Crab,
My comment regarding 'sharing' was not directed at you- it was directed at those agencies/municipalities/organizations/military/etc.. who have conducted technical performance testing of NVG's off-shore and who have documented their testing, but have not made their findings available to the civilian sector, which I believe is in great need of some education as to the limitations of these devices, and how they should not be utilized.
I very much appreciate your comments regarding how NVG's are utilized by you on the job.
Most reputable HEMS operators in the US are now using the the latest generation- Anvis 9 NVG's. It really isn't all that long ago that most HEMS operators did not even require an instrument rating to fly HEMS at night! Now, HEMS pilots all have instrument ratings, but they fly VFR aircraft and only get to practice IIMC procedures and instrument flight once every year when they do their annual recurrent training.
I would say that presently, close to 90% of all HEMS in the US is probably conducted single pilot in VFR helicopters, with no autopilots, and plenty of them still do not have NVG's or TAWS- so they are conducting off-airport operations at night, sometimes in very dark places, completely unaided. Do they like it? No. But that is the job.
My inquiry here was initiated in response to what is being asked of the pilots; the FAA approved the use of these night vision devices with little or no restrictions or limitations.... nothing concrete in the Part 135 Operations Specifications that would limit their use off-shore, which happens to be my primary operating environment.
Last edited by TheVelvetGlove; 2nd Nov 2009 at 15:25.