PremiAir is the UK’s leading provider of luxury helicopter charter
and hire services serving both business and leisure markets. Whether
your business needs a helicopter to save considerable time avoiding the
perils of ground transport or you are a leisure user who wants to
travel in ultimate style, PremiAir has a solution that will perfectly
match your requirements.

This
is a oil drilling rig model, industry enabled to transport passengers
to and from the rig. It does not actually deliver oil to ships, this is
the function of the oil loading platform.

Large tanker ships are not used close
to a drilling rig, the oil is pumped to storage or to an off shore
loading platform for transfer to tankers. The platform is shown behind
the rig.

Passengers can load at the heliport or the ship wharf at the lower level.

Oil Tanker

The oil tanker Globil Oil, able to load crude oil at the platform. The model is based on my tanker asset built into TRS2004.

The
tanker has a slow load process and settles deeper into the water as it
is loaded. It floats higher when unloaded.

Additional scripting to unload the ship is required to complete the model, as well as a new unloading facility.

Oil Loading Platform and Tanker

The
Tanker is loading oil at the platform in a stopped load process. The
loading tube from the platform is animated. Note that the loaded ship
is low in the water.

Placement of the Models in Surveyor

• make the seabed level -10 metres and place the rig.


• attach invisible track at the ship track level (ground zero) or at the higher plane level.


• place water at -3 metres


• the heliport and oil loading platform are placed similarly.

Heliport

A separate model for a heliport that could be placed near any ocean or
river based industry, and has night lighting and flashing lights. It
accepts passengers at the deck level from helicopters, or at the lower
wharf level for ships.

As the landing area is small, triggers are
placed close together near the center of the helipad. Excessive speed
under AI operations can cause the helicopter to miss pickups due to
over shoot.

Helicopter, Tugboat and Oil Rig

Three of the models in the oil loading system.

The helicopter has an opening passenger door on the left side, for traveling in the direction shown.

Should the helicopter approach from the opposite direction, it will load or unload but the door does not operate.

Tugboat

The tugboat James Hart carries passengers and is drivable. The tug is based on American designs.

It is shown approaching the Helipad, ready to load at the wharf lower level.

Heliport at Night

The heilport lights up at night.

Tugboat Loading Passengers

Passengers
are loaded or dropped off at the lower wharf level for the Heliport or
the Oil Rig. They appear on the rear deck of the tugboat.

Tugboat at Night

The ship has operating and animated searchlights for night use.

Oil Loader Mechanism

An
animated pipe filler for the oil tankers. It moves to join with the
tankers. Because it is not possible to have the ship stop consistently
at the same place on the loader, it cannot join exactly with any filler
pipes on the ship.

It retracts when loading is complete.

Helicopter in Flight

The
helicopter, passenger enabled with interiors. It is drivable in dcc or
cab mode. The model is a Aerospatiale (Eurocopter) AS 332 Super Puma,
civilian version.

It is difficult to simulate the
actual flight attitude of the helicopter due to it operating on train
track that is smooth and undulating. For example, you cannot make the
helicopter lift vertically, nor can you tilt the nose or blades down to
go forward, using normal track

You can however use my Helicopter lift turntable described below.

Helicopter Interior

The
helicopter has a working interior in cab mode with operating levers.
The joysticks are the throttle and reverser. Brake levers are overhead.
At the minute, these all operate as diesel rotary controls, in a
circular motion, instead of linear motion

The view forward is excellent and the helicopter is fun to drive. Alternate views from the interior are provided.

Helicopter Passengers

Passengers
change as they are picked up or dropped off. The door on the left side
opens to load passengers, but only when traveling in one direction, for
loading on the left.

Helicopter Close Up

The
view into the cab and passenger compartment. The pilots are passenger
attachments and in most cases the same type of model occupies both
seats.

An original helicopter by Jetstreamsky is
available on the Download Station, my model follows his practice and
references his sound files as dependencies, they are quite good.

The
helicopter uses the rotors as an animated mesh attached to the main
body, not as a bogey. Consequently the rotors rotate all the time. This
is still quite effective as the sound files are quite realistic.

Helicopters in Formation

The
coupling points on the helicopter are placed further out than the body
extremities, so they may be coupled in a flying formation as shown.

A static model (stopped blades) for placement on ground is also available.

Helicopter Lift Transfer Table

This
is a helipad that can be placed on ground, or on the top of buildings,
it is height adjustable. It is a Transfer table (vertical lift
turntable model).

The helicopter can be lifted or lowered between any of three tracks, and can be rotated 180 degrees at the top.

The
Table (kind turntable) is not an industry interactive model, it cannot
load or unload passengers. A separate unloading Heliport facility is
available to be joined.

Helicopter Lift Transfer Table 2

The
table is normally at ground level, where the green track is connected.
Above that is the purple track at 10 metres, and above that again is
the red track at 20 metres (where the helicopter is sitting) and at
right angles to the other two tracks.

The table is
operated as for normal turntables using the red and green arrows. The
actual moving table is invisible, so to find the track alignment up in
the air, there are green and white coronas that move up with the table,
just park the helicopter between them.

.

Helicopter Lift Transfer Table 3

The
green and white coronas locate the moving table in the air, the
helicopter is sitting on the table. The different colours help identify
the table direction as it can be rotated 180 degrees at the top 20
metre level. There are four steps or positions:

• The table initially sits on the ground.


• One click on the red arrow moves it up 10 metres to the next track.


• The next click moves it up to the 20 metre track, and rotates it 90 degrees to align with it.


• The next click rotates the table another 180 degrees at the top 20 metre track.

Helicopter Lift Transfer Table 4

The
table may be placed on a building roof. The helicopter is entering at
the top 20 metre track level (which is now 80 metres or so above
ground!).

Operations are best observed by being in
Roaming View mode in Driver, so you can operate the turntable easily,
and watch the helicopter spin down to the landing pad. If you are
focused on the helicopter in External View mode, you will spin with the
helicopter.

Heliport for the Transfer Table

As
the Lift Transfer table does not accept passengers, this is a separate
heliport that will allow the loading and unloading of the helicopters.
The Heliport Plus model will combine a Heliport with the Lift Table,
see below.

It is joined to the transfer table
with invisible track at ground level, and butted up so the taxi aprons
of the two match. Helicopters from the transfer table may be taxied
into the terminal, but one of the movements will need to be in the
reverse direction (the helicopter cannot be turned around in the
terminal).

Driver Rule to Operate the Lift Table

You will find the red transfer table arrows difficult to operate when a helicopter is on the lowest level. Atilabarut has made two rules that allow turntables to be turned using driver commands:

• InputTable kuid:131986:1012 and


• MoveTurntable kuid:131986:180156

These
only work in TRS2006. Add the Input Table rule to the Driver setup in
Surveyor, then Edit to enter the table identification data:

turntable, turntable_name, number_of_stops

eg, turntable, TR3, 4 with a space after the commas.

Driver Rule to Operate the Lift Table 2

Open
the Driver Command menu for Edit. Find the MoveTurntable rule that has
been included form installing the files, and tick the check box to make
it active and available to drivers.

Don't forget to save these settings by clicking the green tick marks.

Navigating to the Lift Table

You
cannot give a "Drive To" command for a turntable (it does not have that
function), you need to add a trackmark at the center of the table
platform, it is at ground level when first loaded.

Give
it a relevant name, and change the trigger radius to a very small
amount, say 1 metre, otherwise the helicopter will stop at the edge of
the table (default radius is 20 metres).

The image
is a composite Driver/Surveyor screens showing the trackmark TM
Heliground placed and the commands to Drive to Trackmark TMHeliground.

Operating the Lift Table

In
Driver, select appropriate Drive to Trackmark commands and
MoveTurntable that has now been added, then the turntable by name and
track position to move to, note the default start position track is
stop num: 0.

You can enter Wait for commands to pause the between movements. The transfer table should move to the track chosen.

Note
that if the industry is on the opposite side of a transfer table to
that of the helicopter, you do not have a "path" for the helicopter to
navigate, so manual negotiation of the transfer table is required.

Operating the Lift Table 2

Even
if the trigger radius for the trackmark is very small (1 metre) and it
is placed in the centre of the lifting platform, the helicopter will
only approach until its nose is touching the table centre.
Nevertheless, the invisible table is long enough to accommodate the
helicopter, offset from the coronas as shown in the image.

For a more realistic centering, use manual driving to the table centre, or use triggers.

Heliport Plus

I
have called it Heliport Plus, because it is designed to have the
Heicopter Lift table attached to it to make it fully functional for
passenger operations. It has no buildings, just a base platform for
passengers and single attached track, with passenger operations for
helicoptors.

It has a shallow recess into which the
Helicopter Lift Table model may be lowered. Raise the base model out of
the ground a little to expose the slab in the base of the recess as
shown. The lift table is not an industry interactive asset to accept
passengers, so it must be combined with the Heliport Plus model.

Heliport Plus Placement

The
Lift Tables (two models are available), can be placed over the
Helicopter Plus base, to allow the helicopter to descend or rise
vertically on the Heliport Plus.

Place the
Helicopter Lift Table (it will snap to the grid) and it can be raised
from the ground for ease of adjustment. Place the Helicopter Plus base
asset, and slide it centrally under the lift table. To make the models
work together, the track attachments of the two models are joined
together at each end, with invisible track.

Don't
worry if the track bends back upon itself, it is not used for driving.
The attachments must be connected so the base industry model will react
to the helicopter via the Heliport Plus triggers. Lower the lift table
so the green helipad slots exactly into the base recess.

Heliport Plus Placement 2 (details)

1. Place the Helicopter Plus centered on the grid, because the Lift table when placed will snap to the grid.

2.
Place the Helicopter Lift anywhere along the grid line and lift it off
the ground so you can see the tracks to be attached together more
easily (green track shown in the picture).

3. Move the Lift model directly move the Plus model, so we can lower it down later.

Heliport Plus Placement 3 (details)

1.
Select an invisible track spline from the Surveyor menu (the red one
has been used here), and the yellow attachment circles will show for
the models.

2. Click on the circles on the ground
(not the yellow line up in the air) and connect the track the left end
of both models - note the track colour on the models has updated to red.

3. Connect tracks at the other end similarly.

Heliport Plus Placement 4 (details)

1.
Lower the Lift model down into the recess of the Plus model, you may
need to adjust the Plus model position slightly, and attach track to
all of the other track attachment points of the Lift model.

2.
This is the final combination of the two models and the heliport now
acts as a combined lift table and passenger terminal, in one placed
asset.

3. When the helicopter is lowered to the
helipad, it will now react with the triggers on the Heliport Plus model
to load and unload passengers. In this way we have combined mocrossing
and industry models in Surveyor to do two jobs.

Operating the Combination in AI:

1. Add track to the connection on the other side of the approach track,
or the helicopter will stop short of the pad and you will get a
"waiting for track clearance" notice. Even if this track is not used,
it must be added.

2. A track marker must be added to either the end of the table furthest
from approach, or at the start of the track on the other side of the
table. Sensitivity must be set to 1m and a Drive To command given to
the driver.

3. Set the Move Table rule number of exits to 3 on the Input Table, as
I have made three rotations or movements possible in the table.

In using the Move Table rule in Trainz:

• Set to 1 to receive approaching helicopter;


• Set to 0 to land it ;


• Set to 3 to go back the way that you came from, rotated 180 degrees from the entrance direction.

Heliport Night Views

The
models have night lighting. The white and the green coronas are
attached to the invisible lift table so you can locate the table
orientation in the air.

Puma Helicopter Tilting Version

This
model tilts into turns and has retractable undercarriage, based on the
pantograph key. As you see it tilts nicely in exterior or cabin view.

The
undercarriage does not automatically retract, this would be
unrealistic. The undercarriage is a second pantograph attachment, and
can be controlled in DCC by the Pantz command, kuid 66277:80004, to
raise or lower it.

Using the command to raise it in
AI has problems, it stops the helicopter, the AI lowers it again
immediately, and then resumes flying.

Bell 412 EP Helicopter

This is the next model helicopter, a smaller one than the Puma, carries 13 passengers.

It drives in DCC or Cab mode and loads and unloads passengers, with operating doors.

Bell 412 EP Helicopter Cockpit

The
view from the cockpit of the bell helicopter. The joysticks act
together as the throttle, and the brake and reverser lever or overhead.

CareFlight Bell 412 EP Helicopter

This
is the medical evacuation version of the helicopter. It carries a crew
of four and two patients, which load or unload at the Heliports.

Operating the Doors

The
doors on the helicopters open and shut automatically when loading
passengers. If you wish to have the doors remain open while flying,
there is an excellent Passenger Door Control command available on the
Download Station, by Marinus, kuid 57344:1015 .

It allows you to select which doors remain open. As you see the CareFlight helicopter has bed accommodation for patients.

Invisible Track Speed Signs

Because
the helicopter is capable of high speed and has to stop on a small area
on the Helipads, you may need to place speed signs to slow the
helicopters down when approaching Helipads.

The
signs cover a wide range of speed in kph, are visible in Surveyor for
placing (screenshot), but are invisible in Driver. This makes them very
useful for all vehicles using invisible track, or where the use of a
visible speed sign at the side of the track is not prototypical, as in
the use of Trams or Tramcar operations.

Super Puma Static Models

Two static models of the Super Puma helicopter in Swiss Air force colours, as suggested by Patricia Breitenstein (Patricia_B on the Trainz forum).

The
first, numbered T341 is animated for rotor startup, run and stop. The
animation cycle is 12 seconds and repeats automatically every 50
seconds.

The second helicopter, T342 has no animation.

Eurocopter EC145 Rega Helicopters, Static Models

Two static models of helicoipters used in the REGA Emergency Ambulance Service, Switzerland, as suggested by Patricia Breitenstein (Patricia_B on the Trainz forum).

The first, numbered HBZRB is animated for continuous rotor running. The second helicopter, HBZRD has no animation.

Both
are height adjustable and panels light up at night - non drivable
models only. A separate pilot (foreground) is also available as a
scenery model.

Rega Heliport Erstfeld, Switzerland

The heliport for the Rega Emergency Ambulance\Air Rescue Service at Erstfeld, Switzerland.

This is a non functional scenery item with night lights.

Rega Helicopter Downloads and Links

Eurocopter EC145 Helicopter 1
Eurocopter EC145 Helicopter 2
Heliport Erstfeld
Rega Pil