Southern Weather Defeated My Helicopter

[Charl]

Took off for some coastal sightseeing from Manapouri without thinking too much about it - simpilots can do this you know

The MD500 runs out of puff at 16,000' but we must've had a solid updraft.
We were not going to get out of this alive so I shut it down, simpilots can do this you know



Next day, tried the blue ship, and kept going north until we broke clear, with not one, but two rainbows properly inverted, in tow.
This followed us, all the way to Queenstown.



Where it was essentially tourist weather, so popped over to the Sounds for some really off the wall Ship AI

[Splitpin]

Great post Charl dude
Watch those updrafts....chopper pilots don't wear oxygen masks...or do they ?

[Charl]

Thanks Marty, I"ve always been told that from 10,000ft you will need oxygen.
Reading further: 18,000ft is seen as the max without pressurization.
So you'd expect my 500E to have oxygen bottles.
The 19,000ft+ I saw in the cloud would best be kept in the sim I suspect...

[hasegawa]

Remarkable. In the simulator, we have a choice... and so I rarely use the Black Square Beech 58 Baron, but fly the ‘upgraded version 58P’ ... with a pressurised cabin. But helicopter flying has its own rules. The MD 500/5309 is a beast.

[chopper_nut]

When I was flying in Indonesia, I landed an E model at 13000ft... that was about the limit. We had cans of oxygen to suck on if needed. I tried to climb a hill up there and even with oxygen, I was pooped.

[Charl]

Interesting, I was hoping you'd stop by, Nick.

My B747 pilot neighbour years ago told us about testing they had to undergo.
One of them was doing arithmetic while in a chamber which was gradually evacuated.
You can see the relevance to an airline pilot in this.
His experience was that at around 10,000' equivalent, your mind didn't understand that it was producing rubbish.

[emfrat]

... your mind didn't understand that it was producing rubbish.

Certainly gives the lie to the old adage "What you don't know won't harm you"