NICK says "Gomer has my vote, gas, and the range/time that it brings, are much more important to flight safety than OEI engine."
That subject could easily be the start of a new thread. Being in the tropics right now , the IFR/IMC side of the operation is almost non existent but in the northern winter areas...IFR is almost every day and the fuel issue is critical.
The issue is not the outbound leg , after all , if we arrive at the rig and can't get in , then we miss back to shore....easy peasy. It is when we get back to shore with a lot less fuel (depending on your particular government authority's fuel reserves) that we start to squirm
In my experience world wide , there is rarely a shore destination ( on the inbound leg) that has an IFR alternate within reasonable range. Unlike our fixed wing cousins who can nominate , for example ,destination Hong Kong with alternate Beijing...we are stuck.
That leaves us with either NO ALTERNATE approval for destination which will be weather related OR the capability and approval to flydown to lower minima as for example Cougar who have ILS 100' DH and 600 RVR (600 feet) ....oh , how nice it was to have the capability inherent in the SPZ 7000/7600 AFCS even if it was not legally available to me below 200'.
Regarding the OEI....
I gues what Nick and JimL are saying to me is that it is time to get out of my old A model and in to something with a bit more ooomph.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peter
Nick...a question.
When establishing initial HOGE graphs on a helicopter , is the aircraft lifted up from the ground to a HOGE hover OR is the out of ground effect hover arrived at after a transition and descent from forward flight ?
Or is there some other method for ariving at HOGE figures
Peter