The OTHER Kevin in San Diego wrote:
On 24 May 2006 12:46:03 -0700, "JohnO" wrote:

Landing a heli on Everest at 29,035 ft? And it's a regular single
turbine AS350????

http://www.eurocopterusa.com/Media/N...ail.asp?ID=329

I didn't think they could get that high, let alote hover or take off.

This was a highly modified (read stripped to be as light as possible)
A350 B3 flown by one of Eurocopter's factory pilots.

So what does 'Achieved with a serial AS350B3' mean? I thought that
means a factory standard machine. If anything it's carrying extra
weight of oxygen bottles for the pilot.


The climb to the summit took nearly 2 hours. I doubt the helicopter
could carry much more than it's own weight at that altitude so
ferrying down stranded climbers or hauling used oxygen bottles off the
mountain probably won't happen. Besides, the Sherpas have been
hauling the spent bottles down from the mountain for a couple years.
If memory serves, they're pretty much all down now. (My wife is into
the whole mountain climbing thing and we get magazines here all the
time..)