I have a question:
As with all helicopters, the EC120 has published limitations on power available. These come under the categories of:
- Max. continuous rating
- Max. transient rating
- Max. takeoff rating
'Max. continuous rating' is just that - you can fly at this power setting for hours.
'Max. transient rating' is defined in the Flight Manual as being available for only 5 sec.
However 'Max. takeoff rating' is for some reason not defined in the Flight Manual (not in mine anyway). So extra power is available for the purpose of taking off, but cannot be used continuously. So just how long does 'taking off' take? Presumably, the VEMD will log any exceedance of 'Max. takeoff' power, so it presumably has an in-built time limit. The question is how long is it?
Most other helis I've flown define 'Max. takeoff rating' in the Flight Manual, as being a 5 min rating. The apparent absence of a definition in the EC120 Flight Manual could lead to an interesting legal situation in the right circumstances...