View from a cockpit
Interesting thread this. I’ve been invited over from the Rotorheads forum for a look.
It is quite understandable that non-pilots are unaware of the limitations of helicopters, even if it is a little alarming that this includes ATCOs. As a plank driver who saw the rotary light, I was amazed to discover that helicopter pilots who zoomed along at low level before pulling up into a climb weren’t doing it for fun but actually needed to. What every helicopter pilot knows is that, while helicopters can hover, they really don’t like it at all. The type that I fly typically requires about 65% of available power to cruise at 120 kts, 80% to sit in a low hover and cannot hover out of ground effect at all unless about a ton below max all-up weight. Asking it to do so would rapidly lead to a situation analogous to a fixed wing being in a deep stall, virtually out of control and needing several thousand feet to recover.
As mentioned above, we can be very flexible in forward speed. Depending on type, minimum speed for comfortable control (and flight manual minimum for IMC flight) will range from 40 kts for a light single up to 70 kts for some heavies. Maximum speed may be in excess of 160 kts for some of the latter.
If you have the flexibility and time (and I appreciate that you may have neither), offering an early speed reduction would usually be preferred over a late hold.
OA