AS350 vertical reference fire fighting
Thanks for all the responses. 
Door stays on, 100ft line nice.....prefer 130' line myself. Floor window lot less tiring than having head stuck in bubble window I find.
That would be my preferred way of doing it but in one of the aircraft we have the small floor window and my helmet is kind of in the way (easier if I remove the window vent thou). Also with the new 350seats (crashworthy ones) I'm somehow closer to door.
Then I was wondering if the door itself wouldn't be an issue with regard to obstacle avoidance (thinking of the midbeam with the door handle on)...
Bubble window sounds nice I think.
If I take door off it normally stays at staging with engineer, along with headsets seat cushions etc. Wouldn't be carrying internal, there is a reason everything not strapped or bolted down comes out in 350 series, gets very breezy internally.
You're lucky to have an engineer! I would have to shut down (company not too keen on leaving the aircraft running with no pilot at the controls), remove the door, do the job, shut down again and (if nobody nicked the door, they do that “here”), put it back on (not to mention the fire crews not really understanding what the hell the helicopter is doing!).
A lot of times we take off from our base with the bucket hooked on, I guess I’m gonna leave the door there instead.
I think you can judge the height better with the door off, the door somehow screws with my depth perception or something.
I understand the reasons behind the choice of a 130' line, but I'm gonna stick to something familiar for the first fires. We'll see for longer lines later.
Any other useful hints?