DARTING
Agile and maneuverable, helicopters play an indispensable role as a
platform from which animals are selectively darted. An experienced
game pilot will have gained an extensive understanding of the
behavioral traits of each species, knowledge that is essential to
darting success.
He will have to
seamlessly weave together a supernatural aptitude for situational
awareness and the associated safety aspects of fast paced flying with
a myriad of finer details that are critical to a successful operation.
Short of selecting the animal, deciding on the dose and darting the
animal, the pilot is responsible for every aspect of the darting
process up until the ground team moves in. Darting is not merely the
vet administering the immobilizing drug with a dart gun…….a typical
darting operation goes something like this:
“The helicopter has to be flown instinctively by feel and sound, and
this can only happen when the pilot gets to the point where he straps
the helicopter to his back and the machine responds to his thought and
sight.
There
can be no more flying with most of your attention on the manifold
pressure, you have to instinctively know that you are on 22 inches and
already be making a contingency plan to get out of trouble as you feel
your way over 21 inches.
This must happen without
thought because your thought process is too busy taking in the line of
flight of the weaving, galloping Sable bull that is doing an awesome
job of throwing you off….and you have to get a dart into him before he
runs too much and dies of capture myopathy. This can only happen if
you anticipate his next move at 65 mph while you dive between the
branches of the passing tree, holding the aircraft steady so the vet
can aim, and a split second later pull up to avoid colliding with the
next tree while not losing visual contact with the darted animal since
he turned 180 degrees on a dime and gapped it away in the opposite
direction for cover. Obviously all this happened while you were flying
down wind and the Sable was galloping at speed toward the boundary
fence where there were power lines right across your path.
During this madness you are coordinating the ground crew vehicle to
not get in your way but to be as close as possible to save time in
recovering the animal and you dare not take your eyes off him as you
are noting a female Sable’s position as she flushes out of a clump of
bushes to the left. The owner of the farm is there and he is known to
be a difficult @!#%$&^*. He is watching the flying time and if you
lose an animal you can bet he will sue you for the R90 000,00. More
than that though, this Sable bull happens to be one of only a few of
its kind left, he is a trophy of note and his genes are vital for a
crucial breeding project.
There are huge koppies on the farm and it’s the pilots job to make
sure the darted animal does not end up high in the rocks, or he will
not be recoverable to load onto the bakkie and will have to be woken
up. Also there are not enough people in the ground crew so when the
Sable goes down you have to land right next to him to help hold and
load him. All of this needs to be done without denting the helicopter
or the people inside it. The whole affair becomes less about being a
helicopter pilot and more about being a focused person with the right
attitude. The focus is on the animal’s well being first, and then your
interaction with the client, ground team, vet and your ability to pull
the entire operation off like grease lightning.”
Excerpt of an article written by John Bassi, as published in the SAFlyer magazine, April 2004