(Michael) wrote in
om:


What happened to the Robinson pilot is
tragic, but with the right training and equipment (and I
certainly do not mean a full-blown instrument rating)
entirely avoidable.

The Robinson pilot was over 70 years old, had been flying for
most of his life, and had an instrument ticket. He was the
company owner, and he couldn't get anyone else to make the
flight. But it's just not possible to fly visually for long
periods under those conditions. I've had my copilot try to fly
me into the water, in an S76 on an IFR plan, after we broke out
and were maneuvering to land offshore, because he was trying to
fly visually and there was absolutely nothing to see. From
level flight at 500', to an 800'/min descent and 200' took
perhaps 5 seconds. Helicopter or fixed-wing, trying to fly
under these conditions visually will kill you very quickly.

We only fly in IFR-capable aircraft with an IFR-current
crew. I wouldn't do it alone.

Aren't most helicopters not sufficiently stable for single
pilot IFR flight without an autopilot?

Correct. But we're talking about VFR here. We don't even try
it at night with anything less than a full IFR crew and
aircraft, even though our day weather minimums are 300/1 day
over land, and 300/2 over water. Our night VFR mins are 700/3,
but I don't even try it VFR anywhere close to that.

This aside, I flew at least 30 hours at night in conditions
that made aircraft control by visual references impossible
before I ever got an instrument rating. Most of that time
was over swamps rather than water, but the idea is the
same. I did inadvertently penetrate clouds that weren't
supposed to be there (not forecast) a couple of times, but
the vast majority of that time I was legally VFR. My
airplane was not IFR certified, but in fact it did have
radio nav and a full gyro panel. I would not even have
tried it in a no-gyro or no-radio airplane. I know plenty
of other pilots who do the same.

You were incredibly lucky. Don't buy any lottery tickets,
you've used up what luck you had.

I think you're really overstating your case. There is a
huge difference in the skill level required to fly on a
clear night without visual references in cruise, but land
at a well lit field in good VMC, and what is required to
fly the same trip in weather, and terminate the flight with
an approach to minimums. The former is a skill set that
(at least in a simple airplane) can be taught in a few
hours; the latter will require an order of magnitude more
training.

I don't think so. The skill set is almost identical. I do it
night after night, and while there is the occasional bright
night with a full moon, remove the moon, put clouds over the
sky, remove the lights on the ground, and there is no difference
at all between being in or out of cloud. The FAR requires
visual reference to lights on the ground, sufficient to control
the aircraft, to fly VFR. If you can't fly under VFR, then it's
VMC. There are many places where you can't control the aircraft
by reference to surface lights, and if you're a VFR pilot under
those conditions, you're going to die sooner or later.

--
Regards,

Stan