Helicopter Statistical Data Needed
 

Hey All!

I'm about 99.9% done with my Master's thesis concerning NVG use by civilian helicopter operators and I need one last bit of information to round it out. My committee chairman suggested I include some data concerning the total number of helicopters in use in the US and, if possible, how many night hours are flown. This is in order to give an overall feel for the scope of the amount of helicopter flying done in the US. Does anybody know where I can find this kind of data? It only needs to be "ball park" figures but it does need to be from a relatively credible source. I've search the net (FAA, NTSB, DOT, etc) and am not coming up with anything. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Respectfully,

Bob
"G-MAN"

I don’t know where you will get those numbers, sorry, but I would really like to know the answers when you are through with it…

Try HAI or Rotor and wing.

Good luck !

Bob,

This year's Rotor Roster shows 11,500 registered aircraft in the US fleet. I don't recall having ever seen data on night-flight hours - suggest you take a WAG based on average flight hours from HAI.

Cheers
t/shaft

Thanks for the help. I've tried the HAI website and can only find safety statistics there. The 11,500 number was given to me as well on the helicopter Newsgroup. I'll keep looking a bit deeper and see what I can come up with.

On a quick look the National EMS Pilots Association has information about NVG usage but no night hours. www.nemspa.org

If it is of any use I have 10% night time in the highly credible logbook. But I'm not in the US :(

You could try the NTSB website. They calculate accident rates for helos each year, and to do that, they gather stats for the number of hours flown each year. However I'm not sure if the hours are broken down into night hours.

Here's another possible source, a private not-for-profit organization called RTCA Inc., with a mission to advance aviation electronics. This includes a lot of NVG work for both military and civil applications. They may have the stats you're looking for. You'll have to browse the site for info. This link came from the Helicopter Directorate of the FAA Certification Office.

http://www.faa.gov/avr/air/asw/rtca/rtca.htm

[ 09 August 2001: Message edited by: Flight Safety ]

A educated guess:
475 helicopters are flying EMS missions in the US. Average is 1000 hours per year.
475,000 hours.
1900 EMS pilots fly an average of 250 hours per annum.
475,000 hours.
50% of flight time is at night.
237,500 hours.
EMS missions account for 80% of R/W night flights. Add 52,250 hours for other uses.
Total: 289,750 R/W night hours flown in the US per year. ;)