Originally Posted by
Boslandew
The whole crux of the matter is that helicopters operate from Penzance at sea-level and could and again will be able to operate IFR when the cloud is 300 ft above sea-level. Even with the most advantageous limits probable at Lands End with GPS approaches, they will need a cloud base of 700 ft above sea level. That 400 ft difference is what makes helicopters from Penzance so much more reliable than the fixed-wing service from Lands End.
Wrong. With respect, the whole crux of the matter is that people, including the planning committee and other stakeholders in Penzance Heliport, are unknowingly seeking advice from people who are out of touch with current CAT regulation and promising the undeliverable based on what the S61 once did.
You cannot fly a ‘Proceed VFR’ GNSS PinS approach with a
523ft AMSL OCA (not <300ft the observant will notice) in less than VFR destination weather +/-1hr eta, which for flight over water is a 600ft cloud ceiling. Well you probably can, but you’d need 2 IFR alternates meeting planning minima (+200m/400ft) as the destination weather would be below minima.
Neither can you dive and drive over water to 250ft these days incase there is a large vessel. You can’t use radar to mitigate against this unless you are flying an ARA or offshore GNSS approach iaw a HOFO approval in which case passengers must be wearing survival suits and be HUET trained etc.
So you have an ‘IFR’ approach designed to let one down to
523ft requiring VFR destination weather at Penzance (600ft ceiling and 1500m vis), hardly the weather resiliance game changer in low cloud and fog.
Ah yes - Culdrose Radar... have you ever tried them at a weekend, or after 5pm, or during a bank holiday, or times of school holidays, or around midday... or whenever else they NOTAM it or just decide to shut - hardly the robust solution you want to rely on for your IFR separation.
(P.s. in a 600ft cloud ceiling you don’t need to fly IFR to Lands End, you can fly VFR).