have to work with what you got.
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Kaiser-Machead
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
You never really appreciate how huge these things are until some of us Lilliputian Sapiens climb aboard.
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discounteggroll
01/06/09

In reply to Helicopters Used to Fix Giant Wind Turbines
that's to scale?

DAMN
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