London Heli Routes and HLS Vanguard (Part 1)

Editors note – I’m going to split this post into two separate posts. Firstly because it’s a long one and there’s a lot to take in. Secondly because I need to pack to go to New York and I haven’t done a thing and thirdly because it will keep you interested!!!

The purpose of my trip on Monday was to navigate through the London Heli Routes again for some practise, but ultimately so that I could land at HLS Vanguard on the bank of the River Thames, near the Isle of Dogs. This was a requirement of the CAA before granting me permission to do it solo. With this in mind, JJ (my mate and esteemed instructor blessed be his name, oh holy one, etc etc etc…) and my personal pilot (and mate), Dave ,set off from EGCB to get the job done.

If you haven’t done the London Helicopter Routes, it’s a definite must do trip. I’ve done them a few times before and It’s a great challenge. You really have to be on your game and you really need someone who knows them well to be with you the first few times.

If you aren’t aware, the London Heli Routes allow helicopters to transit into or through London City, which is class A airspace. In order to do this special routes have been created which, in conjunction with a SVFR clearance, allow helicopters to transit the CTR. The routes are numbered H1 to H10 (although there is no H1, H6 or H8 – well not that I can find any way!)

The best routes (in my opinion – and as this is my blog it’s my opinion that counts ) are H9 as it includes a London Heathrow Crossing and H4 as it takes you straight down the River Thames.

The workload is very high and you may end up speaking to up to 5 different ATSU’s although the chances are it will be only 2 or 3. I actually carry a crib sheet with the usual frequencies on which include Heathrow Special, Northolt, Battersea, London City and Thames Radar.

The routes we wanted to utilise were for an entry at the Northern sector of London’s Zone, conveniently called Northwood, and then to route down H9, breaking off east at Northolt along H10, then turning south at Perivale (still on H10) and then eastbound again along the River Thames to pickup H4 – with our ultimate destination being the Vanguard HLS at the Isle of Dogs.

Heathrow Special

I called up Heathrow Special, which is a designated unit for dealing with VFR transits, and told them of our intentions. Without going in to too much detail, this is where RT procedure is critical. If you sound like a tw*t, the chances are you won’t get your clearance – (and before any of you wise guys comment, I got mine – NO PROBLEM!)

Battersea Heliport

Let’s just stop a second and talk about these lanes. Firstly they are not direct routes i.e. there are very few straight lines involved in this. If you close your eyes for a moment and picture London City and it’s surrounding area you will know that there is very little in terms of open spaces. London property is at a premium and if there was ever a pictorial representation of a congested area, the London is it!

These lanes, however, have been planned to allow you to have some chance of putting your machine down in an “open space” if your engine suddenly decides it’s had enough and goes quiet. They literally snake through London and it’s surrounds, following small patches of open ground. You will notice I use the term “open space”. This expression is open to interpretation and whilst in some places it may be a park of some reasonable size, in others (along the whole stretch of H4, for instance) it is a nice long narrow stretch of the River Thames!

Its’ not the process of ditching in the River Thames that will kill you….

Although I’m not a great swimmer, I’m not concerned that I would come to much harm if I had to ditch in the Thames . What does scare the sh*t out of me, is having to swallow a mouthful of water, which I am certain is what would lead to my demise!

Standard Altitudes

Anyway, we digress. The routes themselves also have some other characteristics in terms of compulsory reporting points, on request reporting points and also areas where holding may be required (more on holding shortly!)

In addition there are standard altitudes which must be strictly adhered to. You have to operate as near to them as the cloud base permits, but definitely not above. These altitudes range from 750ft through to 2000ft and you can find yourself climbing and descending like a madman depending on which routes you take.

You also have very little margin of error in terms of lateral drift. They will ignore a small deviation, but in certain places, you simply cannot drift either side of the route.

Holding

Along the route, you may be held to allow traffic in and out of Heathrow or London City. Alternatively there may be traffic coming in the opposite direction and you may get asked to route along the north side of the River Thames whilst the oncoming traffic passes you on the south bank. Have you seen the width of the Thames from 1000ft – it’s about 8 inches wide!! ??

Whilst travelling quite happily down H4 with my HLS not more than 2NM away I was asked to hold west of Tower Bridge whilst AVOIDING the Police EC145 and the Sky News helicopter which were operating about 0.5nm behind me over the Houses of Parliament.

No problem! However, after 15 minutes of orbiting in a 60 degree angle of bank, racetrack holding pattern, at 80kts inside the shore of the River Thames ensuring that you don’t deviate form your 1000 ft clearance you really begin to appreciate your engine!!

Part 2 continues later………..(but here’s a picture to keep you interested!