Pandy....I forget this is not a common occurence over the North Sea....perhaps I should have been a bit more detailed in my description. I meant with the Sun in your face...beating down through the rotor blades causing that flickerinig effect we hear so much about...the radio quiet...the other pilot quiet as he has his snooze...and the cabin attendent quiet as he his head drops along with the nose of the helicopter at time of takeoff.
Otherwise...I preferrred being able to drag one toe in the water as I operated on the "Single Scream" concept. If I ever experienced a true cast iron failure I wanted to be able to scream all the way to impact as I felt having time to draw a second breath might give me way too much time to contemplate my wasted life and panic might happen. No sense dying scared and panic stricken....far better to be doiing something postive on the way down!