H-34 Choctaw/Mission Equipment
SECTION 9. MISSION EQUIPMENT
Contents
1 Rescue Hoist
1.1 Overview
The S-58 is equipped with a rescue hoist mounted above the main cabin door. The hoist is powered by the utility hydraulic system with control circuits powered by the DC bus. A switch on the overhead panel labeled HOIST has positions CREW, OFF and PILOT to disabled the system, or give control the either the pilot or the crew. When the winch is not in use, it is recommended that it be kept in the fully retracted position with no load and the HOIST switch in the OFF position. This will disable the timer loop in the hoist script and reduce script lag.
1.2 Hoist Loads
1.2.1 Load Types
The hoist is capable of being used with the following loads:
| Device | Use |
|---|---|
| Harness | Used for deployment and retrieval of rescuers only. Never to be used for patients |
| Rescue Basket | Used for the rescue of uninjured or lightly injured patients. May also be used for the deployment and retrieval of divers or rescuers not trained in hoist operations. Do not use for patients with suspected back injuries or broken bones. |
| Stokes Basket | Used for the rescue of injured patients, may be used in conjunction with the harness to allow a rescuer to attend to the patient during the hoisting process |
| Rope | Used for the deployment of rescuers by rappelling. This is the preferred method of deployment on land or onto objects such as boats as the rescuer can control their own descent, which increases safety. It is also faster than lowering by hoist. |
1.2.2 Deploying
A load is generally deployed by clicking on it. For the rope and the harness, you can click on one of the bags in the storage area near the cabin door. The smaller yellow bag contains the harness, while the larger orange bag contains the rope. The rescue basket, stokes basket and forest penetrator are configured as a sit target as its default touch action, so a simple left click will result in sitting on that piece of equipment. If it is necessary to deploy rescue equipment while not sitting in the helicopter you can right click on it and select "Touch". If other rescue equipment is already deployed, the selected equipment will be swapped into the helicopter before the new equipment is swapped out. Clicking on the hook, will swap in all equipment. No more than 1m of cable should be deployed when swapping loads/out.
Except for the stokes basket, it is necessary to move into the helicopter before moving any rescue equipment back into the helicopter. This can be done by clicking on an empty seat in the helicopter to move into it. The stokes basket can be moved into the helicopter with a patient using it as long as the seats on the right side of the helicopter are in the up position. If a patient subsequently moves out of the stokes basket while the helicopter is in the aircraft, the stokes basket will be moved to the stowed position.
1.3 Hoist Operation
Warning: Due to SL physics limitations, the hoist loads must be kept at least 1 meter from any solid object or surface, failure to do so will endanger the aircraft
1.3.1 Pilot Control
To use the pilot winch controls (see Figure 2), the HOIST switch on the upper panel must be set to PILOT. The hoist controls are located on the cyclic on a rocker switch labeled HOIST. Press the top part of the switch to move the hoist up, and the bottom part to move it down.
A pilot hoist shear switch is located on the upper console. This switch can be used in the event the cable becomes entangled and must be cut free to ensure the safety of the helicopter. The switch has a guard which must be opened before activating the switch. The shear switch is active regardless of the position of the HOIST switch.
1.3.2 Crew Control
The crew winch controls (see Figure 3) are located to the right of the main cabin door. The HOIST MASTER switch on the upper panel must be set to CREW position to utilize them. The main control is a lever that can be tilted to the left or right to lower or raise the winch. The amount by which the lever is tilted will affect the speed of the winch.
The crew member occupying the hoist operator seat (kneeling by the main door), can also use key controls to control the winch. Use PgDown to lower the winch, and PgUp to raise it. These controls are only active when the hoist is in crew mode.
A crew hoist shear switch is located above and to the right of the hoist control. It is covered by a switch guard which must be opened to activate the shear. The shear panel also includes a shear test switch. To test the shear switch, first set the shear test switch to TEST. Then open and activate the shear switch. If the green test light comes on, then the shear circuitry is operating correctly. Be sure to turn off the shear switch and close the guard before turning off the test switch.
1.3.3 HUD Control
The winch HUD (see Figure 4) can be used to control the winch by any crew member in the the helicopter. In order for the HUD to be active, the helicopter must have hydraulic and electrical power, and the HOIST switch must be in the CREW position. The winch HUD has two buttons on the left side to raise and lower the winch. A digital display shows the current cable length and the current height above the ground. A dial on the right-hand side sets the winch speed. Finally an emergency cable cut button with a guard is located on the top portion of the HUD.
1.3.4 Winch Chat Commands
The winch can also be controlled through the chat commands. The HOIST switch must be set to CREW in order to use the chat commands. The available commands are:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| w n | Move which so that n meters of cable are deployed. |
| w u n | Move which up by n meters. |
| w d n | Move which down by n meters. |
| w cut | Cut the cable. |
| w + | Increase winch speed (by chat) |
| w - | Decrease winch speed (by chat) |
| w x | Stow all hook loads |
| w b | Deploy the rescue basket |
| w s | Deploy the stokes basket |
| w h | Deploy the harness |
| w sh | Deploy the harness and stokes basket together |
| w r | Deploy the rope |
1.4 Rappelling Rope
Unlike the baskets and harness, the rope attaches to a ring on the bottom of the winch. The rope can be used to quickly egress from the helicopter in a high hover to the surface. Click on the orange rope bag to deploy the rope.
Any passenger in the main cabin may use the rope by clicking on the rope or the winch body. This will position the user at the top of the rope in a rappelling pose. Use the down arrow to control descent. Once at the bottom, the user will automatically unsit from the rope and aircraft.
1.5 Hoist Limits
Operating Limits
- Duty Cycle: Continuous
- Maximum load: 300 pounds lowering, 600 pounds raising
- Maximum Airspeed with Hoist Cable Extended: 50 kias
