noasara news - tbaytelmy.tbaytel.net/noasara/newsletter/fall2017.pdfof the aircraft. after circling...
Post on 12-Mar-2020
0 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
I was most fortunate to be selected to
accompany a SAR crew of the RCAF
424 Squadron aboard a C-130 Hercules to
the arctic this summer. After spending a
night in the Yukon Lodge at CFB Trenton, I
along with a CASARA volunteer from
London and a SERABEC volunteer from
Montreal, flew with the SAR crew to
Kuujuaq on Ungava Bay on the morning of
June 3rd. Prior to landing The SARTechs
parachuted into the Kosoak River in a
SAREX to rescue a “stranded" boat with
“injured" crew on board. Witnessing the
entire procedure from the back of the open
-doored Herc was a clear lesson in exten-
sive safety protocol on such a routine ma-
noeuvre.
The next day we flew directly to Resolute
Bay, Nunavut on Cornwallis Island, cross-
ing the Ungava Straight and witnessing the
build-up and eventual freeze over of arctic
sea ice. (Just off Cornwallis was where the
ill-fated Franklin Expedition met it’s fate in
1846) The eight-foot high snowdrifts at
Resolute were certainly a reminder of just
how far north we were as was the 24 hour
direct sunlight.
NOASARA in the Arctic Submitted by George Holborn
Dates to
Remember October 24: CVT
training
October 24: Radio
Operator's course
November 07: Safety
Meeting and Meet &
Greet social
November 11: SAREX
November 14:
Monthly Meeting
November 21: CVT
training
Inside this
issue:
Arctic Adventure 1
STAREX 2017 1
Long Weekend 4
Norseman Festival 5
Training 6
FALL 2017
NOASARA NEWS
STAREX 2017 Submitted by Bryan Davis
S TAREX is a biennial
event organized by the
London CASARA unit. This
year saw many organizations
participating including most
CASARA Ontario units, the
RCAF, the Navy, the Cana-
dian Coast Guard Auxiliary,
London OSARVA Ground
Search Unit, OPP Emergency
Response Team and Marine
Team, ARES Ham Radio
Club, and Salvation Army
Disaster Relief Services.
This year's STAREX was my
first along with Chris. With
us were veteran STAREX'ers
Dan and Eric. We would nor-
mally also send a complete
air team in addition to the
ESS team but were unable
to do so this year.
After arriving and settling in
to our excellent accommo-
dations at the Fanshaw
College residence we were
treated to a pig roast dinner
by the STAREX organizers.
Northwestern Ontario
Air Search and Rescue
Association
411 John Paterson Dr.
Thunder Bay, ON
P7E 6M8
www.noasara.com
noasara@tbaytel.net
continued next page
continued next page
Page 2 NOASARA NEWS
The following day we took off and headed northeast for
Ellesmere Island, the most northern landmass in
Canada.
The SARTechs wanted to scout Mount Barbeau on
Ellesmere to help in planning a potential future rescue
of hikers in the newly created Quttinirpaaq National
Park. Once close to our destination, the pilot took us
down to 1000 ft AGL. At this lower altitude we were, of
course, able to install the SAR-doors which allowed for
extensive photography from all those riding in the rear
of the aircraft. After circling for two hours around
Mount Barbeau and other locations within the park we
then headed for Iqaluit, Nunavut. Upon arriving over
Iqaluit, the SARTechs again jumped but this time car-
ried out their dry-land protocol and indeed landed
within the city limits of Iqaluit. The following day in-
cluded giving the volunteers on board practise at call-
arounds once we got back over the forested areas of
northern Quebec.
During the trip back to Trenton and subsequent flight
home, I’m sure that the grin on my face was blatantly
obvious to anyone as a result of this opportunity to see
a part of the world that I otherwise would never have
experienced. My sincere thanks go out to Captain Dan
Clarke and the crew of the 424 SAR Hercules as well
as Terry Nord of CASARA Ontario for an unforgettable,
amazing trip.
Starex cont’d
The food was tasty and filling throughout the weekend but this first night was especially good.
The next day we arrived at the hangar and were given our tasking. Our ground team was to go to a given set of
coordinates and establish communication with an aircraft team. We were followed out by a team from the local
HAM radio operators club which was providing a secondary link back to the hangar via their radio network. We
could give the HAM team communications to relay to the command center and vice-versa.
After some trouble establishing communications with the air team and a subsequent air team shuffle, we began
working with the air team to locate a PLB in the area. This worked well and helped to prove our interoperability
with other CASARA units and civilian groups such as the HAM operators.
Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate a radio signal from the PLB. This is believed to be caused by a
weak battery or the PLB placement. We looked as long as possible but were eventually ordered back to the han-
gar to participate in the next exercise.
In this second exercise a simulated float plane crash scene with victims was set up for some of the air teams,
London SAR, and the military. Chris and myself were chosen to be crash victims. continued next page
Melt channel from glacier flowing into Greely Fjord, Ellesmere
Island, Nunavut
Page 3
After a relaxing stint on the beach we were spotted by
the air teams who called in London SAR to triage the
situation and provide rescue. I'm happy to report that
Chris, myself, and the other 2 casualties were rescued
successfully. Thanks to the quick action of CASRA and
London SAR the 4 victims suffered nothing more than a
minor sunburn (I'll point out here that everyone should
remember to wear a hat while on training exercises).
Next the scene was reset and the military was called in.
The crew on the Hercules with several CASRA spotters
on-board quickly spotted the crash scene and the survi-
vors on the beach. After several passes to determine
wind direction the SAR-Techs parachuted to a nearby
field and walked to the scene. After a triage session they
quickly determined the most seriously injured survivors
and called in a rescue extraction.
All survivors were extracted to the nearby airfield where
they ate dinner and enjoyed live music. This concluded
the first day.
The next day was the day of the SAR Games. Our group
was teamed up with some members of London SAR
and then instructed to move to the first of 4 sta-
tions where we encountered 2 individuals who had
been involved in a recent tornado and triaged the
situation, built a stretcher out of materials we had
on us to extract a team member with a broken leg,
built a temporary shelter to protect a casualty from
the elements, and tested our knowledge of knots
with a test of 8 common knots.
Our team did very well particularly at the knot tying
station thanks to Dan and Eric. We didn't take first
place this year so the next team to go to STAREX
will need to study up to regain our bragging rights.
After the SAR Games we headed back to the hangar
to be debriefed and say our farewells. This event
was an excellent
experience and I
highly recommend
that all members
try to attend one.
The training is in-
valuable and the
relationships built
with like minded
people reaffirm the
knowledge that
we're part of some-
thing bigger and
something that
does great work.
P.S. I recommend
checking out the
Jet Aircraft
Museum in
London, ON the
next time any
members are
there. It's not large
by any means but
is very interesting
and has a friendly and knowledgeable staff who are
passionate about jet aircraft. It's a 15 minute walk
from the airport terminal or a 2 minute car ride.
NOASARA and London SAR members treat mock casualties in the SAR Games
Page 4 NOASARA NEWS
Long Weekend Support Submitted by Laurie Walters
I f you ever have the chance to go to Trenton for the
Long Weekend Support, I strongly encourage you to
take this opportunity!!
I went, along with Stephen Hunsberger and Eric Cline
on the September long weekend, and it was very inter-
esting! While Steve and Eric were flying on the Hercu-
les on Friday (doing contour flying in the mountains in
southern Quebec), I had a short course in the Night
Vision Training, with very expensive equipment! It was
totally amazing what could be seen with the goggles –
terrain that popped out, shadows from the moon, and
lights that you simply could not see with the naked eye!
Furthermore, ALL red lights, even those you could not
see with the naked eye
BLOSSOMED with the goggles on. Side note to all –
put a red light in your gear!!
I also got a tour of the training site where they train the
crews for the Hercules. They have the whole cockpit
(life size) mounted 30’ down into
the concrete floor, simulating the
visual, the motion and the sound
of an actual flight.
I spent a lot of time, close to ten
hours total, on the Hercules that
weekend. On Saturday, we flew
around Trenton, did a sector
search and spotter training and we
did receive a call out to help an
overturned sailboat in St.
Catharines. It was amazing to
watch the SARTechs gear up for
the search. The Coast Guard
reached the sailboat first, so we
got a call to stand down. The
SARTechs did a couple of training
jumps as well. Prior to their first
jump, I was tethered and allowed
to throw out the ribbons for the
SARTTechs to check the winds. I
was sitting right at the back of the
Hercules, about one foot away
from the open door at the back of
the plane! How cool is that?! What a magnificent
view!!
On Sunday, the weather in Trenton was not good, so
we flew to Sudbury for training. We did an expand-
ing square with spotter training. We must have
been told 3-4 times by different crew members on
the Herc that we were 3 of the best spotters they
had ever had! That was nice to hear!! (I think they
appreciated having trained spotters on board!). The
SARTechs also did a couple of training jumps right
near the Sudbury airport.
About 5 minutes before being released from duty on
Sunday night, a call came in for the Hercules to go
to Iqualuit. We debated going as it was late and we
were unsure whether we would make it back in time
for our flights home on Monday. Another call came
in shortly thereafter, and JRCC Halifax was tasked
with the flight, so we were stood down again.
On the Monday, before flying
home, we got a tour of JRCC.
It was interesting to see how
things work there, how they
receive calls and notifica-
tions for searches and how
they interact with different
agencies.
All in all, it was a great week-
end, and a great experience.
The people are awesome,
and very well trained. It was
a great learning experience,
and extremely interesting! I
highly recommend it – if you
have the chance to go ….
GO!!
Eric Cline suits up before working on the soon to be
open ramp of a Hercules
Page 5
T his year NOASARA was represented at the 25th
Annual Norseman Festival in Red Lake. Arriving
on Friday afternoon, I connected with retired Greens
Airways chief-pilot Joe Sinkowski and his wife Beth
who I’d known since the sixties. They had both been
involved with the festival since its inception so were
very helpful in providing contacts with the present-
day festival organizers. The festival is the largest
community event throughout the year so the entire
town was buzzing with excitement in anticipation of
the events scheduled around Howey Bay. These
included flights in a Norseman (my first), Otter and
Caravan, practices and shows by the Canadian Har-
vard Aerobatic Team, and the annual bush plane fly-
past. In addition, there were fun and games in Cen-
tennial Park and wonderful meals including a pan-
cake breakfast, a Ukrainian dinner, and the annual
Great Red Lake BBQ Ribs Challenge.
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, I set up a joint
display booth of NOASARA and NOAHC
(Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre)
NOASARA at the Norseman Festival Submitted by George Holborn
NOASARA display at the Norseman Festival
materials in Centennial Park for the purpose of increas-
ing awareness of both organizations in the Red Lake
community in general and the local aviation community
in particular. The weather on Saturday turned out to be
challenging with high winds and rain, necessitating an
early closure. However, Sunday proved to be ideal and I
talked with numerous passers-by about what NOASARA
does and our training regimes as well as handing out a
number of CASARA brochures. The festival chair-
person, Sophie Castonguay stopped by the booth on
Sunday to express the organizing committee’s appre-
ciation of our presence at their festival with a sincere
hope that we continue this effort in the future. The time
spent manning the booth allowed for participation in
most of the other events planned throughout the week-
end. I would encourage other NOASARA members to
consider taking in the festival in future years and enjoy-
ing the rich aviation heritage that is such an important
part of this community's legacy.
411 John Paterson Dr
Thunder Bay, ON
P7E 6M8
noasara@tbaytel.net
Northwestern
Ontario Air Search
and Rescue
Association
NOASARA NEWS
www.noasara.com
Submissions are welcome
from all members. Please
send text and images, if
available, to:
noasara@tbaytel.net
Upcoming Training & Events
Look for us on
Page 6
October 14 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for
currency.
October 24 19:00 Aviation Radio Operator’s course
October 24 19:00 CVT Training — encouraged for all spotters,
especially new or those who haven’t flown in a
October 30 17:15 BINGO session
November 07 19:00 Safety meeting followed by members meet
and greet
November 11 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for
currency.
November 14 19:30 Monthly meeting — open to all members
November 21 19:00 CVT training — encouraged for all spotters,
especially new or those who haven’t flown in a
November 28 19:00 Basic Navigation for non-pilots
December 05 19:00 Pilot refresher forum
December 09 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for
currency.
December 12 19:30 Monthly meeting — open to all members
Watch our calendar of events for changes or additions. The calendar can be found
under the Member’s Area of our web page.
You can also create a link so that events on the NOASARA calendar are automati-
cally added to your calendar (for Google, Apple and Microsoft calendars). Look to
the bottom of the on-line calendar for “Options”, then choose “iCalendar Sub-
scription” and follow the instructions.
top related