Hi - I'm a new helicopter pilot (rated last June) with just short of 3,000 hours fixed wing over a lifetime (all civilian, no instructing, no right seat, mostly just PIC IFR/Glider/Multi). So I have tons of cross country experience all over the western US. Typical of a fixed-wing guy, my solo cross country in the H269C was 4 hours, 45 minutes with 2 fuel stops and 4 landings. Much of it was over the wide open spaces of southern Arizona, away from the city. OK, enough background.
I have occasion to accompany a very experienced helicopter pilot on a trip to bring a 206-type helicopter back from the mod shop. It'll be a west to east run, with the prevailing winds aloft. I'm pretty sure he's going to be OK with me flying the trip, and I want to plan it and fly my plan. I'm also pretty sure he's going to want to fly it low, like 1000 AGL. This makes me uncomfortable. If I were alone, I'd want to fly it at typical VFR enroute altitudes (it's Winter, no problems with DA or temp-limits). My thoughts are
- I can be in radar contact with center and get flight following
- If the engine quits I have lots of time to pick a spot and flexibility to do my auto
- The probable tailwinds aloft are often higher at 5500 or 7500 than down low, so there are fuel and time savings there
- The air will probably be smoother, especially around the hilly areas, and definitely around the mountains
I have discussed flying at enroute altitudes with the old salts where I volunteer as a helper and they always seem to get uneasy. I pinned one guy down and he started talking about "What if you get a chip light?". OK, 1,500 FPM or so during an auto, so it takes 4 minutes to kill off 6,000 feet. One guy said you shouldn't do an auto on a chip light because rolling off power could precipitate the failure that's probably coming. In my pea brain, reducing the loads on the power train might make it last longer?
So here's my question: Is it worth forgoing all of the above advantages to reduce the chip light to landing time by 3.5 minutes?