The same old petty bickering ...!!! I trained on the Hiller and Bell47 and fly everything up to Agusta 109 ...so no heavies. I believe that until the CAA understand that they are killing the industry things will not get better . I have operated in a small way without an AOC for thirty years . Would i like to be able to operate with an AOC ? Yes probably , but the cost and bureaucracy make that impossible . I fly on the FAA ticket because again the red tape involved in flying multiple types in EASA land make that also difficult . I don,t think i am anywhere near unique when i say that i would quit helicopters altogether if i had to be in the system as it is . More and more people fly every year , and every day , outside of the AOC system ( i would guess over 90% in the small fixed wing market !) and it seems to work fine . I reckon that if you dropped all the prices by 20% you would generate a lot more flights ...and you would be more profitable , if we scrapped the onerous side of the AOC requirements .
I am about to get a Bell 505 . It is a simple helicopter . It will be very cheap to run ( circa £350-400 per hour i reckon ) and would be ideal for cheaper charter ......but there are none on AOC yet and i am told the costs will be high .
Why ?? It is just an L4 with a French engine and 5 seats !!! So if you would like to charter one you cant ....but you will be able to lease one . And you will be able to fly into Battersea without floats and fly at night . None of it really makes sense to me and i have watched the helicopter (GA) industry die over the last 20 years or so without anyone so much as lifting a finger to stop it . When we leave Europe it would be nice if we could go onto a system more like the N reg and let all the single engine owners generate a little income towards their overheads and in turn introduce a whole new group of people to flying ... it will still be expensive ..but a lot cheaper than chartering now !