At one stage Nick requested that the thread be split so that we could continue the discussion of offshore performance; as this has not been done, perhaps we can continue the discussion here by coaxing Nick, HeliComparator, 212man, JimL, G33 and any other interested pruner back into the debate. We might also encourage Eurobolkow into the fray as he appears to have an inside track with AgustaWestland.
It is not necessary for performance data to be put into the public domain - it is, in any case, unlikely to have been produced at this juncture. What might be a good first step is if Nick et al indicated the policy on what performance data/information will be available.
Are we for example to hear a view on the
…provision of Category A procedures and find out whether, at last, we will get the total flexibility that will provide a continuum from helipad to clear area with variable Vtoss, configurable heights and distances.
Will the manufacturers (Sikorsky, Eurocopter and Agusta) indicate how their products will be positioned to provide the zero exposure that appears to be a likely requirement by 2010 - and, in Norway and for a number of Oil Companies, required at the introduction of these new generation aircraft.
It is not clear to me that the debate is limited to the S92 and the EC225; as G33 has indicated, new contracts that will soon be awarded will take into consideration the relative merits of the S76C+, EC155 and the BA139. Even existing and benign operating environments are not immune from these discussions - as oil exploration moves into Deep Water (where most of the larger oil reserves appear to be), we will see the introduction of a number of these newer aircraft operating at the limit of their endurance (for example, the GOM, West Africa etc.). Will it be acceptable to expose these passengers to older technology and performance when survival and recovery might be substantially longer than for existing operations that are conducted close to the shore.
We have also heard a new buzz word PC2e - what exactly does that mean in the context of this discussion?