Residents in living in towns from Latham all the way up to Schuylerville may have noticed a Blackhawk helicopter flying overhead, but there is no need to worry; it was all just a test.
The New York Army National Guard’s Latham Unit Company A, 3rd Battalion 142nd Aviation conducted water bucket training on Wednesday at the Garnsey Airport, a public airport just south of the village of Schuylerville and on the west side of the Hudson River located on private property, preparing to fight possible wild fires in New York or other states if their services are needed.
A UH-60 Lima Blackhawk helicopter carrying what was referred to as a Bambi Bucket to pick up water from the Hudson River and carry it to an island, just south of the pick-up point, where it would dump the water back into the river. The bucket can carry up to 660 gallons, or 5,405 pounds, of water according to Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, the National Guard’s public affairs officer.
They can carry troops and they can carry lots of supplies. We call them sling load operations whenever the aircraft is going to be used to carry heavy objects, he said. `In a combat zone, it can be used to carry an artillery piece, a humvee and it could be used to evacuate casualties.`
With all that weight, the pilot of the helicopter and Chief Warrant Officer Jim McCauley said there are certain precautions the crew has to take when carrying such heavy cargo. The most the aircraft can carry, as labeled on the hook, is 9,000 pounds.
`It does get a little sluggish, you just have to be careful and think about everything you’re doing,` he said. `To [carry 9,000 pounds], we’d have to be stripped out and light on gas, that would be the maximum.`
Fanning described a situation where their unit assisted the town of Delmar during a mudslide in 2000. The aircraft was used to airlift a drill rig into position to drill deep into the ground to collect soil samples help in planning in rebuilding the area washed out by the mudslide.
`They had to do the lift in two pieces because the drill was so heavy and so complex,` he explained, `The next piece was flown over and the literally hovered so the second component could be carefully placed where it needed to be placed; right on top of the base of the drill rig. Only the guard could do that because we’re the only ones with that aircraft, and the crews trained to do that kind of stuff.`
Not only does the Latham unit assist locally, Fanning said they helped in the Hurricane Katrina and Rita effort where they would transport people who needed to be medically evacuated as well as bringing relief supplies such as water and food to areas that were not receiving it quickly enough.
For Wednesday’s training, McCauley said they were briefed on how to release the water in the bucket, how to drop the bucket in case of an emergency, test whether the helicopter has enough power to do the heavy lifting required of it and what the power limitations were.
`You get on the computer and you figure out the power margins with the load and without the load,` he said, adding they also test how much wind will be a problem. `It’s kind of like an airplane, in a sense, if you think of the rotary blade that’s just a big wing swinging around.`
The training attracted some attention from local residents who came out to watch. One woman drove 15 minutes from Mechanicville after hearing about the event on the 12 p.m. news.
`This is phenomenal,` said Joanna Valente, 67, who said if it weren’t for her age she’d be up there with them. `I’m so happy I got to see it.`
Valente has a grandson in the Scotia Air National Guard, Charles Lane, who does mechanical work on some of the aircraft. He is scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in 2012.
`He’s the one who really got me hooked,` she said of the military aircraft. `I love airplanes, the big stealth bombers, Blackhawks. I love em’.`
Susan Garnsey, who lives in the house directly next to where the training was taking place, said the sound of the helicopter doesn’t bother her at all.
`It’s kind of neat,` she said. `I don’t find it any inconvenience.“