The annual High Blaze exercise took place in the north of Italy this summer. During the exercise, helicopters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force of Defence Helicopter Command (DHC) practice flying in the mountains. The rugged landscapes, changeable weather conditions and difficult landing sites provide challenging conditions to operate in.
160 people, two Eurocopter AS532 Cougar helicopters and three Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopters were deployed to Aviano Air Base to take part in the training. Initially, there would have been five more Apache helicopters but due to an abnormality on the surface of a tail rotor blade, the Apache participation was cancelled. Around 50 vehicles and 50 containers drove to Aviano from Gilze-Rijen Air Base in The Netherlands.
Major Boudewijn Stevens, who bears the end responsibility for the troops, helicopters and achievement of the training objectives revealed the various objects of this exercise. He stated,
“The primary goal is to train new pilots and loadmasters in mountain flying. The pilots and loadmasters must become familiar with the environment and the challenges of flying at higher altitudes. There are also three secondary goals set starting with the training of previously qualified pilots and loadmasters, because mountain flying skills are perishable. Therefore, as many operational pilots and loadmasters as possible participate in the exercise to maintain those specific skills. The other secondary goal is the deployment and redeployment of the composite squadron. We operate here as one squadron that is composed of at least six different squadrons. In that way, we are able to deploy almost 200 persons, dozens of trucks, containers and multiple helicopters via air and ground from Gilze-Rijen Air Base and set up our operating base somewhere else and perform our flight operations. The last secondary exercise goal concerns the communication aspect. In a challenging mountainous environment, we check our equipment and improve our knowledge by setting up different types of connections.”
The composite squadron is designed in such a way that it is as self-supporting as possible. While relying on a modular concept, the composite squadron can be tailored to specific needs. “For this exercise, we brought our own fire brigade as well as petroleum specialists to fuel the helicopters” Major Stevens said. “But we also rely on host nation support provided by the US Air Force and Italian Air Force based on Aviano. Moving so many troops and helicopters may require an extensive preparation. Therefore, we rely on standard operating procedures. To verify that the described procedures are still valid and to maintain proficiency in case that a scenario requires us to deploy somewhere else, the logistic deployment is one of the secondary training goals.”
The challenge for the pilots is to find landing spots in the mountains, so that is what they train the most. There are a variety of landing types in the mountains andCaptain Thijs, who is a Chinook pilot explained, “We have the pinnacle landing, which is an open part on a mountain where you can land the helicopter with all four wheels. We are looking for a spot that is as flat as possible. Then there is the ridge-line landing, which is very nice to do. This incorporates a landing on a ridge of the mountain with only the rear wheels on the ridge to simulate that we have a place where it is impossible for us to stand with the entire helicopter but it is urgent to pick up or drop off people.”
There is an individual training exposure in this exercise for every pilot and loadmaster, but the crew concept is also very important in the course. A trainee from the loadmasters and a new pilot might fly together for some flights, or fly with an experienced pilot or loadmaster to accentuate the individual aspect more. Furthermore, the High Blaze exercise is focused more on the technical flight aspect instead of the tactical aspect concerning ground support in air raids and assaults.
When asking about the challenges in mountain flying, Captain Thijs replied managing power is very different. “In the Netherlands or in Germany when we train, we usually fly low level with a maximum height of around 2,000 feet. Here we sometimes fly up to 10,000 feet. At 10,000 feet, the air is thinner and you can easily feel a difference in the controls. You have to make bigger motions to be able to steer the helicopter. The performance of the helicopter simply decreases. Usually, we are limited in the amount of power that we can use as a load on the transmissions, in the mountains, we are more limited by the engines because they reach a maximum temperature and we do not want to exceed, so we can get less power out of the engine. This means that we can take fewer things with us, but we also have to change the way we approach.”
For Captain Thijs, this is not the first High Blaze exercise, but it is the first time training these procedures and landings at night. “That makes it even more complicated. In the Netherlands, when we fly at night with night vision goggles, we often have residual light from cities. What the goggles need is a little bit of light to enhance, so residual light from a city, or a freeway, it all helps. But in the mountains there are places with no artificial or natural light, that is really imposing. The infrared searchlight is used to light such areas.”
A typical High Blaze sortie starts with a map study, coordination with other crews concerning the intended training areas and establish a communication plan with frequencies to communicate with each other and with ground personnel. After this, there will be a crew brief and then the crew grabs their flying gear and go to the helicopters. When the pre-flight checks are performed, the helicopters start-up and take-off heading towards the mountains. The flight to the designated areas takes 20 to 30 minutes. When the often unpredictable weather is confirmed and a recce pass is executed, they start the first landing.
Captain Thijs clearly enjoyed the exercise: “This is the cherry on the cake for all of us.” Major Stevens was also happy, for different reasons. “The results of the exercise were great. We were able to perform 95 percent of the flights that we had planned. That is an exceedingly high realisation percentage which says something about the deployability of the helicopters, but more importantly that the maintenance support is carried out in an effective and efficient manner. To realise that as a detachment is something we are very proud of.”
Article and photos: Jeroen van Veenendaal