Tuesday 17 January 2012

SAS Closet and Blackout Curtain/Door

Stability Augmentation System (SAS) Closet

At the front of the cabin on the right side of the fwd bulkhead is the SAS closet.  Unlike their American counterparts, Canadian aircraft had covers over the SAS bay. Voyageurs SAS closet covers, because of the greater use of hydraulics, differed from Labradors by having two gauges located on the upper SAS closet cover. 

This aircraft 301 in the Ottawa museum.  Note the hoist is the hydraulic hoist and Voyageur style seats. Also visible is the Voyageur style blackout curtain. The only thing that distinguishes this as a Labrador is the lack of gauges where the crash axe would normally be located. Photo courtesy of Jeff Wilson
Where the Voyageur had the two gauges, Labradors had a crash axe. In Voyageurs, the crash axe was a few inches below where it was on the Labs.  Moreover, because the Voyageur differed from the Labrador in that it had a soft blackout curtain instead of the Labrador’s blackout door, the Voyageur’s map case was located on the lower SAS closet cover. The map case on Labrador was on the cabin side of its’ blackout door. The last thing to go on the SAS cover was the lower Dutch Door brace.!

Note the gauges on the SAS closet cover, the location of the crash axe and the colour or the  lower dutch door brace (yellow). Photo courtesy of Scott Hemsley

Black out curtain/door

As mentioned in the foregoing paragraph both variants utilized, albeit different style, black out screens to allow Para Rescue personnel (eventually Rescue Specialists then SAR Techs) to prepare for an mission or to carry out medical care on patients in a lit cabin while not negatively affecting pilot night vision in the cockpit, a light barrier was required.  In the Labrador, the barrier was a door, while on the Voyageur a zippered blackout curtain was employed. Labrador blackout doors were eventually removed and replaced by the more practical blackout curtain.!
The main feature in this photo is the door and swedish boom of the Labrador and the lack of gauges on the SAS cover. This picture is from the late '70s or more likely the early '80s as the cable upper most on the right side of the picture is a parachute anchor line for conducting parachute jumps. Earlier versions of the cable were on the floor at the aft of the cabin. Photo Randy Brown collection






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