3 Nov 2025
Skids and Bear Paws: The silent strengths of the H145 helicopter
Instead of wheels, the EAAA H145 helicopters have skids. These are two long, curved rails underneath the aircraft, which are fixed landing gear. In this article, we explore skids, the connected elements known as ‘Bear Paws’, and how they work together to benefit EAAA patients - particularly during the autumn and winter months.
Lightweight and reliable
The skids allow the helicopter to take off from and land on a variety of sites and landing surfaces without the need for wheels. Even though the skids are made from high strength-materials, they’re lighter and more robust than wheels. This contributes to the aircraft’s fuel efficiency and minimises maintenance.
Bear Paws, small but mighty
While they have a technical and catalogue name of ‘Settling Protectors’, everyone who uses them calls them ‘Bear Paws’. When the weather is colder and wetter, the ground is muddier and softer – so the skids need a little bit of extra help. This is why we have Bear Paws fixed to the rear of the skids.
Bear Paws are hollow metal plates, which are designed to increase the surface area and spread the load of the skids. Much of the H145’s weight is towards the rear of the aircraft, where the engines are housed. Bear Paws help the weight to be more evenly distributed. Without them, there is a risk of the skids becoming unevenly embedded in soft ground. If the skids became stuck in the mud, there is a risk the aircraft could tip over when the pilot tries to take off – something called ‘dynamic rollover’ – so Bear Paws really are small, but mighty components of the helicopters.
Related News
Quicker and safer access to patients
EAAA pilots, provided by our aviation partner Babcock International Group (Babcock), fly to unsurveyed and unlit sites, 24/7. While the safest landing site may not be the closest landing site, they always endeavour to get our specialist doctors and critical care paramedics as close as possible to the person in need of urgent critical care.
A stable aircraft also means less vibration and movement for a patient if they need to be loaded into the helicopter for a transfer by air to hospital. This is vital for critically ill and injured people.
In the winter months of November 2024 to the end of February 2025, EAAA crews were tasked by helicopter 369 times and, with the landing stability provided by skids and Bear Paws, our pilots have more landing sites options available to them. In winter, and in our largely agricultural region, the skids and Bear Paws of our aircraft are especially important and really are the silent strengths of our H145 helicopters, G-RESU and G-HEMC.
