Student.....as in Real Estate....when doing an Appraisal one should select "com parables" and not just settle for the first thing that pops up.
There are zillions of Toad Stools in the GOM, gobs of small platforms, Rigs of all sizes and kinds, along with platforms that are very similar to those in the North Sea.
JimL,
Is the FAA perspective in this the same as the CAA? I gathered the FAA is looking at keeping the offset but dropping it to a quarter mile and using a 200 foot Ceiling. Have we not used a Quarter Mile offset in the past for Rig Radar Approaches?
If my alcohol ravaged brain does not let me down....did not the original Radar Approaches have us flying directly towards the Rig then making an immediate turn at the MAP of a quarter mile? How many times we get a real fright to see the Derrick Dog House whiz by the chin bubbles?
The article I linked is fairly vague and was not a detailed review by any means thus drawing too much from the article would be a stretch.
HC and you both make good valid points which I do not disagree with at all.
It is interesting to contemplate an automated landing system that places the Helicopter at a "Decision Point" that would place the helicopter in such a position that the Pilot could use "Trim Buttons" to continue the Visual Approach while using the Automated Control System.....kind of like the Bristow SAR guys up at that small island north of Skye have done in the past when going up the Seaplane Ramp. (Or something similar as I have heard from Reliable Sources).
The Technology is here. The Computer power is here. The Radar inputs, GPS inputs, Doppler Inputs, and even Look Ahead FLIR, could all be accessed to provide for obstacle clearance and course guidance for the Automated Flight Control System.
Getting the Authorities to embrace that Techology is the major hurdle as I see it.
If the current system can bring you to a stabilized hover over a given point, at a given height, why all this concern about running into something?
The system might not work for all locations for various reasons....but for Platforms that are firmly mounted to the Bottom....I can it being very easy to develop safe approach corridors. As in the article....plug in the data to the FMS, then let trusty old George fly the approach....even if you do not arrive at a hover.....you can at least arrive at a very slow ground speed which would make the transition much easier.
We may not miss many landings due to weather....but we do seem to park aircraft in the Oggin at night while doing these landings. Night time is when the automated approach would prove most useful. The Computer has a digital brain that is far more reliable than a human with Mark One Eyeballs trying to interpret what they are seeing outside and comparing it to what they see inside.
Last edited by SASless; 4th Jul 2013 at 17:14.