Modern Material and Design Increase Safety and Durability
Safety, usability and costs of helideck landing and helideck safety nets are determined by the combination of material, design and instalment method.
In offshore conditions, sun, rain, ice, salt water and guano inevitably lead to abrasion. As helideck nettings made of poor materials fall below their specifications surprisingly quickly, all nettings used offshore should be extremely durable and resistant to weather conditions including ultraviolet radiation.
High installation costs necessitate higher durability
Frequent renewal of helideck safety nettings is naturally good for security. However, offshore installation projects tend to be difficult and expensive: the cost of installation often exceeds the cost of equipment.
Due to costly installations, better performing and longer lasting materials and designs are the key to lowest possible total cost of ownership and highest possible level of security.
Modern materials easily outperform traditional rope and steel mesh structures. While ropes only last for 1-2 years, Frictape helideck nettings meet their DNV type approved specifications for 5-10 years.
From financial and safety perspectives, low quality materials should not be accepted, even for free.
Custom-sized landing nets for exact fit
Frictape helideck landing nets come in several shapes and sizes to ensure that the net is always as large as possible, without covering the identification marks or corners sticking outside of the helideck.
Traditionally, helideck landing nets have been square. The most common Frictape net sizes are between 10 x 10 and 15 x 15 meters. However, an increasing share of the helideck landing nets are manufactured in half-octagonal and octagonal shapes for better fit. Other shapes and sizes are also possible on request.
The unique low-profile construction of the helideck landing net allows wheeled freight trolleys to be easily moved across the net. Frictape Nets meet the new 2.5 cm height restriction presented in the latest edition of CAP437.
Example of helideck landing net with custom dimensions can be found here: helideck_net.pdf (Pdf-file, 21 kb).
Balanced-strength perimeter safety nets with no weak links
Frictape helideck perimeter safety nets are always custom made for exact fit to helideck structures.
To ensure completely balanced strength, Frictape safety nets are directly attached to helideck structure with fail-safe braiding using the same material. This is crucially important for long durability, as steel or rope joiners or extra framings are most often the weakest and least durable links.
Frictape safety nets produce a hammock effect, absorbing the kinetic energy of falling objects or persons, and recover to their original form after tension. The nets include extra straps for easy, cost efficient and reliable laboratory testing of strength at any given time.