Just a thought on something....
I was on final to a short field in a PA28-161 the other day, when the tower controller cleared a heli to cross the runway fairly close to the landing threshold at 90 degs to the r-way direction. The wind was light (abt 5kts) but all crosswind from the right.
Since the controller had cleared the heli from the left to the right handside of the runway (i.e. to the upwind side), I initiated a go around. Whilst conflict with the heli would not have been an issue, I heard recently that the down wash from a heli rotor blade in a cross wind situation can intensify the crosswind to such extremes that what may only be a 5kt x-wind can suddenly be outside the a/c limitations. I think it was in this month's Pilot magazine that some poor Cessna pilot was driven off the runway by a heli down wash x-wind scenario such as the above.
Anyone else been in this situation?
