Bower Preps to Trek West
by R. Randall Padfield

Precisely at 1:22:20 p.m. on July 29, 1994, a red, white and blue Bell 206B-3 JetRanger with a world map painted on both sides of the fuselage touched down outside the Bell Helicopter Textron factory in Hurst, TX. With that landing - his 85th in 24-plus days - Ron Bower, president of Austin Jet International of Austin, TX, bettered by five days the record of the first round-the-world helicopter flight set 12 years earlier by Ross Perot Jr. And Jay Coburn in a Bell LongRanger. Just before that landing, someone radioed Bower and suggested he make a touch-and-go, do a one-eighty, and fly back around the world the other way. After 229 hours in the saddle, that was the last thing he wanted to do then, but now, two years later, it is exactly what he plans to do. "I learned a lot from the first trip," Bower told Aviation International News, "and I'm putting that knowledge to use on this next one." If the trip goes without a hitch, he'll break his own record by eight days. If it doesn't, the journey will still mark the first circumnavigation of the globe flown westbound in a helicopter.

Two Pilots This Time

In contrast to his first record voyage, which Bower flew solo in the single-engine JetRanger, he plans to fly the second attempt with another pilot, senior Bell Helicopter test pilot John Williams, in a larger, speedier, and dual-motored Bell 430. The faster expected average cruise speed of the Model 430 compared to the 206B-3 (121 kt v 100kt) will help combat anticipated headwinds - a prime disadvantage of flying westward in the northern middle latitudes. Average legs will be about 500 nmi (they were 400 nmi in the 206), three and a half legs are planned per day, and average daily flight time is expected to be 10.8 hours (Bower averaged 10 hours per day solo). One advantage of the westbound route is that, by traveling the same direction as the sun, the pilots will gain about 90 minutes of additional daylight each day. After being displayed at HeliExpo '96 in Dallas, TX, in February, the "Around the World '96" helicopter (N430Q, the second production Model 430) was flown back to Bell's facility in Mirabel, Quebec, for preparation for the long trip. It is skid-equipped to allow fuel to be carried in the sponsons (like the Bell 230, the 430 can be configured with either skids or wheels) and an extra 105-gal tank will be mounted between the cabin and the baggage compartment. Total fuel load will be about 400 gal. The crew has received approval from Bell to use the Model 430's external-load mgtow (9,300 lb) for the trip (normal mglow is 9,000 lb). While the crew plans to use long-range cruise speed (127kt) on the longer legs to take advantage of a total fuel burn of 80 phg. For shorter legs they will be able to cruise up to 147 kt at maximum continuous power (MCP). At MCP, the 430's two FADEC-controlled Allison 250-C40 turboshaft engines consume slightly less than 100 gph Bower said. For flight planning purposes the pilots have used an average ground speed of 121.5 kt. The single-pilot IFR capability of the Model 430, the size of its cabin, and the fact that two pilots will make the trip loads the odds in favor of success. Bower flew the 1994 voyage entirely under visual flight rules and adverse weather necessitated numerous small route changes, caused a few turnbacks, and cost him a whole day in eastern Siberia (which, as it turned out, provided him with a sorely needed day of rest after 19 days of solid flying). Although Bower and Williams still plan to fly VFR as much as possible, have IFR capability will give them an alternative when the weather turns bad. The "no-problems" flight plan calls for a 16-day trip with a total flight time of 173 hours. (For comparison, Bower's 1994 record trip took 24 days, four hours, and eight minutes and required 229.22 flight hours.)

Combating Fatigue

To combat the fatigue caused by such a grueling schedule, the pilots plan to take turns at the controls and to use a custom-made bunk in the 430's cabin for "NASA naps" during the flight. "NASA naps," explained Bower, are one of the sleep strategies to emerge from research in aircrew fatigue by Dr. Mark Rosekind of NASA Ames, CA. Rosekind has conducted in-flight tests of long-haul airline crews, monitoring their reaction times with and without in-flight naps. He found that a 40 to 45 minute nap is the best for reviving alertness without the unwanted side effect of causing excessive drowsiness upon wakening. Bower and Rosekind met at the National Business Aircraft Association's 1995 International Operations Conference, where both were speaking. As a result of that meeting, the Bower/Williams flight will add data to Rosekind's research in fatigue countermeasures. Each pilot will continuously wear a small activity-monitoring device ("smaller than a matchbox," said Bower) on one wrist. Data from the device will be downloaded into a small computer. In addition, the pilots will use a performance test device to take a reaction-time text three times a day and maintain an electronic diary documenting such things as wakeup time and quality of sleep. Rosekind is preparing a schedule to tell the pilots the best times to take NASA naps and consume coffee to help them counteract the effects of fatigue. Bower said they will not be napping during the overwater portions of the trip and expects "the turboprop airplane-like ride of the 430" to be much less fatiguing than the ride in the JetRanger.

Dual-Pilot IFR Instrumentation

Like the 1994 circumnavigation, this year's trip will make use of the latest in navigation and communications technology. N430Q's cockpit is configured with Bell's off-the-shelf dual-pilot IFR instrumentation package (although it can be flown single-pilot IFR) and includes an AlliedSignal Bendix/King KFC 500 autopilot, King Gold Crown III navcom equipment, and Rogerson Aircraft four-tube EFIS and integrated instrument display system (IIDS). Factory options also installed are a King RDR 2000 weather radar (a luxury Bower didn't have in the JetRanger), a King KLN90B GPS, a King KRA 405 radar altimeter, a King KIIF990 HF radio, snow baffles, a heated glass windshield, an auxiliary fuel system and an environmental control system. After factory delivery of the helicopter, Austin Jet International will install an RMS Flitesoft moving map, a Teldix non-moving map, a Thrane and Thrane-C satcom, a Shadin fuel and air data computer, and the custom 105-gal auxiliary cabin fuel tank built by Fargo Manufacturing. Bose active-noise-reduction headsets will be worn by the crew.

Automatic position reporting, using data from the KLN 90B GPS, will be accomplished using Inmarsat Aero-C, the same data communications system used during the 1994 voyage. "The system has become much more user-friendly," said Bower. "The software side has become more sophisticated and the hardware is more rugged." The team hopes to carry a digital camera so they can take photos en route and then transmit them via the satellite system. Work is in progress to set up a World Wide Web page so Internet users can check N430Q's latest position reports and messages. Bower said the team is also evaluating satphones, but will probably settle for one in a briefcase rather than one integral to the aircraft. "The main reason for carrying a satphone would be to improve communications while on the ground, but we may be able to use it in flight as well," he said. "The briefcase has a compass in it that helps you point the antenna toward a satellite. Since we will be flying westbound in the northern hemisphere and the satellites are above the equator, we may be able to lock o to a satellite in flight by aiming the antenna out the 430's big side window. But we won't know if this works until we actually try it." With the goal of creating a documentary film of the trip, a cameraman, John Wood of Videosha Productions, will either ride on board or meet the helicopter at as many locations as possible. Small "ice cube" videocams will be mounted inside the aircraft and the team is looking for someone with a Cessna Caravan willing to fly as a photo plane. When AIN caught up with Bower in late April, he and Williams had just finished Bell 430 ground training at FlightSafety International's Bell Learning Center, in Hurst, TX, which included training in the center's Bell 222/230 simulator. Earlier, two pilots ("We've been jointed at the hip for several weeks," said Bower) completed a day/night open-water survival course with Stark Survival, Panama City, FL; fatigue research training with NASA Ames at Moffitt Field, CA; and medical services training with MedLink in Phoenix, AZ. The week following the simulator training, they were at Bell's facility in Canada to check the progress of the helicopter and returned again in mid-May to fly it to Texas.

Launching from

The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) sanctioned flight is planned to start in Farnborough, England, on August 17 and generally follow the path of the previous trip, although the exact route is still being discussed. Bower said they will be "crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific in the Arctic regions, flying across the breadth of Russia, from the Bering Straits to St. Petersburg (making a total of 16 stops), and landing in a number of cities in Europe. "Total distance of the sanctioned route will be about 20,250 nmi. Expected to contribute to the probably success of the trip is Bower's familiarity with the route and the personal contacts he made at many locations during his 1994 venture. Williams also has extensive international experience, having flown in 55 countries. Both pilots are helicopter ATP/CFIs and flew with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Universal Weather in Houston, TX, will serve as a round-the-clock operations center and arrange for arrival services at each airport. Turnaround time at many ground stops is expected to be less than Bower experienced in 1994 because two pilots should be able to attend to required crew tasks (refueling, flight plan filing, customs forms, etc.) faster than one alone. To pre-position N430Q I the UK for the departure, Bower and Williams will fly the helicopter from Texas to Florida, up the east coast of the U.S. to Canada, and across the North Atlantic - a long shake-down cruise encompassing considerable over-water flight. They will rest I the UK for about a week while the helicopter undergoes a 100-hr inspection at Alan Mann Helicopters before heading back across the Atlantic, around the world, and if all goes well, into the FAI record book The penultimate stop before returning to the UK is scheduled for Brussels, Belgium, where Bower and Williams plan to pick up the other three members of the exclusive club of round-the-world helicopter pilots: Ross Perot Jr., Jay Coburn, and Australian Dick Smith (who, flying a Bell JetRanger solo, made the trip in two heats during the summers of 1982 and 1983). If the journey doesn't vary excessively from the "no problems" flight plan, all five should be sipping tea in England on the first or second day of the Farnborough Air Show.

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From Aviation International News. Reprinted with permission