Helicopter spray pods in demand
Taupo business finds export market in Australia.
Tuesday, December 13 2011 || News || BY Mike Watson, Businessday.co.nz
So it was pure logic when local lad Roger Maisey set up shop servicing the nimble aircraft after he gained his maintenance engineer's ticket 15 years ago.
After a stint servicing Iroquois helicopters for logging contracts Maisey established his own maintenance business - initially from a hangar at Taupo Airport, before moving to a purpose-built shed on a lifestyle block on the outskirts of Taupo.
Helispecs Helicopter Maintenance Taupo now services helicopters for clients throughout the North Island.
Shortly after the company moved location, Maisey seized on the concept of manufacturing agricultural spray systems and baggage pods designed to be fitted underneath Robinson R44, Bell Jetranger, Iroquois and Squirrel helicopters.
"We had built a spray system for a client who had just bought himself a Robinson 44 and we got quite a good response from people who had seen it." Maisey said.
"We thought, well, there should be a strong market for these sorts of things because every farm boy wants to fly a helicopter, and there is an extensive use for them in the central North Island where aerial spraying gorse and forestry blocks is essential."
Maisey knew the company was not the first to design and manufacture spray systems and he would have his work cut out to beat the competition.
"We came up with idea of cutting down on weight as our first priority."
Fibreglass pods capable of carrying between 300-1200 litres of spray were designed to be attached underneath the helicopter skids.
Next carbon fibre spray booms replaced the standard stainless steel booms - cutting the weight from 30 kilograms down to a mere five kilograms.
The carbon fibre booms, manufactured in Rotorua and assembled by Helispecs, are safer and more flexible than the stainless steel variety, he said.
"If a pilot happened to catch a boom on a fence post on a windy ridge, it was more likely to give a little and not fly up into the rotors."
The spray load can be jettisoned in five seconds.
Helispecs has found an export market for the spray systems in Australia.
The lighter design outsold the competition 10 to 1, Maisey claimed.
At a cost between $35,000-$70,000, the spray systems account for a sizeable proportion of the company's $1 million annual turnover.
"We want to export to Europe and are working with Civil Aviation to gain higher certification to do this.
"It is not an easy process and it is a major issue for us.
"CAA continually lift the safety bar with more stringent regulations until the policy borders on the ridiculous.
"Currently it is a little contradictory in that whole design has to be re- submitted if there is a fault, not just the broken part.
"We do a lot of load testing and flight testing as part of the process, and the regulations still require a lot more paper work."
