The South Georgia Heritage Trust has purchased a third Eurocopter Bo105 to add to the two it already has for rat eradication.  The helicopters are involved in a five year project on the remote south Atlantic island of South Georgia, where the weather is so poor that the maximum weather window is just ten weeks a year.

The first two – registered G-BATC and G-TVAM – have returned to the UK for maintenance work at present, but will be joined by G-WAAS when they return south in the next couple of months.  Until very recently, G-WAAS served alongside a pair of EC135s with the Wales Air Ambulance, but is in the process of being replaced by a third 135.  Purchased from Bond Air Services, we believe the aircraft will be prepared for its new role by Specialist Aviation Services, who provide technical support to SGHT (see article)

The key time of the year for this operation is mid February to mid April – after the breeding season of most birds and before the first heavy snowfalls of winter – and the Trust hires freelance pilots and an engineer to support the project.

The helicopters will be heading back down to the Falkland Islands this autumn and will then be flown onto the ship the Trust is chartering from the Falkland Islands – to deploy to forward operating bases around the coast of South Georgia. SGHT is very positive about their project, noting that the bait spread in 2011 has been successful, and not only have no rats have been detected in those areas in the subsequent 12 months, but the birds are also returning.

HeliHub.com wrote about the South Georgia Heritage Trust operation in depth when it was launched, and we refer you to that article here.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com