Crab,
The RAF and British Army are also shy to listen to Lessons Learned from others when they take on well proven Aircraft and Technology too it seems.....but that is grist for another mill.
No one has impugned your reputation or skills as a helicopter pilot and no one has said you use exactly one approach to landing off airport.
Some have suggested you might have a jaundiced eye on the particular topic under discussion. These is not the first time.....and probably shall not be the last time you suffer that response.
You bring a wealth of experience and ability to the discussions....but then so do quite a few others and it is in the meeting of the minds that good information is garnered.
As folks from all over this green and blue Orb we live on....come here and contribute....suggests to me that we hear them out....discuss our different views and see if we can learn something in the process.
Just as in Religion....there is no singular path to Salvation in flying helicopters so we have to make room for different thoughts than our own. We do have to be able to politely defend our assertations and kindly accept we may not always have the only right answer.
It is a dangerous occupation we have....finding ways to make it safer is in our own best interests whoever we are, where ever we fly, and what tasks we undertake.
For good fun.....a flight up the Columbia River Gorge early in the morning while going East.....or late afternoon while going West is an interesting proposition. There are the HUGE HT Lines from the Hydro-Electric Dams, the Primary Distribution lines along the Highways on either side of the River, the Secondary Distribution lines that feed neighborhoods and factories....and theres the sneaky little bastards that feed individual houses on the tiny islands smack up against the river bank.....add in the communication lines along the railroads on either side of the River....and the wires that head up on the bluffs on either side and you have the entire mix of wires known to Man I think. Or...you can add in Mist/Fog/Rain and if you are really brave....darkness or a combination of all of that and you can have a thrill ride.
Now if you added landing to all that mix.....it really gets fun.
Sometimes they don't hide the HT lines but they do disguise the tiny ones by running them near the bigger ones so you focus on the easy to see Wires but miss the small ones.
Last edited by SASless; 12th Jan 2013 at 11:12.