"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz *AT* adelphia *DOT* net wrote in
message We did some pilotage today and I can tell you this; it's a bitch
to
fly and mess with a sectional at the same time.

I do a lot of 1000nm + cross countries in a chopper, and what I've found
most useful is to prefold the sectionals in such a way that the route is
readily unfolded. I used to even buy two copies of them so that wouldn't
have to play the flip and refold game when I crossed the north-south
boundary. I don't do that anymore because it gets expensive, but it was
useful on my first few trips.

IMO water features and railroad tracks are the most trustworthy things to
use as reference points. Flying at a higher than normal altitude will help a
lot to show you where you are on the sectional. I usually use about 2000 agl
for medium cross-countries and 45-55 hundred for long ones. (My turbine
works really good here + I get a free TAS increase from the altitude) The
other reason to fly higher on cross countries is that you'll have less worry
about towers & wires.

Wires & towers are the biggest enemy of a helicopter pilot, especially when
you're in unfamiliar territory. Your workload will be much lower if youre
flying higher than anywhere a wire could be. BTW: In hilly terrain never fly
lower than than the tops of the hills on each side, you'd be amazed how many
wires there are acoss two mile wide valleys. You cant see the wires, so
always look for structures and assume that theres a wire between them.

Bart