170'
Touche!
That begs a wild thread-creep that I will resist. You mistake my observations as 'arrogant breast-beating' when I assure you, SAS et al that I am merely stimulating debate on some old chestnuts.
My own views on regulation are closer to yours and those of other correspondents than you might imagine but in the search for some original thinking on the subject the odd hand-grenade thrown over the garden wall does work well.
If the FAA was on the right track all along then they would still be doing things the way they did in the 60s. Is that the case? Or are they becoming more pro-active and realising that a totally 'laissez-faire' helicopter world is not going to deliver optimum safety without a bit of 'nudging' in the right direction.
If they are 'nudging' operators, are they not, in effect, moving in the same direction as JARLAND. The big question then is when will the trend in that direction cease?
Then we could see the FAA standing on the same ground in 5-10 years that was occupied by JAR-folk today!! Where do the arguments go then?
G.