Nigel
Thanks for your comments. I do my best to be objective. I'm sure Helimutt is just being cautious. But here's another curve ball.
IMC in a single!
flying over a congested area in a single!
transitioning out of the bloody hover in a single.!
Everything is about a single.
How many engine failures are there that I have to be worried about my engine stopping? Don't get me wrong I fly with Rule 5 in mind all the time. But as far as I can remember (correct me if i'm wrong) you can get in a single and fly between skyscrapers in New York. The yanks don't expect that everytime they defy gravity it's going to end with an engine failure.
We're obsessed with the bloody engine stopping. Sure it's going to be a real s**t situation if it happens and I sure hope it never happens to me, but i'm fairly confident that there's more chance of me entering IMC than of my engine going quiet.
And what's more - i would rather my engine go quiet than enter IMC!
I don't drive down the road expecting my tyre to burst, or my engine to stop. I know there's a difference, but there is risk with many things. I don't get in my helicopter expecting the bloody engine to fail. I would never fly. I do however ensure that I am reasonably prepared for some form of malfunction, on the off chance that it happens.
People often sayto me that I'm bonkers for flying a heli. I look at them and tell them that it's perfectly safe and I explain why. Autorotations and all that ....
Last year I took up scuba diving. If you think flying is dangerous, get your snorkel out. There's a million different ways to kill yourself SCUBA diving. You can get the bends, run out of oxygen, get trapped below water - all sorts. I was sat in lectures thinking to myself that I must be absoluteley bloody mad. And the worst thing is this. They are all, slow, loneley and painful ways to go.
Personally if it's all going to go pear shaped. I want it to be quick and spectacular!!
Joel