How wide are FAA Helicopter Routes?

[Shawn Coyle]

I'm curious to know how wide the routes depicted on the FAA helicopter charts are considered to be.
In particular, I'm curious to know if there is opposing traffic and it obeys the right hand rule - how far to the side can you and still be considered to be 'on the route'?
Or does anybody know where to find the complete, formal, legal description of said routes so that things can be further confused???

[TheVelvetGlove]

I think it depends on how many lanes there are on the particular freeway that you are following. :}

An interesting question.

[Runway101]

I can't tell you where to find the info, but I can tell you that there is no mention of the dimensions of helicopter routes in the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide (8th edition) which is available for download on the naco.faa.gov web site.

However, on the MTAs it says the following:

MTRs can vary in width from 4 to 16 miles.
Detailed route width information is available in the Flight
Information Publication (FLIP) AP/1B (a DoD publication),
or in the Digital Aeronautical Chart Supplement (DACS)
produced by NACO.

So maybe the DACS will also shed some light on the helicopter route issue. Could be completely wrong though. My guess is that you have to be over the depicted route to be on the route :}

[funfinn2000]

as long as ya follow the road, river ,interstate you are fine, no where near as strict as London. as regards traffic flow In LA I cant remember but on the river hudson in NYC the east side of river was northbound and the west side the Jersey side the traffic flowed south, the occassional fixed wing up the middle,

Where are ya headed???

[dnheli]

Mr. Coyle;

Here in the NYC area, the routes suit many needs, from ease of radio commo with other traffic and with ATC, plus noise abatement, separation etc.

Some areas here have a high density of traffic in limited width of airspace, so in those cases it's a matter of institutional knowledge of current events and custom/experience in determining how close to the line to fly.

On point-to-point segments or crossing airports, there is some 'rules of the road' for lateral separation, and sometimes ATC assigns vertical separation; the hope is that all pilots involved drive their cars on the same side of the road! :-)

Overall, we describe heli routes on charts to the public and non-aviation educated people as being conceptual flight paths, that show the intent of the route, and pilots are expected to use their judgment in meeting or exceeding the routes' intent. For example, the new north shore route off the shore of LI. It's depicted as both point-to-point and wiggling along the shore. Many pilots will not literally follow the squiggle but fly straight line further off shore, or single engine ships maybe nice and high but close to shore to stay in glide distance.

Hope that helps.

[WhirlwindIII]

I've never heard any width annotated to VFR heli routes. I believe they are meant to be flown as closely as possible.

I do know that in NYC if one is assigned a route the controllers will have a word with you if you fly over the wrong stanchion of, say, the Throgs Neck Bridge. Another example, if one is expected to cross the tower at EWR that does not mean cross the numbers of 04 - that too will get a control a bit talkative.

AIM 9-1-4 para 6 talks about Heli Route Charts but says nothing about width or criteria for use.

[dnheli]

Right about wrong stanchion, and don't tell them 'hang on, let me look that up in my dictionary'... Some pilots even use the phrase 'mid-stanchion', meaning to say 'mid-span', I suppose.

Spots close to airports tend to be more critical ATC-wise than other areas.

Some routes show an intent, like the new North Shore Route over Long Island Sound--there's nothing wrong with flying higher than suggested or further off shore for instance.

Again, that's local knowledge, I'm not sure how they do it in D.C. or LA, or anywhere else they have HRCs, I've only flown here.

[Stan Switek]

If you look at the LA Helicopter Route Chart, most of the routes (with a few exceptions) follow major roads. My observations is that going in & out of places like Long Beach on the Redondo, Wardlow & Downey approaches, pilots will offset just slightly to the right of the road to avoid traffic going the other direction. On the other hand when transitioning LAX class b via the Sepulveda Route at 1500' directly over the top of LAX, it's a good idea to be dead nuts on the route.

[Um... lifting...]

Chi-town likewise on major roads IIRC.
Since one can get in/out of Midway on the helicopter routes, it's wise to stick tight to the roads. Reporting points are usually interchanges or stadiums (Chicago being full of both).
Also, it's legal (or at least it was) to fly through downtown below the tops of the tallest buildings. The Sears and the Hancock definitely put a bit of a constraint on one's route width if flying below the roofline.