Unusual helicopter

[WGH]

Today there was a helicopter flying in circles over my mums house, the copter itself was a standard looking thing with no company logo or anything on it. Id say it was flying at around 200ft but hard to tell. it was all white.

Now the unusual part was that it had two boom arms attached, one either side that stuck out maybe 8ft from the main fuselage, with what looked like a disc shape on each at the end. There was cable or pipe running along the booms to each disc.

It was just circlng in an ever widening pattern for maybe 20 mins before moving on. Ive searched online but the only thing I can find similar is a crop dusting helicopter. I thought maybe it could have been ground penetrating radar but no other copter with this has the booms on the side. I just cant see why it would be there as theres nothing of interest that I can think of!

Anyone any ideas?

[Mr.United_Nations]

Today there was a helicopter flying in circles over my mums house, the copter itself was a standard looking thing with no company logo or anything on it. Id say it was flying at around 200ft but hard to tell. it was all white.

Now the unusual part was that it had two boom arms attached, one either side that stuck out maybe 8ft from the main fuselage, with what looked like a disc shape on each at the end. There was cable or pipe running along the booms to each disc.

It was just circlng in an ever widening pattern for maybe 20 mins before moving on. Ive searched online but the only thing I can find similar is a crop dusting helicopter. I thought maybe it could have been ground penetrating radar but no other copter with this has the booms on the side. I just cant see why it would be there as theres nothing of interest that I can think of!

Anyone any ideas?

what type was the copter?

Magnetic research?

Edited September 8, 2013 by The New Richard Nixon

[WGH]

God knows, like a standard news helicopter. bell 407 style thing? cant say for sure, Im not an aviation buff

[Space Commander Travis]

sounds like it was surveying. Maybe prospecting for oil. or maybe used to check gas pipelines or power lines, that kind of thing.

[WGH]

Could be magnetic research. I Doubt its for oil round here! could be pipeline checking but never seen one before but Ive just had an idea! maybe checking for shale gas deposits. Thanks for the insights guys. anyone else?

[Ravinoff]

I've seen similar rigs here, usually underslung however. I believe it's a magnetometer used to search for mineral deposits, or radar surveying.

[ReddHeadsRantings]

Refueling Chopper ?

Fire Fighting ? Water or Chemical ?

[Bendy Demon]

Sorry for the necroposting but....

It sounds a lot like a sky crane. A particular type of helicopter used for airlifting large objects.

[Sakari]

that helicopter is long gone now