Originally Posted by
Epiphany
London HEMS are (
AFAIK) the only UK HEMS regularly operating to a city roof top helipad. They achieve PC1 weight mainly due to the fact that their radius of operations is within the Greater London Area with a low fuel load. I'd be interested to know how far AAV can fly at PC1 helipad weights.
The 412EP has a remarkably good PC1 capability, but the requirement for Victoria (Melbourne) isn't very restrictive as the majority of hospital pad operations are after retrieval with fuel load reduced accordingly. A 1 hour transit to/from the patient pickup will inevitably put the landing weight and subsequent departure weight well within PC1: the aircraft are all airfield based for normal ops.
For the odd NETS team pickup prior to a neonatal the fuel load becomes more critical, but NETS tends to be a little more 'planned' than (for instance) an RTA and therefore able to cater for a refuel upstate if required to maintain PC1 capability.