Safety of homebuild Helicopters

JohnO wrote:


I can imagine the urgency of a medivac that's bad enough to require a
helicopter and with all the things you stated above would strain even
the best pilot. One mistake, well, there's no room for 1 mistake.
Unless he was flying with NVG's I would say he's as brave as they come.



When you talk medivac does that mean air amblance, rescue or both? Down
here air ambulance generally means no winching stretchers etc so it's
relatively tame. The rescue guys do the crazy stuff such as winching
stretchers off ships and cliffs and to me that's the scary stuff - when
the weather is bad. On the other hand when the weather is good they
have the advantage of auto hovering on auto pilot which would make life
somewhat more comfortable than the average R22 pilot!



I'm thinking Air Ambulance. I think Air Rescue requires a special kind
of person and I would hope I wouldn't be too scared to fly those
missions. I have been scared a few times. I flew "Stable Patient
Transfer" for 2 years in a UH-1 from Portsmouth Naval Hospital to Walter
Reed. That is pretty tame flying compared to the Emergency Air Ambulance
where they have to respond many times at night in weather minimums
considered VFR for helicopters. And for helicopters the cloud clearance
requirement is different in Class G airspace - Clear of clouds. The
visibility of 3 miles was for fixed wing only under the Army AR95-1.
Helicopters can fly with less than 3 but I can't find it in the FAR's yet.

But even with 3 miles visibility at night it is a scary situation since
you are continuously looking for those invisible power lines and finding
your way to the accident site and 3 miles vis isn't as good as it
sounds. Flying OH58D's out of Stuttgart International south to our
training area we were not allowed to use the NVG's until out of the
Stuttgart controlled airspace so many nights we had very low visibility
which with NVG's was plenty but without NVG's was quite a trip. NVG's
can see through a lot of haze and fog. It wasn't unusual in Germany to
flip the goggles up inbound to land and find ourselves IMC.

With GPS now I'm sure it's a lot safer but still a heart pounder.

Class G airspace is typically ( I believe ) where a good number of
medivacs are called into, day and night, since it's usually far from
medical facilities and an Ambulance would take too long.






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From FAR's
(b) Class G Airspace. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of
this section, the following operations may be conducted in Class G
airspace below 1,200 feet above the surface:

(1) Helicopter. A helicopter may be operated clear of clouds if operated
at a speed that allows the pilot adequate opportunity to see any air
traffic or obstruction in time to avoid a collision.

--------------------------------------


Sec. 91.155 - Basic VFR weather minimums.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section and §91.157, no
person may operate an aircraft under VFR when the flight visibility is
less, or at a distance from clouds that is less, than that prescribed
for the corresponding altitude and class of airspace in the following
table:


Class G:
1,200 feet or less above the surface (regardless of MSL altitude).

Day, except as provided in 1 statute mile........ Clear of clouds.
§ 91.155(b).

Night, except as provided in

3 statute miles.......

§ 91.155(b).

500 feet below.
1,000 feet above.
2,000 feet horizontal.


================================================== ====

More than 1,200 feet above the
surface but less than 10,000
feet MSL

Day........................... 1 statute mile........ 500 feet below.
1,000 feet
above.
2,000 feet
horizontal.

Night......................... 3 statute miles....... 500 feet below.
1,000 feet
above.
2,000 feet
horizontal.

More than 1,200 feet above the 5 statute miles....... 1,000 feet
surface and at or above below.
10,000 feet MSL. 1,000 feet
above.
1 statute mile
horizontal.


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boB
copter.six