Jim
I'm not sure if the warnings will work or not. Non-powered lines for
example? I question who is flying that low and for what purpose? In ag
work we are more wire aware simply as a matter of survival! Certainly
there are other aspects of rotor work that put them in the wired up
regime. In that case I feel its a matter of the PIC taking the time to
become educated in the area of ops, wire avoidance, and keeping a high
degree of alertness.
Flying helicopters is a double edged sword......fun to fly at low
altitude, and closer to disaster at the same time.
Today as an example, my load truck had to position near the end of a
tall sprinkler and near a set of power lines along the road. I had to
make a careful approach parallel to the road between the sprinkler
arm/head and the powerlines. I had enough room to make a careful pedal
turn over the truck to avoid the lines. Certainly I was paying
attention, and certainly I knew it was tight. Its just a simple matter
of the kind of work we do on a daily basis. I'm glad I can pass along
some of this info to those who are interested.
Fly safe and if in doubt...DON'T !!!
Rocky
Jim Carriere wrote:
wrote:
Anyone else besides me here ever hit a wire in a helicopter? I did it

No, not yet anyway Came close one night to some hi tension lines
across a river- the lines were just low enough to not have
obstruction lights, and I was just high enough to miss them.

at night while crop dusting in California. Was a steel cable and all it
did was leave "chatter" marks in the paint and tore the end cap. Very
close call and we had to replace the blades (which were just about
timed out anyway).
I have a healthy respect for wires and fly in that environment quite a
bit so have some opinions and experience if anyone is interested.

You probably have more time below 200' AGL than anybody on here.
What do you think of powerline warning systems? I've heard of one
that picks up the RF and then gives a proximity warning. Good, bad?
False alarms, not enough warning, or maybe a pretty decent idea?