Honeywell Finds New Use for Weather Radar

Missed approaches are an expensive business for Cougar Helicopters of St. John, Newfoundland, which takes a $25,000 hit every time its Super Puma arrives at an oil rig 180 miles offshore and is forced by bad weather to return to base without landing.

This has happened more than sixty times in nearly 350 missions, despite up-to-the-minute weather forecasting, and cancellation of any of three flights a day if the visibility in the iceberg-strewn Grand Banks is likely to drop below the legal minimum of half a mile.

Now Cougar may have found an answer: Honeywell's $100,000 Primus 700/701 weather radar. Since Christmas Cougar has been using the system not to peer through murk up to 300 nmi ahead, but to see the oil rig just a quarter of a mile in front of the Super Puma's nose.
"We are working with Transport Canada to approve approaches in quarter-mile visibility using the weather radar," Ken Snodgrass, Honeywell's marketing manager for radar products told Show News. The radar is unique among weather radars in having such short vision-in fact, up to 450 feet in front of the aircraft-because it was designed from the outset with a dual weather/search-and-rescue capability, including ground mapping.

Cougar has routinely used the radar for half-mile approaches, but now believes one fourth of a mile to be equally safe with appropriate procedures and training. "They believe they can limit their missed approaches to just a handful," Snodgrass said. "They did not need the weather radar except for this."

How did Cougar become aware that the Primus 700/701 could be used in this way? "They came to Heli-Expo a year ago and we got talking on the stand," said Snodgrass. "One thing just led to another."

Honeywell is showing a video at this year's Heli-Expo of the radar in action on the Super Puma as it shoots an approach to a rig in quarter-mile visibility.