Chinese helicopter's protective life-saving equipment problem

1 The role of helicopters in disaster relief and rescue.

In the Wenchuan Earthquake disaster relief, helicopters showed many unique advantages. It can take off, land and fly vertically, and there are no special requirements for landing sites. Can be suspended in the air and around the axis (in situ rotation ) , can fly in any direction, low-altitude performance. Helicopters are often used to carry large-scale rescue machinery and equipment, relief supplies, wounded and wounded personnel, aerial photography, terrain exploration, disaster exploration, and communications.

In Wenchuan earthquake rescue. The helicopters that are put into use mainly include the following types:

(1) Heavy-duty helicopters that are greater than or equal to 20 tons. Such as meters 26 . It is the largest helicopter in the world today. The maximum internal and external load is 20 tons. There are 2 meters 26 put into earthquake relief. One of them is Russia's emergency transfer from its Far East region.

In Mianyang, Sichuan, the team worked continuously for 18 days and nights, continuously flying 92 sorties, and successfully transported 8 sets of construction machinery, large-scale containers and large-scale oil tanks to the construction site of Tangjiashan dam lake to provide strong insurance for the Tangjiashan dam lake. Strong air support and protection. In the harsh environment of the 18 days and nights, the Mi- 26 helicopter flight crews have been able to persevere because of their excellent personal protective equipment.

(2) 5 to 12 tons for the medium-lift helicopter. Such as: Mi- 17 , Mi- 171 , Black Hawk, EC - 225 , Straight- 8 and 8KA helicopters. Also performed well. American Sikorsky produced the S - 0C "Black Hawk." European helicopter company EC - 225 search helicopter. 8KA helicopter developed in China . It is also a dedicated search engine with good performance.

(3) About 2 to 4 tons are light helicopters. Such as: straight 9 , EC - 135 , EC - 155 and so on.

As of 2004 . The world's 134 countries with more than 200 models of the helicopter about lO. 20000. Among them, the number of civilian helicopters is about 25 . 000 aircraft. Civil helicopters are mainly concentrated in a few developed countries. The United States 10 , 559 aircraft. Accounting for 42 . 2 %, Russia 3,506 . Accounting for 14%. Canada has 1,601 aircraft. Japan l , 044 aircraft. Accounting for 4 . 2 %. 825 in the United Kingdom and 789 in Germany . Australia 736 aircraft. China's helicopter ownership is about 500 aircraft. Among them, 128 civilian helicopters . Accounting for 0 . 5 %. China's helicopters are significantly lacking both in variety and quantity.

China needs to adhere to the principle of developing helicopters in series. As soon as possible, the development of a heavy-duty helicopter that is still empty in China has been started. Follow

The original helicopter development plan in the country. In the next few years. The helicopters with different take-off qualities such as 1 ton, 2 ton, 3 ton, 4 ton, 6 ton, 7 to 8 ton, 10 ton, and 13 ton will be systematically developed . Not yet planned heavy-lift helicopters (take-off mass of more than 20 tons. A 26-meter take-off mass of 49.6 tons). This is obviously difficult to meet the needs of China's national economic development. The Wenchuan earthquake also made us realize the importance of heavy helicopters. China's helicopter industry is facing great development. At the same time, we should vigorously carry out research and development of protective and lifesaving equipment

2 helicopter rescue problems

Wenchuan, Sichuan earthquake relief. A helicopter group helicopter in the Chengdu Military Region risked its lives. In the harsh climate and treacherous environment in the mountainous areas, more than 1,000 driving and disaster relief missions are performed. May 31, 2008, one meter a 171 helicopters. ( Medium ) , Captain Qiu Guanghua (5 l years old. Born in Nanxing Town, Maoxian County, Sichuan Province. She nationality . Performed 63 disaster-rescue missions, 90 tons of materials in the disaster area, and transported more than 200 wounded people ) . 14:20 return flying. When flying to the narrow valley of Wenchuan Ginkgo Township. The weather is mutated. Helicopter crashed. The crew was killed on the same plane. Their unfortunate sacrifice. Sadly, it also shows that there are gaps and serious problems in our helicopter protection and rescue equipment.

Helicopter high accident rate reasons:

(1) The helicopter itself has structural features such as many rotating parts. The role of the load is complicated. Vibrations cause fatigue damage.

(2) The flight environment and conditions are harsh.

3 helicopter protection lifesaving equipment

The helicopter's combat survivability can be summed up in four sentences: Do not allow or reduce the enemy's discovery; it is not easy to be hit: After the hit, the mission can still be performed; in case of a fall, the personnel are expected to survive.

It's not easy to do these 4 sentences. There must be protective life-saving equipment as a guarantee.

Extensive lifesaving. Including not only emergency rescue systems. Should also take into account the occupant protection during the life-saving process. Problems such as rescue after safe landing ( water ) . Here, the occupant protection and life-saving equipment includes: seat cushions, restraint systems, body restraint air bags, life-saving bullet-proof equipment, water rescue systems, underwater emergency breathing apparatus, helmets with sight protection, chemical protection equipment, head protection equipment, and heatstroke prevention Cooling equipment, emergency kits, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, emergency flotation systems and desalinators.

After decades of exploration: rocket rescue, rocket traction seats, crashworthy seats, ejection seats, overall recycling, life-saving cabin and other life-saving technical equipment is more suitable for helicopter life-saving.

3 . 1 Rocket traction

Rocket traction is the use of rockets to pull occupants out of emergency planes. The rocket first shoots out of the cockpit. Then pull the pilot out of the plane through a rope. After a delay, open the parachute.

The mid-1960s. Stanley Airlines developed a rocket emergency rescue system. The first flight test was conducted on the AT - 6 aircraft and was successful. Then they were equipped with A - lE , A - 1G , A - 1N, and A - lJ aircraft. By 1982 , only 1972 Stanley Airlines and Steiner Airways had delivered 720 rocket emergency rescue systems. US Air Force Statistics. Until 1983 . There are 83 people to use this system in case of emergency. 77 people were rescued. Save generation power is about 92 . 8 %. German Aerospace Research and Experimental Institute announced. Research on rocket traction rescue systems has been successful.

3 . 2 towing ejection seat

Russian designers imagine blasting rotors. Immediately afterwards, it used emergency lifesaving techniques to escape.

After years of research and development. Russia used the fighter plane crew to eject and leave the aircraft on the test helicopters Ka- 50 and Ka- 52 .

3 . 3 fall chair

A fall chair features:

Helicopter impact should save the pilot’s life. Call it "falling." The focus of the fallibility is to protect the pilot, that is, "it would rather be destroyed by the plane. It does not cause death."

Helicopter crash: caught fire after crash. Deceleration overload is too large. Collided with the cabin structure, fell into the water and was injured. Death from drowning and other factors threaten the lives of occupants.

Reduce the impact energy delivered to the pilot. Mainly in the seat, landing gear and body floor structure efforts.

The existing V - 22 tilt seat is a typical seat for fall. Developed by the American Simara company. Support structure can withstand 30G forward overload. And to the vertical direction at the landing 14 crashes. Under the effect of 5G overload, the human body is decelerated and the energy absorption system is adjustable.

B Energy-absorbing mechanism in crashworthy seat

Energy-absorbing mechanisms in fall-fitting seats are classified into: non-adjustable overload and energy absorbers, variable overload energy absorbers, and acceleration self-sensing variable overload energy absorbers. Passive adjustable variable overload absorber. Graded energy absorber, graded variable overload energy absorber. Staged passive adjustment of variable overload energy absorbers. Uniform deceleration absorber, total displacement absorber.

C Crash Seat

The crashworthy seat can only absorb part of the energy. However, it cannot fundamentally solve the reality that the occupants passively drop. It will be replaced by an active emergency escape system.

4 The development of the armed helicopter protection and life-saving system in China should catch up

The performance of the protection and rescue system equipped on several types of aircraft, such as the direct eight and direct nine in China, is quite different from that of foreign countries. The following aspects should be developed for the development of armed helicopter rescue systems:

4 . 1 Start the helicopter as early as possible. In particular, the helicopter rescue helicopter seat rescue system research. Filling the gap in the lifesaving of our helicopters.

Ninety-nine percent of helicopter deaths were caused by a collision with the ground. The cause of death is that the human body cannot withstand the impact of a vertical impact on the ground exceeding 21m / s . When the helicopter is out of control from 22 . 8m above ground level when falling off the ground. Reach or exceed the above speed. Far beyond the protection afforded by a crash-resistant seat or any crash-resistant design. The probability of controlling vertical and spin drops is only 11 %, and 89 % of cases cannot be controlled. To get rid of people's enthusiasm for the reliability of gunpowder detonators. The Russians are studying the path taken by the helicopter traction rocket seat lifesaving system. And our country's catapult life seat on the ignition product research mature experience. It has laid a good foundation for us to develop a rocket rescue seat survival system.

Our country has always been a blank in the helicopter emergency rescue system. To ensure the safety of helicopter pilots. The helicopter rescue rocket seat lifesaving system must be studied as soon as possible. We will strive to develop a traction rocket seat prototype that can perform verification tests in a relatively short period of time. At the same time, the research and development of the gunpowder explosive system of the simulated helicopter rotor micro-explosive cable cut-off and the canopy discharge device were carried out. And developed a prototype that can provide test. In a short period of time, it will provide support for the development of an armed helicopter rescue system in China.

4 . 2 Further research on individual protective equipment for helicopter occupants. Developed advanced integrated equipment with integrated functions for pilots in service to catch up with and exceed advanced foreign standards.

Helicopter crash injury. Head injury accounted for all fatal injuries 31 . 5 %. The noise of helicopters during normal flight is also very serious. Studies have shown that the helicopter noise can be as high as 98 . 11ldB . Work long hours in this harsh environment. It may cause the pilot's visual sharpness, visual depth, displacement analysis, manual control accuracy, reaction time, and alertness to be reduced. The relevant tests show that: long-term work under 90dB noise. Can cause the pilot to fatigue, resulting in reduced work efficiency. Man-made flight accidents.椐 United States aviation aviation statistics. Accidents caused by misoperation by pilots accounted for 75 % of helicopter accidents . Therefore, it is very necessary to develop a multi-functional integrated helmet with high efficiency, noise resistance and night vision. At present, the current level of scientific research in China can be achieved.

4 . 3 Strengthen the study of individual comprehensive protection measures to improve the pilot's harsh working environment in the helicopter cockpit.

As the development of cooling equipment for the sunstroke, the United States has recently developed a helicopter pilot cooling device. Has been applied to "Black Hawk" and other helicopters. The performance is very good. Helicopter pilots developed liquid cryogenic helmets in China have a good effect. Improve pilots' ability to resist harsh environments. It is to reduce the accident rate. The key to ensuring pilot safety.

Only with advanced emergency rescue systems and advanced personal protective equipment. In order to give full play to the efficiency of helicopter pilots. And get a safe and reliable life-saving in the emergency.

The information in this article comes from the Internet and was reorganized and edited by China Rescue Equipment Network.