Originally Posted by
GoodGrief
1. Self preservation.
2. Common sense.
3. 20NM out at 65kts wind. What happened to 'autorotation to shore'? And the sea state in that is ? Floats wouldn't really help now, would they?
4. 300ft cloud base at 45kts. You'd be buzzing around at 200ft or even at tree top level? What happened to the 500ft rule?
Maybe I'm too much of a coward and know to say 'NO'.
C'mon, you want to stir the pot ?
The argument in question (from AnFI and others) is that there is no justification for a single/twin distinction. Therefore, those operations would be equally safe, and acceptable, in a 206 (or 205, 214?, if you need more seats) as a Puma. So yes, regardless of why one was in those situations, they are relevant.
Interestly, as a contractor for a military customer, they were adamant we had 2 pilots to carry pax, but as long as the performance requirements were met the number of engines was unimportant.
Ultimately, all these rules are legacy items. Relics from decades past, fatal accidents not forgotten, and group perception. The fixed wing industry has saddled helicopters with reams of inappropriate legislation (such as the emphasis on numbers of engines as the penultimate measure of a safe design) and we will have to deal with it for some time! But yes, I still prefer to fly a twin. OEI RTB is less stressful than an auto. I've done both, having lost the use of an engine in the 22/500/412/76/332.
Solely for AnFI: if we are mandated to carry 500 lbs of lead by regulation, and the MGW of the type is unchanged, then I lose only payload available and the components are no more stressed. If a design is changed to increase MGW by 500 lbs to compensate then yes, there is more stress (and likely new components). Designers face many hurdles and the number of engines is one tool in the arsenal of compromises.
Finally, all the stats in the world trolled from endless google searches won't change the fact that it is all bu!!$hit. A pilot of a single is flying his aircraft with a different mindset and in a different role than the pilot of a twin, for a multitude of reasons (regulation, cost of operation, environment, sanity) and so the stats are
heavily slanted!! Happily [hopefully] the ones who make the real decisions understand this LOL!
Fly safe, make sound decisions, and come home at the end of the day!!