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[bigfella]

Hi All

I remember hearing somewhere that if someone was winched from a Hellicopter straight onto a submarine that unless defused the static electricity from both could kill the person when he touches the sub. Not knowing much about either I thought I might see if anyone on the forum knew anything about this or is it just a myth.

Regards David

[Leaky]

The static is generated by the wash from the rotors on the helicopter there can be quite a crack but not potentially fatal, weather conditions also affect the build up damp or stormy weather creates more.Dont forget the vessel is in a highly conductive element(water)which does take away some of the charge nothing you would want to put your tongue across but not a killer.Ever seen Hunt for Red October? there is a helicopter scene in that where someone gets a shock from static

[Colin Bishop]

In air sea rescues the guy being winched down will usually have a trailing line below him which hits the sea/ground first and discharges the static. Potential Yottie customers are warned not to touch it until it has discharged or (heaven forbid!) tie it on to the boat.

[bigfella]

Thanks guys , I was under the impression that because the rotors on the helicopter went one way and the electric motor on the sub went the other it was a case of - & + meeting and bang.

Regards David

[Leaky]

In air sea rescues the guy being winched down will usually have a trailing line below him which hits the sea/ground first and discharges the static. Potential Yottie customers are warned not to touch it until it has discharged or (heaven forbid!) tie it on to the boat.

i didnt know that thanks for that

[PSSHIPS]

On ships, I have served on and helped out with the filght, they have a kind of thing that looks like a boat hook, its called a grounding rod, the line Colin is talking about is hooked by the deck crew before the body touches down on the deck, they do it while they are fuelling the choppers too. I hope this helps, Paul...

[bigfella]

Thanks again guys that has cleared a lot of things up   .

Regards David

[spoons]

Yeah i remember that hook quite well i did many times when i was smack 223 rating on the LC, earth out with the hook then fed the rope in to a bucket. Has some thing to do with the difference in potentials of electricity, the easiest thing i can think of to relate it to is near where i live now there are a lot overhead power lines running through the fields and because of the difference in potential electricty say at the mast it is 27 volts for about a meter across the floor if the cow stepped over that meter mark it would get a zap as it was acroos 0 volt and 27, it took them ages to figure it out now they are all fenced off.
stu

[swordfish fairey]

On the tail undercarriage of a Seaking helicopter there is a small wire cable that bypasses the rubber tyre and 'Grounds' the aircraft on touchdown. I once went in to put some lashings on and ended up in the catwalk, this was because the earth cable had broken off and the helo had a static charge. On Hermes 1977 Ah Happy Days?........Smudge

[Martin (Admin)]

On a similar note......  You Tube video

[spoons]

Those guys are nuts i met a guy who does that for a living a few months back, the guy was mad as a hatter.
stu

[DickyD]

Barmy !!!  ::)

[Stavros]

Totally krackers wonder what Health and Safety in this country would have to say

Stavros

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Looks fun.  I'd ike to have a go   :angel:


Ken

[cbr900]

Kenny,

You would have to be crazy to do that for a living, I would not even go in the chopper as it is all a bit daunting for me, I will stick to 12 volts in my boats thanks.........


Roy

[Colin Bishop]

I wonder if they work on Frydays? 

[dougal99]

Surely a good career with loads of potential 

[chingdevil]

Spoons
I used to know a guy who built the pylons, absolutely barking. He also used to paint them, no safety equipment, just climb up to the top and then gradually slide down painting as he went.

Brian

[spoons]

Totaly crazy the lot of them, I work with high voltage all the time and wouldnt dream od doing half the things these guys do. We were invited to go and do an inspection of high voltage supstation when we arrived the were loads of guys pulling scaffolding bars out of the pen with out waiting for us to isolate it, they just climbed over the fence because they had to move on, no common sense atall.
stu

[bigfella]

Hi All

I know that they do that here in Australia and with our rather expansive land there are a lot of those high tension, high voltage lines (could be the reason we are all loopy) ::) ::)

I also know that they wear those chain mail like copper mesh suites, which a friend of mine who has worked for the electricity supplier all his life, tells me that no charge of electricity no matter what voltage can get through. So they are pretty safe once they are in the suite. However you would not want to be running late for work and in the rush forget to put it on ............POWZAAAAAAAAAAAAAP :angel: :angel:

Regards David

[Bryan Young]

Hi All

I remember hearing somewhere that if someone was winched from a Hellicopter straight onto a submarine that unless defused the static electricity from both could kill the person when he touches the sub. Not knowing much about either I thought I might see if anyone on the forum knew anything about this or is it just a myth.

Regards David

Not quite correct, although you can get a nasty jolt if the aircraft is not "earthed". The "earthing pole" is nothing more than a wooden stick with a metal hoop on one end and a lump of metal on the other end (connected by a wire...naturally).
The RN used to always catalogue DMS Boots (DMS= Direct Moulded Sole) as either "static capable" or not...and as a Flight deck operator it was obvious which one I wanted....but over 20 odd years not one of them were supplied.(no pun intended). It is true about the bit of wire near the tail wheel of the Sea King. At night, during dark operations the flash was quite strong.

[Bryan Young]

Totally krackers wonder what Health and Safety in this country would have to say

Stavros

Health and Safety would have NOTHING to say because they would be scared out of their precious little bowels when confronted with a fully darkened Sea King of 12(?) tons suddenly appearing 10 feet over their heads on a darkened flight deck. To those who are used to it and trained for it, this is quite normal. Very noisy, very windy and perfectly safe if the "rules" are followed. In my career I had over 3.000 deck landings without any major incidents. Health and Safety be beggared, the RN and RFA have their own very high standards.

[swordfish fairey]

Well said Bryan, and long may it be so, though I am afraid the little men with the clipboards are starting to weedle their way into everywhere......Smudge