Flying Offshore at Night
Flying at night is trickier than by day but that is our bread and butter during the Winter months. It takes alot more concentration and I am not sure the new green deck lights are better than
floodlit decks. The final parts of the approach need to be flown by numbers so that you do not arrive too fast and too high with constant calls from non handling pilot for height, groundspeed, etc. I tend to talk new do-pilots onto decks at night and have not had any problems even when unsighted. The more interested part of the flight is lifting off the front deck of a ship at night in bad visiblity, now that takes concentration.
Would it not be possible to have some sort of 360 degree angle of approach indicator. I realise that a pitching and rolling ship would require some sort of stabilization device.
In my old age I am begining to think that if it is not going to be possible due to strong winds, high seas, to remain upright in event of ditching or get dinghies deployed safely maybe we should not be flying. Drifting slightly off track what do others feel.
Last edited by OffshoreHeli; 27th September 2008 at 09:56.