LifeSaver

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Congratulations are in order for the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters (Greater Sydney Region) they have just recently had both of their Kawasaki BK117-B2 rotorcraft successfully modified for Night Vision Goggle compatibility. Which means shortly these guys will be able to fly on goggles providing them with significantly improved situational awareness during night operations, that equates to happy pilots 😉 which is very important!

The real congrats however, goes to the engineers 😉 I mean really, the world would just stop with out 'em 😉
Seriously though, the mods to the two helicopters coordinated by the engineers at SLSA (Greater Sydney) have placed these two machines at the forefront of premium NVG compatible lighting..

So the next time you see the distinct outline of the BK117-B2 beating a bead line along the coast, spare a thought for the hard work by engineers that goes into keeping these machines in the air and consequently keeping the rescue service running smoothly.

+Westpac Banking

Kawasaki BK117's

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I reckon its one of the best choppers out there, very much underated.
Kareela Aviation (seen here) have one of the best and largest (i think) fleet of Kawasaki BK117's in oz, they also hold the RFS (Rural Fire Service) contract too 🙂
There is a Bell 205 in there too, the ute of the air and not even in the same class 😉

I rarely, actually, never, get in a helicopter unless I have to for work, however this was one exception for some aerial photography work from a AS350, probably the smallest chopper I would trust my ass in 🙂

Its the end of the fire season over here and hence some spare time for a bit of downtime for these guys, hence the effort to arrange the aircraft and tankers – these guys are fully self sufficient with the ability to fly maintenance (Baron fixed wing – not shown) dudes out to working aircraft across the state and provide fuel support.

This is a vertical pano shot, 3 frames, landscape orientation – cheers to my pilot for the day for some nice steady OGE (Out of ground effect) hovering to get me in the right position for this one 🙂

Exif/setup love:
3 Landscape orientation images stitched
D750 coupled with 24-70mm f4 @ 24mm Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: 1/320s
ISO 100
out front – Hoya CPL.

Kawaskai BK117-B2

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Kawaski BK117-B2 - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Kawaski BK117-B2 – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock
D750 coupled with 300mm f4 and 1.7x TC @500mm Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: 1/1000s
ISO: 100

Lotsa good stuff comes out Japan, helicopters, camera’s submarines 😉 sushi.. you name it there are plenty.
I like the BK117 helciopter, its a real work horse, its not as pretty and slick as the newer Bell 429 (although you probably should compare it with the BK117C3 / EC145) but its a proven reliable known quantity.
I really should take more shots of these since i see them just about every day 🙂 Now that the skycranes are back I will be sure to grab a few shots of those monsters – now if only someone would bring in a few of the new russian MIL-8TMV’s? that would be cool

Techie love:
D750 coupled with 300mm f4 and 1.7x TC @500mm Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: 1/1000s
ISO: 100
out front – Kawasaki BK117-B2