Last summer, Vertical Valor profiled the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Aviation Unit, which purchased a new Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopter. The aircraft was in the process of being built in Canada before being flown to Bell’s Service Center in Piney Flats, Tennessee, to have the base model modified for law enforcement and firefighting missions.
After completing the helicopter in early December 2022, members of the aviation unit flew to Tennessee and ferried the helicopter to California where, in mid-December, the unit rolled the aircraft out at its hangar at Camarillo Airport.
The unit’s new 412EPX, now designated Copter 9, replaces the former Copter 9, a Bell UH-1. The aircraft joins the unit’s remaining two Huey helicopters — a Super Huey and a Bell 205B — along with a Bell 206 Long Ranger and three Sikorsky HH-60Ls — two of which have been converted to the Firehawk configuration.
The Bell 412EPX is the aviation unit’s first completely new purchase in its 50-year history, and at press time, Ventura County is the first operator in the U.S. to take delivery of a 412EPX configured for public safety.
As a brief refresher, the Ventura County Aviation Unit was founded in 1971 and is based at Camarillo Airport. It is the only public safety aviation unit in the county. While the aircraft are owned by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the helicopters are jointly operated by the sheriff’s department and fire department, which contributes funds to help support the unit. The sheriff’s department is primarily responsible for search-and-rescue (SAR), medevac, and law enforcement operations, while the fire department is responsible for fire suppression activity.
Ventura County has a total area of 2,208 square miles (5,718 square kilometers) — of which, 1,843 sq. mi (4,773 sq. km) is land and 365 sq. mi (945 sq. km) is water. Being within reach of most of the county within minutes, crews from the aviation unit are often the first emergency service resources to arrive on scene, and when faced with rugged terrain unreachable by other means, it is often the only unit that can provide critical first response. Between January 2020 and January 2022, the aviation unit flew more than 1,600 flights — over 500 specifically for SAR and medevac missions.
The move to Bell 412EPX
“The decision to buy a brand-new helicopter has been a wish list item within the unit for years,” Capt. Randy Downard from the aviation unit told Vertical Valor. “However, it was my predecessor, Jeremy Paris, who really began the process of putting this together, from the decision to make the purchase, to working with pilots and aircrews, to narrowing it down by looking at what was available on the market, to actually making the decision that the Bell 412EPX was the right choice. He and the crews here led that charge. About two years ago when I first [became] the new captain, the final decision had been made that Bell’s new 412EPX fit the bill for us perfectly. I was the one tasked with presenting this to the county officials, explaining the reasons, the timelines and the costs.”
He said the unit’s existing Hueys were built between 1969 and 1975. Not only were parts becoming difficult to find, the helicopters began showing signs of wear and tear with reliability issues.
“All of our Hueys have experienced cracks in the airframes, and while the cracks were repairable these repairs are expensive and resulted in increased aircraft downtime and costs to the county,” Downard said.
By buying the newer helicopter, it has allowed the unit to sell two of the older Hueys, which will overall mitigate those issues, he said.
As the aviation unit can potentially field calls from the coastline, out over open water all the way to the Channel Islands, and then up into remote and snow-covered backcountry at higher elevations, the unit needs a very capable asset. The 412EPX allows them to work at those higher altitudes. It gives them the ability to navigate poor weather safely by incorporating many of the latest safety features on the helicopter not found on the older Hueys.
With the 412EPX’s maximum range of over 450 nautical miles (833 kilometers), maximum cruise speed of 140 knots (260 kilometers per hour), and maximum altitude of 15,500 feet (4,725 meters), it can reach most parts of Ventura County within minutes.
Powered by the Pratt & Whitney PT6T-9 twin engine with a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system and a four-blade system, beyond just the speed and altitude capabilities, the 412EPX offers increased performance. This includes the ability to operate in higher wind conditions, have increased load capacities, and continue flying after the total failure of one of its two engines.
Additionally, because of its advanced digital cockpit, which includes a fully glass cockpit display system, advanced avionics and digital four-axis autopilot situational awareness, flight safety and handling qualities are all improved for pilots.
Because Ventura has been a Huey operator for decades, Downard said the unit “dealt with Bell directly with the full purchase, design, and equipment selection that we wanted on this new helicopter.”
“As a brand-new factory purchase, the unit had never done that before, but for us, it was not too hard to figure out what we needed as we based the decisions primarily on our experience with the four Hueys that we have had in our fleet for years, and similarities between the platforms,” Downard added. “Bell was also great to work with throughout this entire process. We wanted to take what we had and modernize it with the most current equipment available today for a number of reasons — the safety of flight, the efficiency and performance of the newer platform, and the requirements for the services we provide, all while being aware of the always important budget.”
By purchasing the Bell product, the aviation unit has been able to retain and use about $2 million of equipment, spare parts, and tools already owned by the county. And because all of the current water tanks, hoists, and medical equipment from the Huey are compatible with the newer 412EPX, ultimately, the new helicopter will provide savings in the long run for the county. For these reasons, when presented with the proposal to buy the new build 412EPX, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved funds for the purchase.
Based on an estimated mid-December arrival of the helicopter to Camarillo Airport, training was supposed to begin within a couple weeks, but due to various factors such as the severe weather Southern California faced throughout the winter, getting all the pilots and aircrews trained on the new aircraft took longer than planned.
Despite those challenges, the transition onto the 412EPX has been relatively seamless. The 412EPX has required no changes to current remote landing pads throughout the county, hoist rescue operating procedures and training, and other standard operating procedures for the unit’s different mission sets. Having experienced pilots and aircrews from both the sheriff’s and fire departments all familiar with the Huey platform also made this process easier.
“For us, the new helicopter is interchangeable with the old one,” a member of the aircrew said. “We could put someone in the back of the Huey with their eyes closed, then walk over to the 412EPX, put them in the back, have them open their eyes and the look and feel of the medical deck and cabin is the same.”
With its instrument flight rules (IFR) capabilities, increased payload capabilities — up to 12,200 pounds (5,533 kilograms) — and most importantly, the dual engines with more power and torque allowing for fly-out capabilities during emergencies, the 412EPX is a much safer helicopter to operate, the pilots said. This is especially crucial over the ocean or rugged mountains where precautionary emergency landings cannot happen. With everyone in the unit now qualified and up to speed, the 412EPX recently began flying on actual calls throughout the county.
Looking ahead
The goal of the aviation unit is to have one large Firehawk and one medium Bell asset available at all times. This plan allows for the Firehawk to continue to function as the primary firefighting resource for the county due to its speed and heavier load carrying capabilities, and the 412EPX to be the main resource (along with the remaining Hueys) for SAR, medevac, and law enforcement. That being said, the 412EPX will also be able to provide fire suppression support when needed, with the 360-US gallon (1,360 liter) Simplex Fire tank installed.
“For the overall size [and] the jurisdictional area of Ventura County, and as we have touched on the varied terrain we typically operate in, for us having a fleet that can manage all our missions and not have to worry is ideal,” Downard said about what the 412EPX means for Ventura County and the aviation unit.
He said the goal of acquiring their newest assets — not just the most recent 412EPX, but also the Firehawks the unit brought in within the last few years — was to make sure that crews can handle the four basic missions they receive: law, fire, SAR and medevac, and carry them out in all types of terrains and altitudes safely and effectively.
“We are now more comfortable than ever being able to handle all those services and more, with the best possible equipment at this point in time,” Downard said. “The Hueys served us well, and the two we have left will continue to serve us into the near future, but modernizing our fleet, even strictly for the safety of flight, was important.”
He said the unit plans to eventually replace the remaining two Hueys with one more 412EPX, which would set the unit up for the future. That would give crews two medium and two heavy assets, and with their ability to cross over mission sets, the unit will be able to provide the most capable services to the county effectively for the next 20 to 30 years.
“Even with the one 412EPX now, replacing some of our older Hueys, to put it in the simplest terms, has been like going from driving a 1970 Chevy pickup to a 2023 fully loaded GMC Denali,” Downard said.