直升机在行动

p 　　Agusta 一0九K二: Alpine Medivac Rescue br 　　Straight Up 三九 s exploration of vertical flight begins with a high-impact alpine rescue amid an avalanche The dramatic opening sequence documents the dangerous work of the Rega mountain rescue team and the invaluable role of the Agusta A一0九K二 helicopter in saving lives and minimizing injuries br 　　As the camera pans over beautiful vistas of the snow-covered Swiss Alps, it cuts to a cornice, as a chunk of snow breaks free, triggering an avalanche The tranquil scene is shattered as the avalanche thunders down the mountain slopes With terrifying speed, it heads straight for a mother and child trapped in their car, wheels spinning on the icy road br 　　The mother calls for help on her cell phone, and a second call from a snowplow prompts radio dispatch The Rega mountain rescue team already is airborne en route to the scene, the red cross painted on the helicopter 三九 s white underbelly signaling that medical help is on the way The mother escapes, but her son is missing Within minutes of the helicopter landing, the rescue team dig out the car, extract the trapped boy, apply first aid, and airlift him and his mother to safety br 　　A significant mountain hazard, avalanches are responsible for many deaths each year Time is of the essence in avalanche rescue work A person has a 九0 percent chance of survival if found within the first 一五 minutes, but one 三九 s chances of survival diminish with each passing minute Not only do helicopters provide quick access for rescue teams, they also provide a lifeline to medical care Flying the injured to the nearest hospital as rapidly as possible is not the only type of rescue operation often helicopters bring the hospital to the injured, who receive treatment at the scene br 　　The powerful avalanche was shot in British Columbia 三九 s Selkirk Mountains under the supervision of the Canadian Avalanche Association The CAA controls avalanche risk for the safety of heli-skiers To capture the avalanche head-on, avalanche expert and filmmaker Steve Krochel and David Douglas developed a quarter-inch-thick steel container for the IMAX camera, which was equipped with a triggering device and a beeper so that the camera could be found once the avalanche had swept it down the mountain br 　　The rescue was completed in Switzerland 三九 s Bernina Pass near the Italian border Filming the Rega rescue helicopter air-to-air sequence turned into an international excursion as Douglas chased the sunlight over Italy in one direction and in Austria in another before setting down in Switzerland In another dramatic shot, Douglas centered the red cross in the crosshairs of the camera lens as the craft descended To facilitate this shot, Douglas dug a hole in the snow large enough to accommodate himself and the IMAX camera Inside the hole, 三 feet below the helicopter, he filmed its takeoff br 　　According to Douglas, quot The helicopter is the instrument of rapid response to natural physical and social disasters around the world, alleviating human suffering on a major scale For the individual caught beyond the limits of training or equipment, often the last chance for survival is the hope that a helicopter will get to them in time quot br 　　The Pitcairn PCA 二, quot Miss Champion quot br 　　For centuries humans dreamed of flight The Chinese, in the 一二th century, developed a toy helicopter made from a pair of slats mounted on a stick, but serious efforts had to wait until the early 二0th century Then, after the Wright brothers 三九 historic flight at Kitty Hawk, we dreamed of flight unfettered by the limitations of runways and airports Yet by the early 一九三0s we were still at the dawn of the practical rotorcraft, which promised to give form to humanity 三九 s vision br 　　The ten year period between 一九二五 and 一九三五 was an exciting time in aviation history, but few aircraft so caught and held the public 三九 s attention, as the Autogiro Nicknamed the quot flying windmill, quot this strange-looking aircraft was first successfully flown in 一九二三 by the Spanish inventor, Juan de la Cierva, who had been working on the development of such a craft since 一九一九 The Autogiro fascinated the air-minded public because of its remarkable performance and high degree of safety, attracting such leaders of American aviation as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart br 　　Juan de la Cierva sold the American manufacturing rights to Harold Pitcairn in 一九二八 Pitcairn 三九 s Autogiro boasted a more modern fuselage with better aerodynamic qualities It also provided prospective buyers with a choice of either a 三00- or 四二0-horsepower engine br 　　In the film, Harold Pitcairn 三九 s son Stephen flies quot Miss Champion, quot a 一九三一 model This Autogiro, used for promotion by the Champion Spark Plug Company, is controlled like an airplane, but is lifted with blades Although the original rotor blades have seen 一,六00 hours of flight time, they are still airworthy With a 三三0-horsepower Wright R 九七五-E engine, the Autogiro has a cruising speed of 九八 mph and a top speed of 一一八 mph quot Miss Champion quot led a National Air Tour and made the then-risky 三00- mile-long flight from Miami to Havana, Cuba Until then, the longest over-water flight by an Autogiro had been 二五 miles in length Later, quot Miss Champion quot flew nonstop over a distance of 五00 miles to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan rainforest quot Miss Champion quot was retired from active service in 一九三二 after setting a new altitude record for rotary-wing aircraft Climbing to a height of 二一,五00 feet in 一九三二, the Autogiro surpassed the previous record set by Amelia Earhart Today, the Autogiro is considered to be the evolutionary quot missing link quot from which the practical helicopter was born br 　　Forty years later Stephen Pitcairn began the formidable task of collecting and restoring examples of his father 三九 s aircraft He tracked down quot Miss Champion quot and in October of 一九八二 began the painstaking task of restoration, using the original Pitcairn factory drawings In the spring of 一九八五 quot Miss Champion quot flew again br 　　The Bell 四七G: A Flying Lesson br 　　Since Pitcairn 三九 s Autogiro, improved control systems allow the airframe to rise directly from the ground with a powered rotor Straight Up puts you in the pilot 三九 s seat of a Bell 四七G as the basic elements of helicopter operation are demonstrated The Bell 四七G 三九 s single-rotor configuration is by far the most common type used today Your flying lesson begins br 　　As a helicopter pilot, the pilot uses all four limbs to fly, all at the same time With the left hand holding the collective pitch control lever, he pulls up ever so slightly, and we go straight up into a slow-motion hover The spinning rotor blades act as small wings, but they spin so fast that they create one continuous disc of lift When the blades change angle, or pitch collectively, the helicopter rises or falls The pilot 三九 s right hand always holds the cyclic control, effectively tilting the whirling disc above Point left, tilt left Point right, tilt right The camera then closes in on the tail rotor Once again, the altering of the blades affects direction The chopper spins in response to the pilot 三九 s depressing one of the two foot pedals If he depresses the second pedal, the helicopter spins in the opposite direction br 　　The Piasecki H-二一B Tandem Rotor Aircraft, quot The Flying Banana quot br 　　The last flying H-二一B helicopter in the world takes off, heads for the beach and cruises 一00 feet above the Pacific surf off the coast of California One of the earliest tandem helicopters, the H-二一B represents the birth of the heavy lift helicopters and dates back to the early 一九五0s Nicknamed quot The Flying Banana quot for its shape, the H-二一B had more power and greater stability than previous helicopters The tandem-rotor H-二一B carries two sets of wooden blades situated nearly 五0 feet apart but operated by one set of helicopter flight controls The pilot must be ever vigilant, as this helicopter could rapidly invert should the pilot let go of the controls br 　　The vintage H-二一B used for the film was decommissioned from the U S Air Force in 一九七二 and was restored by the California-based Classic Rotors: The Rare and Vintage Rotocraft Museum This nonprofit museum and restoration facility, dedicated to the preservation of unique, vintage and rare rotorcraft, spent more than 一0,000 hours returning the H-二一B to airworthiness Every hour flown requires 一00 hours of maintenance Classic Rotors is the only museum of its kind to maintain eight helicopters in flying condition When its new facility in San Diego has been completed, the museum will expand its exhibits from 一五 to 三0 vintage rotorcraft br 　　One of the highlights of its collection is a famous relative of the H-二一B This is a V 四四 the commercial version of the H-二一 -nicknamed quot The Holy One quot -and is the only one to land at the Vatican and be blessed by the pope While on a 一九五九 demonstration tour in Europe, the helicopter and its crew had provided help to Italian communities following a devastating earthquake br 　　Future Helicopter Designs br 　　One aspect of current research centers around the development of quot quiet technology quot that will allow helicopters to become better neighbors and to operate more stealthily in police and military operations br 　　Quiet technology advances rely on a combination of technologies, which include improved rotor blade design and the user of rotor systems with four or more blades Replacing the tail rotor with a Coanda-effect NOTAR NoTailRotor system goes a long way in reducing noise, as does shrouding the tail rotor in an arrangement know as a quot fan-in-fin quot Other advances focus on noise-dampening air inlets and improved engine nozzles br 　　New helicopter designs are tested in the world 三九 s largest wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Flight Research Center located at Moffett Field in California Ames was founded in 一九三九 as an aircraft research laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which became part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA in 一九五八 NASA has the leading role in aerospace operations systems, which include air traffic control, flight effects on humans, and rotorcraft technology NASA Ames scientists and engineers study robotic helicopters, high-speed hybrids, and advances in quiet technology The center also has major responsibilities for the creation of design and development tools and for wind tunnel testing br 　　The NASA-Bell XV-一五 Tilt-rotor br 　　In the film, an XV-一五 converts over Dallas-Fort Worth Airport The XV-一五 is an experimental rotorcraft, the parent of a new family of aircraft called quot tilt-rotors quot The tilt-rotor combines the hovering ability of the helicopter with the speed of a fixed-wing aircraft The XV-一五 can take off and land like a helicopter The audience will see the engines tilting forward as the tilt-rotor becomes a high-speed plane br 　　The Bell-Boeing V-二二 Osprey br 　　A V-二二 Osprey unwraps, emerging like a prehistoric flying dinosaur Built primarily for the U S Marines, Air Force, and Navy, the V-二二 Osprey has wings that pivot and rotors that fold to facilitate its storage at sea In less than 九0 seconds, you will see the V-二二 complete this process Although still classified as a tilt-rotor, it is faster, with three times the range and more than ten times the payload of its predecessor It shows the promise of long-distance travel, without airports br 　　The Hawk 四 Gyroplane br 　　Rotorcraft evolution is also in the hands of the entrepreneur, and this independent spirit is most evident in the Hawk 四 Gyroplane While some designs produce groundbreaking changes, this aircraft brought the economy and safety of the Autogiro into the space age A rotor is used for slow-speed flight, but at high-speed cruising all the lift is provided by the wing while the rotor has no lift The Gyroplane shows promise as a high-speed, low-disc-loading rotorcraft br 　　The Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-六六 Comanche br 　　The Comanche rips and dips across the screen, set against a sunset This prototype helicopter has stealth technology It 三九 s smart, agile, fast and invisible to radar It 三九 s the first helicopter to provide real-time digital data to headquarters Seeing in the dark, sensing the forces at play around us and acting on the evidence in real time, the Comanche is a complex flying machine with a human being at its heart Everyday, in unexpected ways, it extends our powers and puts us to work with a revolutionary tool br 　　The Comanche is the central element of the U S Army 三九 s future Objective Force In addition to its complement of missiles and 二0-mm cannon, the aircraft carries state-of-the-art sensors and avionics to provide battlefield commanders with so much accurate information about enemy movements This knowledge will translate into more precise targeting, increasing the effectiveness of friendly forces beyond current capabilities br 　　The U S Army has defined a requirement of more than 一,二00 Comanches for the Objective Force The RAH Comanche, the army 三九 s 二一st-century combat helicopter is being developed by the U S Army and a team of leading aerospace companies headed by the Boeing Company and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a unit of United Technologies Corporation br 　　The Sikorsky UH-六0 Black Hawk and AS 三五0 B二 AStar Enforce the Law br 　　Events swiftly unfold as the radar plane spots an quot unidentified quot Cessna dropping bundles of drugs off the coast of Miami at dawn A signal alerts the Marine and Air Branch of U S Customs who speed out to intercept the smugglers Just as the drugs are transferred from boat to van, The AStar helicopter bursts over the treetops, deploying a tactical team to arrest the driver While the smuggler 三九 s Cigarette boat attempts to escape, a Black Hawk helicopter dips down to create a giant backwash In a stunning display of impeccable teamwork, this action forces the fleeing boat to swerve to a halt as a Customs boat cuts it off and apprehends the criminals br 　　On a typical day, the U S Customs Service examines 一 三 million passengers, 二,六四二 aircraft, 五0,八八九 trucks containers, 三五五,00四 other vehicles, 五八八 vessels, 六四,九二三 entries and undertakes the following enforcement actions: 六四 arrests, 一0七 narcotic seizures, 二二三 other seizures, 九 currency seizures These amount to 五,0五九 pounds of narcotics, 四四三,九0七 in currency, 二二八,八0三 in conveyances, 五二五,七九一 in merchandise and more than 一五,八00 in arms and ammunition br 　　Filmed over a period of five days off the coast of Miami, the air, land, and sea drug bust was staged by the U S Customs Service, which relies heavily on helicopters during such operations br 　　U S Customs pilot, Tom Stanton, participated in the shoot with his co-pilot Kimberly Kessel Kessel is one of seven women U S Customs pilots and only one of two qualified to fly Black Hawks Both pilots volunteered to work with the film crew Says Kessel, a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, quot They were phenomenal, ready to try anything quot br 　　In addition to daytime flights, Stanton flies the riskier night missions quot Flying at night is dangerous as you lose all perception of what 三九 s up or down because both the sky and ocean are black, so they just kind of run in together There 三九 s no horizon on those dark nights, quot says the veteran pilot br 　　Typically he flies from 三00 to 五00 feet above the water at 一二0 to 一五0 knots quot Not many people fly that low, even in the daytime, quot says Stanton quot There 三九 s no autopilot, so it 三九 s hands on Plus you 三九 re chasing someone You have to be aware It can get tense out there quot br 　　Stanton describes an air chase: quot Once there 三九 s a target, we launch a jet with radar The jet pilot calls the helicopter out and we link up, flying in formation We follow the bad guy wherever he goes If he has extended-range fuel tanks, we leapfrog and send another helicopter out to take up the chase The Black Hawk carries five hours of fuel When he gets into his landing configuration, we call the local police or sheriff to help us out quot The Black Hawk, which can carry up to 一四 people, typically carries 四 or 五 armed personnel, quot so we instantly have a force of police officers there to get the bad guys quot br 　　 quot If it 三九 s a boat, we have Cigarette boats like the smugglers We 三九 ll call our boat and have it intercept quot Stanton flies the Black Hawk next to the boat, making it hard for the smugglers to navigate quot It intimidates them into giving up Sometimes they do but sometimes we chase them for hours Or we 三九 ll follow them into a marina and block them until our boats come If they hit the beach, we 三九 ll call the state police or sheriff, and they set up a perimeter so the guy can 三九 t get out quot br 　　Stanton, who flies missions as often as once or twice a week, has been flying for 二六 years, 一三 of those as an army helicopter pilot before he joined U S Customs in Miami where he is the quot standardization instructor pilot quot He makes sure that everybody flies the same way, so that when they team up, the pilots easily work in tandem Pilots fly 八-hour shifts and the operation goes on 二四 hours a day, 七 days a week in areas covering both the Canadian and Mexican land borders, the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines, and the Gulf of Mexico br 　　The MD 五00E Helicopter br 　　A MD 五00 helicopter hovers directly above 五00,000-volt power lines As it inches closer, a lightning bolt suddenly zaps out from the hot line, arcing toward the wand extended by a lineman perched on an aluminum platform that juts out from the helicopter The quot hot-line-qualified quot lineman clamps onto the power lines, and helicopter backs off, leaving him to quot wire walk, quot crawling along parallel lines to inspect the PPL power line grid, 一00 feet off the ground To reboard the helicopter, the lineman must quot bond off, quot reversing the procedure br 　　 quot I don 三九 t give two hoots and a holler about flying inside a helicopter Put me outside, that 三九 s where I want to be, quot says Daniel quot Spider quot Lockhart, AgRotors lineman There 三九 s only three things I 三九 ve been afraid of most of my life: One was electricity, one was heights and the other was women And, I 三九 m married too, quot he grins quot The safest lineman is one that is afraid of electricity When we bond to the power lines energized at half-a-million volts, we have to bring ourselves to the same potential That is why you see that arc jumping out to our wand as we make both the helicopter and the power line at the same potential, so that we can eliminate the flow of current, quot explains the veteran lineman br 　　Spider wears a protective hot suit, 七五 percent Nomex for fire retardation and 二五 percent stainless steel thread quot The metal thread basically means I have a cage around me that can be energized at very high voltage levels A half-million volts pass over my body, but I can work without interference from the electricity quot br 　　He continues, quot Watching that electricity jump out while you 三九 re energizing the helicopter is a thrill Getting on the wire, walking the wire to do repairs is a thrill The biggest thrill I get is from doing what I do is being able to do both together-the electrical part and the helicopter part of it, the speed at which we can do it and still be safe There are so many things that the helicopter enables us to do as linemen, which is very rewarding quot br 　　The teamwork of the skilled helicopter pilots and highly trained linemen ensure that the PPL Corp provides a constant source of electricity to its 一 三 million customers in Pennsylvania in addition to 四 四 million in Latin America and Europe To maintain the integrity of the transmission system to residential and commercial establishments, and to ensure the safety of the operation, the team plans and rehearses every move while on the ground before takeoff Even so, unanticipated gusts of wind and glare from the wires can affect the pilot 三九 s depth perception, requiring total concentration during his hours at the controls As the helicopter is isolated from the ground, the pilot and lineman, clad in protective stainless steel suits, must bond onto the transmission lines to bring themselves to the same voltage potential of the line to work safely-paralleling what a bird does when it sits on a wire br 　　Probably the most unusual place that the director rigged the camera was on the end of the platform on the MD 五00, which is designed to carry the lineman as he bonds onto the half-million-volt power line quot We took away the lineman and put the camera in his place the lineman rode behind the camera and used his wand to draw the arc of electricity right onto the camera lens I don 三九 t think it 三九 s been done before It blew all the electronics out of the camera a couple of times before we figured out how to do it, quot recalls Douglas br 　　The Boeing 二三四 Helicopter: Helilogging with Limited Environmental Damage br 　　Floating above the forest in northern California, a 一二-ton Boeing 二三四 helicopter selects its target with precision Selective logging is a process where only a portion of the available timber is removed from a logging site A single tree is lifted straight up from the forest floor, leaving the rest of the area environmentally intact Removing such timber-very often trees that are already dead or diseased-allows the remaining trees to thrive on the additional resources of sunlight, water, and soil nutrients Helilogging is environmentally friendly in other ways as well First, since the logs are lifted from the ground, little soil erosion, typical of conventional logging methods, occurs Second, in many cases the helicopter is able to use existing roads for landings, meaning no new roads need to be built into the area being logged br 　　Columbia Helicopters cuts more logs each year than any other helicopter logging company To prepare the timber for the helicopter, the specially trained logging crew cut it into carefully weighed sections Columbia 三九 s flight crews are among the most experienced at long-line work in the world With speed and precision, they are able to move heavy loads of logs at the end of lines up to 三五0-feet long Once the line is lowered from the Boeing 二三四 helicopter, steel tongs clamp the log and the entire tree is removed without disturbing the balance of nature quot It 三九 s kinda like lookin 三九 down 二五 stories and picking up a telephone pole, quot comments the helicopter pilot, Dave Stroupe, who deposits the timber at a nearby transfer yard quot The unique thing about this helicopter is that, when we take off from the ground, we weigh approximately 二二,000 pounds And we 三九 re rigged for about 二六,000 pounds when we get low on fuel So the load actually weighs more than the helicopter It 三九 s exciting and harrowing all at the same time quot br 　　The Boeing 二三四s have a lift capacity of 二八,000 lb, 一二,七二七 kg , but most often carry loads between 二三,000 lb, 一0,四五四 kg to 二四,000 lb 一0,九0九 kg due to elevation and air temperature considerations The company trains loggers to work with helicopters because load weight is such a dramatic part of what they do Weight is determined, using a formula, which are a function of the volume and the type of wood Different tree species have different weights per volume br 　　When one of the pilots suggested using the log as a platform for the camera, Douglas realized another exciting camera angle The possibility existed that the branches could scrape off the camera as the log was hauled up Douglas prevented this by placing the camera inside a heavy steel avalanche box, which he anchored on the end of a big log Once the log was grappled, the helicopter hauled the protected camera right through the branches, giving the audience a breathtaking view from the perspective of the log The U S Marine Corps AV-八B Harrier, AH-一W Cobra, CH-五三E Super Stallion and CH-四六E Sea Knight on a Military Mission br 　　An AV-八B Harrier jet demonstrates its vertical landing ability followed by a force reconnaissance inservice exercise from an aircraft carrier, as Marines climb aboard the CH-五三E AH-一W Cobras and Harriers form an assault-support package, as the reconnaissance team sets out on a mission to obtain invaluable intelligence about the enemy br 　　Inside the CH-五三E, the machine-gunner is at the ready as a Cobra fires three rockets The action heats up as the IMAX camera captures the Marines fast-roping through the quot hell hole quot and sliding down a rope dangling from the CH-五三E, landing in enemy territory The leader of the reconnaissance team says, quot By the time you get to touch rope in a live situation, you and your men feel tighter than family Your fates are tied like the strands of a rope quot br 　　Two hours later the Marines have completed their mission and are ready to be evacuated Now the enemy hunts them on the ground Trees shake as the rescue CH-五三E helicopter hovers overhead, lowering a rope to the squad, now up to their waists in water One after the other, in a matter of seconds, the men clip themselves onto the rope quot Extraction, even more than insertion, is when you need speed You 三九 ve been awful quiet Suddenly, you 三九 re awful loud, quot says Sgt James Kenneke, the squad leader He 三九 s first in and last out Lifted up, like washing on a line, the squad dangles beneath the helicopter as it is escorted by Cobras, out over the Atlantic br 　　 quot It 三九 s a relief to get out But there 三九 s that moment of doubt Everything slows down while you 三九 re exposed � holding your breath for that happy ending And when you get it, you feel on top of the world Of course, then we 三九 ve got to commute home just like everybody else, quot smiles Kennecke br 　　The Mi-二六 and Mi-八 Deliver Humanitarian Aid br 　　Sometimes, something very precious must be delivered behind enemy lines-food Sierra Leone is a nation that has suffered years of conflict From the food depot to the hot spot, helicopters provide an air bridge Hoisting food and medical supplies to distressed people behind rebel-held territories, they have the ability to hop over hot zones in desperate situations br 　　The world 三九 s largest production helicopter-the Russian-made Mi-二六-is the workhorse for the United Nations UN peacekeeping operation in war-torn Sierra Leone The heaviest production helicopter in the world, this majestic eight-bladed craft-one of four chartered by the UN from Russia-can carry a maximum of 四四,0九0 lb 二0,0四0 kg of internal payload or up to 七0 troops The Mi-二六 三九 s top speed is 一八三 mph 二九五 kph and it has a range of 三0四 miles 四00 km br 　　In this sequence, the Mi-二六 is loaded with cargo to supply UN troops protecting an isolated community in the center of rebel-held territory The world 三九 s largest food agency, the UN World Food Program WFP , organized a massive air campaign targeting internally displaced persons that had congregated near a clinic for malnourished children Once rebels from the Revolutionary United Front RUF had surrounded the area and blocked road access, the WFP was prevented from completing a bulk distribution Instead, they loaded up their Mi-八 and flew to the Daru clinic where the most vulnerable women and children were located br 　　 quot All children under five who are malnourished are given a special feeding program in Daru And the under-five are always the first ones you target for any kind of extreme malnourished cases, because they die very quickly, quot says Aya Shneerson, program officer for the WFP quot Daru is a kind of an island, a safe island, surrounded by areas that are unsafe, quot she says, quot and for that reason, it always served as a sort of magnet for the very vulnerable people coming out quot br 　　Another big WFP operation, Food for Peace, gives food to child ex-combatants, in an effort to attract them to disarmament and demobilization camps br 　　The heavily laden craft flew out of the capital city, Freetown, situated on the west coast of Africa between Guinea on the north and Liberia on the south The WFP supervises a variety of feeding programs in the displacement camps, feeding 五,000 in an operation that targeted Bunbuna, Kabala and Daru in 二000 br 　　Throughout the world, helicopters have saved millions of human lives There are 七七七 million people in developing countries, according to the WFP In 二00一 the WFP fed 七七 million hungry people 一0 percent of the hungry poor in 八二 countries br 　　Diamonds, which should have brought prosperity to Sierra Leone, instead resulted in one of the modern world 三九 s most brutal insurgencies, dating back to 一九九一 when rebels launched a war to overthrow the government In the ensuing years, continuous battles between the various factions-rebels, the army and the government-displaced tens of thousands of innocent civilians, resulting in hunger and famine In 一九九八 UN observers documented reports of ongoing atrocities and human rights abuses In 一九九九 negotiations began between the government and the rebels, and an agreement was signed in Lome to end hostilities and form a government of national unity By 二000, the UN 三九 s expanded role resulted in the deployment of 一七,五00 military peacekeeping personnel to various parts of the country Free elections in May 二00二 have given hope and a fresh started in Sierra Leone br 　　The AS 三五0 B二 and AS 三五0 B三 Used for Wildlife Relocation br 　　In South Africa, helicopters are helping to save the black rhino from extinction Protected in a few remote preserves, their numbers are rising However, should the rhinos feel overcrowded, they will fight to the death To protect the species, some must be relocated to safe habitats, but this is easier said than done br 　　A platform dangles from a helicopter overhead Inside another helicopter, flying low over the South African veldt, a man with a rifle takes aim at a black rhinoceros, dodging through the bushes below The pilot concentrates on flying 五 feet above and 一0 to一五 feet behind the rhino Anticipating its every move, a wildlife veterinarian pulls the trigger of his gun loaded with a tranquilizer dart, scoring a direct hit that successfully penetrates the rhino 三九 s inch-thick skin br 　　 quot When I am darting animals like the black rhino, there is this immense trust between myself and Piet, the pilot, quot says wildlife veterinarian, Dr Douw Grobler, who specializes in immunizations and translocations quot I know exactly what he 三九 s going to do and where he 三九 s going to place me I don 三九 t have to think I can just concentrate on the animals I just know he 三九 s gong to put me there in the right spot at the right time It 三九 s almost that he senses what the animal 三九 s going to do In that way, he can change the animal 三九 s mind with his helicopter quot br 　　Grobler has measured a specific drug dosage, which can keep a rhino asleep for up to two hours Once the rhino is darted, the ground crew lands as soon as possible to undertake a multitude of tasks They monitor the beast 三九 s vital signs, take skin and blood samples to study its basic health and to detect any nutrients that are lacking This ensures that the habitat is healthy for long-term propagation They also conduct pregnancy testing Each rhino 三九 s ear is notched so that it can be identified easily from the air and ground The tip of the second horn is removed to provide material for genetic research, and a transmitter is fitted into the rhino 三九 s horn for tracking its whereabouts Poachers present a constant danger to the rhinos 三九 security Should a poacher remove the horn for export, the transmitter would trigger an alarm br 　　When two males inhabit the same territory, one must be relocated before they battle to the death Placing a sling in position, the crew rolls the rhino aboard the platform, making sure it is fully asleep With a lifting capability of 三,五00 lb 一,五九0 kg , the AStar B 三 can relocate the 二,二五0-lb 一0二二-kg rhino to an area of the sanctuary that is accessible only by helicopter br 　　The extensive research on eleven black rhinos acquired during the four-day shoot was made possible only through SK Film 三九 s financial contribution quot My field of expertise lies in the capture and relocation of African wildlife I am extremely grateful to Straight Up for sponsoring this incredibly important research and relocation program at the game park Without the film, this research would not have happened, quot says Grobler, who organized the capture, research and relocation project, with the film 三九 s production crew quot Every animal is just so valuable, quot he says, quot and any information that can be collected on them is worth its weight in gold quot br 　　The prehistoric ancestor of today 三九 s rhinos existed more than 五0 million years ago Among today 三九 s five rhino species, the black rhino, which has two horns, has suffered the most spectacular rate of decline From a population of 六五,000 in 一九七0 it had been hunted almost to extinction, declining to a population of 二,三00 by 一九九二-九三 Current statistics indicate that the African black rhino population has risen to 三,五00 as a result of the protection of nature reserves, developed by conservancy groups, agencies and governments to facilitate breeding and relocation programs br 　　This segment of Straight Up was filmed in one such reserve in South Africa, where black rhinos had been reintroduced in 一九八六 The helicopter, an irreplaceable co p