Specialist Equipment
The Flight Simulator, based at the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance hangar facility
at Waikato Hospital is used on a regular basis to train
and remain current in instrument flying techniques, emergency
procedures and night operations. The simulator allows them
to train much more realistically than what is possible in
a real aircraft.
The
moving map GPS has embedded terrain information which is reinforced with a Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning
System (EGPWS). This equipment ‘looks ahead’
and predicts potential conflict with terrain.
TPAS looks at surrounding aircraft that are fitted with
a transponder and calculates the distance and altitude relative
to the operator. An aural and visual alert is given to the
pilot when there is a potential conflict with surrounding
traffic.
Night vision goggles (NVGs) give enhanced vision in the dark almost as good as full daylight.
The goggles allow the pilot and rescue crew on the helicopter to carry out night-work safer and rescue or emergency medical work being able to be carried out after dark with more safety.
They work by amplifying and intensifying light 6000 times, and are at their best when there is some moonlight or starlight to intensify. Images are shown in a yellow-green form, and there is no colour discrimination or magnification.
The aircraft is fitted with an autopilot (to reduce
the pilots’ workload at night and during busy periods),
a cell phone, Marine / Forestry / Civil Defence radio, Police
and Ambulance radios.
The direction
finder is used to track aircraft/marine and personal locator
beacons.
Enabling the helicopter crew to lift patients or crew in and out of difficult terrain.
A computer-based satellite aircraft tracking system.
The Trust has a web based operations manual along with a
database of routes, airports and heliports. This enables
pilots to access vital information from anywhere
there is a computer with an Internet connection or using
cell phones with data ability.
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