#250 : Cat "A"? Cat "B"?
Reject distances, surface type, perhaps a hillside, continued take-off flight path? Private helicopter owners do not usually have a nice paved well lit level airfield just outside their doorsteps otherwise they would not be paying for an expensive helicopter, the best the pilot can do is use his experience of the particular helicopter's performance given the AUW and be it a single or twin choose the safest approach and takeoff given the wind, obstructions, fences, etc.; plan for the worst and hope for the best. (Apology tistisnot #256: I should have said to minimise the problem in the event of an engine failure during the landing or takeoff phases. Like BA I would hope that we also do not want accidents but there is a difference between acceptable risks and enforced/dangerous risks when pilots are pressured for whatever reason).
As a BA pilot once remarked to me as we flew to pick up a VIP "we have made more decisions flying for half an hour in this helicopter than the captain of a 777 makes in flying from the UK to the west coast of America". Time for helicopter pilots to have the equivalent of BALPA?
Last edited by 76fan; 18th Mar 2014 at 20:03.
Reason: Apology in brackets