Originally Posted by
John Eacott
I've no idea how the majority are shaped, but I strongly favour round helipads. The anal compunction of some drivers to align their machines (especially skid equipped) with the edge of a square pad regardless of the wind direction is notable. Back in 1984 I managed to have the pad at Albion Park painted as a circle for this very reason, and I noted last time that I was there it is still a circle!
Dancing around with a 20kt crosswind trying to line up with deck edges is daft, IMO. Or even plonking the skids along the lines of the 'H'
Originally Posted by
TheiC
A square pad provides much better close-in visual cues for control in yaw. This doesn't mean you have to put the skids parallel with the edges. In a feature-rich environment, it may not matter, but in isolation (top of a building in haze etc) it could be important. From a purely aesthetic point of view, I like hexagons.
Planning for redevelopment of a helipad soon. It is definitely in a 'feature-rich environment', so round it is then.
(Not that I'm saying the guys are anal!)