Open German Helicopter Championship

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Helicopter at the ODHM in Schönhagen

The Open German Helicopter Championship (ODM, formerly ODHM) is a precision helicopter flight competition held in Germany in which various helicopter crews (each commander and copilot) measure their skills. As a rule, it is held annually. If a helicopter world championship takes place, the German championship does not apply for the corresponding year. Runs an adjacent country such as If, for example, Switzerland or Belgium held a championship in the past, a German competition will be added and a separate German event will also be canceled. The individual disciplines are carried out according to the specifications and regulations of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

To monitor the rules, there are referees who are specially trained and regularly trained in relation to the rules.

Skill and navigation competitions are held, which are based on real situations (e.g. rescuing people from buildings) in helicopter air rescue .

The individual disciplines correspond to those that are held as part of a helicopter world championship. These are 1. navigation flight , 2. slalom, 3. fender rigging, 4. precision hovering flight / hover parcours.

The German National Helicopter Team , which represents Germany in international competitions, is put together from the best participants in the German Championship .

Disciplines

Navigation flight

After five minutes of flight preparation, the crew must fly to a defined target area (the so-called search box) and find several symbols within the target area. There is an exact time limit for leaving this area. Then several fixed terrain points (turning points (TP) - i.e. TP1 to TP3) are to be flown over and bags filled with rice are to be thrown into a marked target circle from a low height. Part A of the navigation flight ends when you fly over the finish line at the airport (line A or arrival line).

The time for the overflight is given to the crews depending on the respective helicopter type. The permitted total flight duration is calculated from the current flight distance (90 to 120 km) and the type-specific cruising speed.

After crossing the finish line, the time for a new task starts running. Within 60 seconds, the crew must fly a rectangle with a total of three 90 ° curves at a specified height and fly over another finish line. After crossing this finish line, you have to pocket a load. The copilot must have lowered the load (cone) attached to a seven meter long rope into an opening (40 × 40 cm roof hatch) within 20 seconds. This exercise is also derived from air rescue: Assistance (food supply) to people trapped in mountain rescue, floods or the like.

Hover

Here it is required to fly the helicopter at a constant height through a square - the so-called hover square. A 360 ° rotation around the vertical axis must be carried out in two of the four corner points. To control the flight altitude, two ropes weighted down with weights are attached under the helicopter. The shorter of the two ropes must never touch the ground and the longer one must not leave the ground. The shorter, free-swinging rope is fixed directly under the pilot's seat and is supposed to float within the one-meter-wide corridor of the hover course during the entire task. Of course, this also applies during the two 360 ° rotations, which each must take at least 15 seconds. Following the hover square, a diagonal must be mastered under the same conditions in an inclined flight.

After the excursion from the diagonal after flying the square, the pilot starts the precision landing. There are markings on both runners of the helicopter at the same height. Comparable markings are used for helicopters with landing gear. The aircraft must be set down by the pilot so that the markings are exactly on the 5 cm wide arrival line.

Fender rigging

The copilot leads a fender (30 cm diameter) attached to a rope and weighing approx. 7.5 kg, first through an entrance gate and then to a barrel with a diameter of approx. 50 cm. The aim is to lower the fender into the bin as quickly as possible and without touching the bin or the ground. A total of three tons have to be flown over a 50 × 50 meter area. The fender hangs on different rope lengths of 4, 6 and 8 meters. The rope length and the order of the tons will be announced before the competition and will vary. After the starter's signal, the pilot lifts the helicopter to the appropriate hovering height that corresponds to the respective rope length. As soon as the fender passes the start line, the time measurement starts and ends when the fender is lowered into the barrel. A time limit of 30 seconds applies to all three fenders. After the fender has been sunk, the area must be left through a defined excursion gate.

In a variation of the task, the competition can also be flown as a parallel competition, i.e. H. two crews fly at the same time through two adjacent courses: In one pass, all three tons are flown through with different - predetermined - rope lengths and the time is measured.

The slalom is made up of two elements: leading a container through a slalom course and placing this container centered on a table. The container (water bucket) hangs on a 5 meter long rope during the entire discipline and is held and guided by the co-pilot.

slalom

The co-pilot leads a bucket filled with 6.5 liters of water through the slalom course on a five meter long rope. The bucket is to be maneuvered through the 12 gates of the course in a sequence determined before the competition. The gates consist of two meter high poles one meter apart. The bucket must be led through the gates in the prescribed order below the pole heads. The field of this course measures 120 × 100 meters.

After the 12 gates of the slalom course and the excursion gate have been passed, the copilot must extend the rope with the attached bucket to at least eleven meters. The bucket should be placed as centrally as possible on a round table that is marked with a target. The table measures one meter in diameter and is one meter high. If the copilot drops the rope, the running time measurement ends. The default time is 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

ODM 2009 in Mengen-Hohentengen

German champions were Marcel Stegmüller and Jens Scholpp in 2009 on a Robinson R22 . The best women's team was Bettina Schleidt and Gisela Freund on the same helicopter.

OSM (Open Swiss Championship) 2010 in Grenchen

In 2010 the German Championship was held as part of the OSM. German champions were again Marcel Stegmüller and Jens Scholpp on an R22. The best German women's team were Bettina Schleidt and Gisela Freund on the same helicopter.

Previous venues

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See rotary wing aircraft on precision flight. In: FliegerRevue , No. 7/1991, pp. 258–259