An Effective GPS Application for Helicopter Operations

William O’Keefe

Abstract:	The primary technical innovation involves the effective use of a unique satellite transmitter and receiver message con@uration and protocols and the antenna system for use on board helicopters. A combined L-band transmit, C-band receive, and GPS antenna system allows automatic dispatch/flight following operations and safety communications from helicopters operating in the Gulf of Mexico. A helicopter presents a very inhospitable environment for satellite, or upward looking, antennas. A carefully selected group of antennas have been designed that makes such an L-band transmitter, C-band receiver, and GPS receiver work to full advantage in such an environment. The objectives are to allow helicopter pilots performing frequent low altitude ferrying between wellhead oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to report their position and intentions to the company while also actually decreasing their workload. One organization operates about 240 of the total of 600 such aircraft serving in the Gulf area. Dispatcher flight following for this organization now requires 22 people at several bases. The personnel requirement could be reduced to 10 people with SATCOM. One flight following system under consideration uses a Mode-S transponder technology, rather than SATCOM. The Mode-S system does not work below 300 feet altitude, rendering it of little value for such helicopter operations. Some of these aircraft perform up to 70 individual flight operations per day. The results from au extensive SATCOM demonstration on board a Bell 206 aircraft have been encouraging. The value lies primarily in that these helicopters no longer need to climb up to approximately 1000 feet to report positions or alter flight plans as was necessary using the standard UHF radio for this purpose. The operations generally take place from 50 to 200 miles out over water and are effectively over-the-horizon from the UHF radio system. Such communications tasks are now operating so as to relieve all of the position reporting communications workload from the pilot. It also eliminated the extra fuel that was consumed in the climb outs required to reach the UHF radio horizon. It is concluded that such a satellite based GPS position reporting and communication system has been demonstrated to be completely effective largely due to the efficient message protocls and configuration design. This new technology application now allows eamless organizational asset tracking and emergency situation notification for possible extraction and rescue.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 8th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1995) September 12 - 15, 1995 Palm Springs, CA
Pages:	879 - 886
Cite this article:	O’Keefe, William, "An Effective GPS Application for Helicopter Operations," Proceedings of the 8th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1995), Palm Springs, CA, September 1995, pp. 879-886.
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