Not being a helicopter pilot or intending to cast blame - can someone explain to me why - when finding oneself inadvertently in IMC, and not sure if you are still below MSA, the immediate procedure is not to slow to as near to stationary, pull collective and climb near vertically to above MSA?
Is it because of the difficulty of maintaining level flight IMC in a rotary wing aircraft; having only flow one once, they're difficult enough to hover VFR.
Why persist in maintaining forward speed in IMC, even at a relatively slow 60 knots?A web search seems to suggest there is a factor called Vmini - instrument flight minimum speed, and also assume that a feeling of `the leans' may be made worse by a rapid deceleration from cruise at say 120 knots to a much slower speed.
Even for special tactics trained military pilots, it must have been nightmarish - down at 200 feet or lower in a wobbly old Huey, Radalt set to 50 feet, in the dark, on NVGs, with State Highway 1 and township lights and big hills on one side, and a huge black hole where the ocean is on the other. And then to go IMC... poor buggers.
Last edited by tartare; 28th Nov 2012 at 21:56.