Heli-logging eco style

As the world looks to be more eco-friendly, the Erickson Air Crane has been helping the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah to minimize the impact of logging on their lush mountain jungles. Mark Ogden reports from Sarawak on the extraordinary work of both crew and craft in their jungle hideaway, and ponders questions over their future.

Toiling away for up to ten hours a day and using a pilot-operated grapple attached to the end of a 325ft steel long line, the Erickson Air Crane collects and arranges the cut logs from the forest, making no more environmental impact than the ever-varying noise of its two big Pratts. The roads in the forests already existed to transport the cutters and to take the collected logs away for export to overseas markets such as India and Japan. The three colors of Meranti hardwood gathered here are primarily used for housing, construction, furniture and plywood, with current markets paying between about US$180 and $260 a cubic meter for the jungle hardwood logs. At around 60cm in diameter and 8m in length, these logs can weigh over 20,000lbs each and along with palm oil from the burgeoning palm oil plantations, represent the more significant exports and employment opportunities in this part of the world.

A Better Way

Traditional logging techniques invariably leave open scars on the ground, resulting in erosion and long term damage to the environment. Heli-logging, however, allows the loggers in Sarawak and Sabah to selectively cut their trees from the steep slopes of inland mountainous areas and have them transported without the damage so often seen as the result of ground-based collecting. There are only a few main species the timber companies seek, including three heavy hardwoods, and by using the helicopter to selectively gather the logs, other tree species are left alone. These forested mountain slopes can exceed 25 degrees making them unsuitable for tractors. Additionally, the logging companies can be more discriminating, ensuring they only cut the approved and needed species, leaving younger trees for regeneration, minimizing the ground turn over and leaving the undergrowth to hold the soil together. Usually, only four or five trees per hectare are selected and removed. Indeed, the forestry departments of these states are now requiring certain areas to be logged only by helicopter because of their minimal environmental impact.

Starting something

About 15 years ago, New Zealander Alan Shannon started the heli-logging business in Borneo. Erickson, seeing the potential of developing the capability with its Air Crane, bought out Alan and established its fully-owned subsidiary, Erickson Air Crane Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Erickson brought the technology and techniques used in its North American logging and fire fighting businesses, although the skills needed for this long lining job are different – if anything, the skills needed are more demanding and more precise. After all, these guys fly the long line up to 150 hours every 18 days, doing 200 to 300 lifts each day! They log over 1,000 hours each and every year, flying logs and supporting other Erickson operations around the world when needed. The three co-pilots are ex-Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), with the local Department of Civil Aviation encouraging Erickson to employ local pilots and provide them with their ratings.

New Zealanders Lyall Mudford and Peter Avery are the back-to-back captains, working 18 days on and 18 days off. The roster used to be 21 days but with the pilots flying at the near maximum of 10 hours a day, they would hit the maximum monthly allowance of 150 hours with days left, so shortening the roster to 18 days was logical. The engineers are a mix of Kiwis, Australian and Malaysians working a 21-day cycle. Pete and Lyall are long-time Erickson pilots with more than 31,000 hours between them. Pete has more than 20,000, mostly in the Crane and mostly in Borneo, while Lyall has worked all around the world from New Zealand to Papua New Guinea, Africa and Borneo. Although the working conditions are fairly rudimentary and the work hard, these guys like the independence of making the day-to-day decisions on what is done and how, using honed skills that few pilots have a chance to develop, satisfaction in trying to meet customers’ expectations as well as being in one of the better paid sectors of the helicopter industry.

Paul Farrer, also a Kiwi, lives in Miri and is the General Manager of Erickson Malaysia. He has been working the contracts there for 14 years and explained that the annual 2,000 flight-hours available are divided among the four clients the company presently has – very much based on the number of camps each has. The Crane spends a minimum of 40 flying hours at each camp, but usually about 70 to 80 hours, with the companies cutting at about the same time in each area, and then through the year, rotating through each camp. He said that the Crane achieves an average of about 140 cubic feet per hour in Sabah and around 120 in Sarawak, with the difference being mainly due to the size of the logs and the yarding distance (distance between the log location and the “landing” where the logs are delivered) involved. He commented that all logging in Sarawak and Sabah is now tightly controlled by the respective forestry departments.

Camp 72

The infrastructure supporting heli-logging here is essentially a system of camps, logging areas and landings where the logs are delivered for on-carriage by truck. While the camps are provided by the logging companies, with part of the deal being that they are fully-equipped with air conditioners, stoves etc., Erickson supplies all aspects of support for the helicopter. It is vital that every hour that the Crane flies it is productive, so the distances between the camps, logging areas and landings are kept as short as possible, usually within 2kms. It also requires close liaison between the logging company and Erickson personnel to ensure the helicopter is operated efficiently.

The Crane moves continuously from camp-to-camp throughout the logging concessions in Sarawak and
Sabah – operating every day including Christmas and New Year – weather permitting. Which concessions are serviced, where and when, is determined through coordination between Erickson and the various timber companies with which it works. Interestingly, while Erickson has been doing this for some years in Borneo, the contracts are not long-term and are renewed on an annual basis. Until November 2007, there was enough work for two Cranes, but with the softening in the export timber market one Crane has been deployed on firefighting contracts in Australia. Depending on the market demand, the second Crane may yet return to Borneo.

Scheduled servicing and daily maintenance are conducted at night. Five engineers follow the E-model Crane, with two working the day shift and three at night. The aim is to operate the Crane 10 hours a day to fulfill the programmed 2,000 hours annually. The aircraft lives in the open and with the short logs-to-landings distances involved, the lift cycles would stress any lesser aircraft; this is a true testament to Sikorsky’s design and Erickson’s engineering support. At some difficult sites the camp-to-forestry block distance can be as much as 20kms, but Paul stressed that they do encourage the companies to keep the distances to 2kms if possible. The higher gross “F” model crane, which can lift 25% more was used until recently, but Erickson found the lighter all-up-weight “E” model was more suited to the high-cycle environment of this logging.

“We found the F models could turn around a bit faster than the E models but the Fs got a bit knocked around carrying that extra weight,” explained Paul. “The F airframe suffered a little bit; we had sheetmetal workers employed looking after them.” The Crane uses about 2,000 liters of fuel an hour so keeping fuel up to the machine is important in maintaining the efficiency of the operation. Clients provide fuel trucks (between 16,000 and 26,000 liters) which are constantly employed keeping between five and ten 20,000 or 45,000-liter sled fuel tanks at each camp topped up, as well as supplying the fuel needed at service pads that may be set up near landings to keep any transit times to an absolute minimum.
The helicopter can also lift its “maintenance pod” from camp-to-camp. The pod is a container in which an electric generator, support equipment, pad lights, aircraft parts and tools are stowed and it provides pad accommodation for the ground crew.

Ned (Neville Dawson, publisher of HeliOps) and I had the unique opportunity to visit Erickson’s logging operations in Borneo, spending our time at Camp 72 in the foothills of the Hose Mountain Range. The ever-smiling camp manager Lisutt Lia, a local Malaysian who has worked with Paul since the operation started, greeted us and provided hospitality second to none. The camp manager is in charge of the operation; in charge of the camp itself, arranging fuel, liaising with the clients and overseeing day-to-day operations. Although the facilities are basic, the camp is self contained with power and running water. It has satellite internet and telephone. The aircraft is equipped with a Blue Sky Iridium-based tracking system which is monitored by head office in Miri on the west coast of the state of Sarawak. The cabins are air conditioned, the food good and the people very friendly; as are the enormous bugs, moths and beetles that inevitably inhabit the jungle and Camp 72.

We were flown to the camp by Sudhir Kumaren (an ex-RMAF pilot now working for Erickson Malaysia) in the company’s Bell 206. He showed us the areas that had been worked by the Crane, and other than roads there was no visible damage to the forests. He also showed us areas that had been logged using traditional means, and although the jungle was reclaiming the area, the activity was plainly visible.

The hardwood logs here are generally destined for the Indian, Chinese and Japanese markets and the prices earned depend greatly on the quality of wood exported. Once felled, the logs need to be lifted out within 40 days to prevent damage from any of the numerous species of wood-boring beetles, which lay their eggs under the bark with the hatched larvae feeding off the wood. This makes it unsuitable for export and useable only for plywood. The logging companies need the export market to make the extraction by helicopter economically viable. Plywood manufacture can only accept about 30% of the wood in any case. As well as minimizing environmental damage, heli-logging also provides the potential to significantly reduce wastage of valuable wood.

Selected trees are individually felled by timber company cutters who place their individual marks on each log. Local loadmasters from Erickson are provided to the clients to help ensure the efficiency and safety of the operation by ensuring the logs are properly cut through, that they won’t exceed the lift capability of the ‘E’ model Crane, and they help to assemble loads to ensure the Crane’s load-carrying capability is fully utilized. The cutters move on and the logs are left for the Crane to pick up when it is next in the area. It is a fine line between maximizing the load weight (to reduce the number of “turns” the Crane needs to clear the logs) and having to come back to cut the logs smaller. When lifting, the Crane measures the load and if it looks like exceeding the maximum (reference to the “load cell” that provides the weight on lift, or the engine/transmission instrument), the pilot places the log back down to be either picked up later (with less fuel) or for the cutters to come back and trim. Obviously the number of these “weight aborts” need to be kept to a minimum to ensure the efficiency of every hour flown, although Paul notes that one every couple of flight-hours is acceptable. The cost of the Crane represents up to a third of the price received for the wood in the current market so the number of lifts per hour has to be maximized.

A typical day at the camp starts at about 4:30am when it is still dark, with day-shift engineers readying the aircraft, pilots having breakfast, a wash and then pre-flighting the aircraft. Provided there is no fog, cloud or heavy rain that may dangerously restrict visibility, the pilots aim to be airborne at first light which is around 6 to 6:30am, and the aircraft will keep turning until nightfall, or until weather precludes safe operations. During the pressure hot refuels, the pilots have the opportunity to eat, drink and take a quick walk. The engineers crawl around the aircraft to make sure nothing has broken or developed an unacceptable leak.

As the sun rises, fog can roll in at Camp 72 but it often burns off quickly. When it rains, especially in the monsoon season from about November to February, it can pour for days. Even so, provided the pilots can maintain safe visible conditions, they will fly. Thunderstorms can also be a danger in this season and the pilots keep a close weather eye to avoid them. “The guys get pretty nervous when there’s a storm around,” Paul explained, “especially with a 325ft long line trailing below them.”

Only the left seat pilot (captain) flies. The copilot is there mainly to back up the captain, watch the gauges, do the paperwork (logging of timber lifted and flight time on “turn-sheets”), and learn the job. Once the aircraft is started, systems checked and everyone is happy with the location of the logs and the landings, the aircraft is immediately put to work.
Most of the logs are sighted from the air and the pilot chooses which ones they are going to lift depending on access, anticipated weight and distance to the landing and/or service pad. With the load sighted, the pilot maneuvers the Crane and its long line into position. The length of the long line has been established through experience, allowing the grapple to grab the logs regardless of the tree height around them. There are about 2,100lbs in the 325ft line and Erickson designed and manufactured hydraulically-operated grapple. Erickson began with a 250ft line but found that, especially in Sabah which has a lot of volcanic soil, the trees grow pretty tall. “The longer line also gives some extra time to sort things out if something goes wrong,” commented Paul. “It can also get a fairly big whip going through the cable.”

To work the long line and placing the grapple in position in the minimum time, the pilot handles the Crane as though it was a light helicopter. Again, the ability of this helicopter to move so responsively and allow placing the grapple so precisely, demonstrates the enormous control and engine power of the Crane. Pete Avery likes to go for the “head shot” where he sees an opening in the trees, lobs the grapple in and straight onto the log.”

And so it goes, as the day wears on the Crane moves back and forth, zig-zagging its way across the area, picking up logs and placing them on the landings. Operating up to about 5,000ft with a temperature between 20 and 30 degrees C, the pilots have to be cognizant of the changing limits as the day’s conditions vary. Paul highlighted that at sea level they work on lifting about 8-tons but at altitude it may be down to 6.6 tons.

Approximately once every hour the pilot lands the aircraft at the camp pad to refuel and relax. Depending upon the logs and terrain, those cycles may fall to 45 or even 30 minutes. The ground-crew examines the machine, crawling up its mantis-like legs to check the transmission system and the engines without the rotors ever stopping. The load lifting equipment is checked and once the refuel is finished, the helicopter is quickly dispatched to resume its work.
A Bell 205 works as a “truck” supporting the operations; conducting searches for logs or transporting spares. It will soon be replaced by an AS-350FX2 being put together in New Zealand. Paul explained that, as the Huey is a restricted category aircraft, it can’t be used to transport personnel but does just about everything else. It can lift just about every spare component for the Crane except the main rotor gearbox and head. These larger components need to be trucked in if required. “We can even sling the 33ft main rotor blades in their aluminum coffins,” he said. “We’ve a special rigging technique and fly with the heavy end down.”

As the end of the day approaches, the crew continue operating until either failing light makes flying unsafe or, as is more likely, they reach their daily ten-flying hour limit. While the pilots complete the paperwork, with the copilot handing over the “turn sheets” to the camp manager, the night shift engineers take the aircraft and begin the after-flight inspections, scheduled servicing or any rectification work that may be needed – although as Paul commented, the E model has been extraordinarily reliable. “The aircraft lives outside being rained and dusted on but because it’s always working,
it doesn’t seem to get affected by
the conditions.”

An Uncertain Future

“Unfortunately, there aren’t many helicopter companies doing logging these days,” commented Paul. “It’s an industry that I can see slowly tapering off as the gas and oil industry picks up and there’s a better return in things like firefighting.”
“I don’t know how much longer helicopter logging will be around,” he mused. Unfortunately this means that the environmental gain that helicopters provide could be lost, and once again the jungle will be scarred by the more damaging ground-based methods where the logs are dragged up mountain sides or through the undergrowth by winches.
Experience in Sarawak and Sabah, as well as in North America, have shown that the Air Crane is a great workhorse and a good tool for environmentally responsible logging. The Kiwi pilots who cut their teeth on long lining in New Zealand have honed their skills on the Air Crane to ensure that the operation is efficient and effective. In an era when we are more and more aware of the fragility of our natural eco-systems, it would be an undeniable tragedy if simple economics brought about the demise of this “green” operation.