Nigel: You can bet your life that belt-mounted liferafts will not be permitted. The most popular helicopter in the UK is the R22 closely followed by the R44 - between them they account for 50% of single engine machines.
The R22 cannot carry a liferaft adequate for 2 people - and the 44 has to lose a pax to carry a raft (like many light helis). Neither machine can be retro-fitted with floats.
For the others: the cost of fitting floats is horrendous.
With regards to ELT: personal fine, but should be a commander decision. Fixed : not worth the weight for overwater ops because the machine will inevitably finish up with the antenna beneath the surface. Even with floats, the physics of a top-heavy heli in anything other than a light swell is going to mean a flip.
In any case - look at the stats (earlier). In 15 years of UK-reg SINGLE engine helicopters flying over water, there have only been 5 ditchings with no loss of life or injuries. None of these entailed floats. And only 1 had a liferaft, I believe.
(Interestingly, one of the incidents makes great play on the benefits of a STAS-equipped lifejacket which provides 3 mins of breathable air. This saved the life of a pilot who had trouble getting out of the machine.)
SE Fixed Wing has a far worse rec ord, and they are not now being compelled to have floats, liferafts or stay within glide distance of land.
And another thing - who says floats will work when you need them ? There's an instance posted earlier here about one of our group deploying floats and his port one did not inflate.
The vast majority of floats are pop-outs. These get checked annually, that's all. When you do your pre-flight all you can do is check bottle pressure. You have no idea whether any other part of the system is working. How many times have you heard someone say - "Ooops, it says "no step" there! Sorry" AFTER they've put their boot on the skid ??
An amusing aside: under current CAA Airworthiness rules, if you import an N reg ship to the UK and wish to add it to the UK register, you have to REMOVE the ELT fitted to that machine. That's been the case for years!
Last edited by headsethair; 28th January 2004 at 20:22.