for the thirty years i have been flying helicopters i don't think i ever cared about or spoke about lte, (loss of technical expertise), vortex ring state, engine failures, had two, from the open grass plains of the australian out back to the jungles of png the americas.
you fly the machine within its parameters, sometimes out, and it shouldn't bite you. it is 99% pilot error if you come to grief.
some people are just anal about written stuff and fly a lot but don't learn from the experience. you read posts from lee, lappos, coyle, sasless and crab who for the very most part over the years have given great advice on these threads. and you argue the facts. they are pure and simple and haven't changed from the beginning. (some one will argue that statement).
it is very amusing and much more disappointing to see so much fear and ignorance generated by some posters.
this bad vibe on helicopter operations transfers to the up and coming pilots and because they think it is written by someone who knows it goes on to be fact whether it is or not.
i think that if you are out there and doing it as a pilot for any length of time and you don't know how to safely take of, cruise, work, return and land in diverse situations you should think about what you know about the machine you are in or even if you should be in this line of work.
some of these threads show a lack of knowledge and confidence in the machinery and the environment we are in.
i am aquainted with many pilots from all parts of the helicopter world and have flown with some of the posters on these threads, to a man they understand the conditions they are flying in and the machines capabilities and fly each one accordingly. they don't call up and ask if it's ok for a left or right wind, what's the world coming to.
i bet some of you think you have to back into the height velocity curve to land.
one new pilot i worked with in the bush a few years back asked the question, "are you getting any lte over there, i'm getting a bit over here".
that's what the helicopter world is coming to.