Rescue Hoist Ground Support Equipment

The current practice for tensioning and load checking the cable on the rescue hoist is shown. It is a very expensive process and it can sometimes shock load the cable, thus requiring replacement.

Additionally, poor ground handling leads to high costs, lost opportunities, and possible catastrophic consequences.

Increased safety is a result from the benefits of the equipment and provides other benefits such as eliminating the necessity of sitting in a hover to reseat or condition the cable, especially when in a hostile environment.  The use of the equipment eliminates the possibility of a swinging, or spinning, load or the possibility of the cable getting damaged as a result of shock loading while slinging a dead weight.

As a result of using the Rescue Hoist Ground Support Equipment (RHGSE), you will see a reduction in fuel consumption and in blade and man hours.

Historically, hoist failures occur when the hoist is run under no load and the cable gets loose on the drum and fouls the entire mechanism.  Since the tensioning systems that are in use today only provide approximately 7 to 20 lbs of force on the cable, the cable tensioning system can easily be overcome and the cable loosens up on the drum. This normally will not happen in flight, but happens with regularity when the hoist is operated on the ground during inspections, maintenance, etc.

When a hoist cable loosens and fouls the hoist, the resulting damage can cost thousands of dollars to repair and means significant time with the OEM. In addition, if the cable miswraps on the lower layers when winding, and the operator does not see the miswrap, the cable can foul in flight putting the crew and the mission in jeopardy.

The RHGSE maintains positive manual tension on the cable as it extends and applies a heavy load over the length as it retracts while maintaining a clean and tight cable storage on the rescue hoist drum.

The RHGSE keeps the cable off the ground and in a protective enclosure during hoist maintenance. While doing these maintenance tasks human hands do not need to touch the cable while it is wound inside a drum to be cleaned; thus, protecting the maintainers hands and avoiding any possibility of getting the hands entangled in the cable. The cable is collected in a rotating tub and spooler system, and accommodates any rescue hook and bumper configuration.

Allows one person to perform all inspections and maintenance operations in a minimum amount of time, while the hook and bearing are still attached to the cable.

Magnetic Rescue Hoist Wire Rope Inspection System (MagSens)

The MagSens can be purchased separately or supplied as an integral part with any of the RHGSE model.   The MagSens system provides the rescue hoist maintainer the capability to measure and record locations of defects over it’s installed life.

The Hydraulic RHGSE was designed for the high end and heavy SAR users in mind. It allows continual use without over heating.

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The Electric RHGSE was designed to add the capability to automatically extend the rescue hoist cable on the manual RHGSE using electrical power. The Electric RHGSE can extend the cable with a minimum of 40 lbs on the cable while maintaining a positive tension on the cable when extending and preventing the rescue hoist from squeezing the outer strands excessively, thus delaying the unwinding of the outer strands on the rescue hoist cable.  The Electric RHGSE uses single phase AC power in the hanger or from the aircraft and still retains the capability to operate remotely using human power when required.

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