I see there is a job opening in New York as of todayFollow

As soon as I clicked to open this forum a HUGE moth wonders into my room attacking my monitor ... =(

Oh, c'mon Totes, don't tell me you never considered flying tourists along the Hudson. Along with twelve other choppers at the same time.

Seriously, I never thought that was a good idea. Those sightseeing pads are lined up two to a block halfway down Manhattan. Though I still think it's freakier getting buzzed by the medevac choppers landing ten feet away from the FDR.

Another rabbit trail to follow: Congestion in the skies isn't necessarily a worry for me as long as everybody is on the same sheet of music. We here in Angola, for example, launch sixteen aircraft within 5-10 minutes of each other in the morning and during the day have incoming and outgoing birds into the heliport all the time.

The problem lies when there is someone not doing what everybody else is doing or listening and talking on the same frequency as everybody else. There are VFR corridors in all the heavily congested flight areas, but it behooves the pilot to make certain he is aware that ATC is not controlling the flow, but everybody is responsible for his own situational awareness.

Add to this an aircraft like the low wing Piper in that photo which restricts visibility below-- the direction where everybody is looking at the sights on the ground --and you have a greater chance of mishaps. Helicopters have fantastic viz since the pilot station is located on the tip of the aircraft surrounded by oodles of glass, whereas fixed wing birds are largely blind in a significant portion of their viewing area. It's likely why the Piper nicked the A-star from behind.

I actually was the fourth person onscene at an accident much like this one back in Houma, LA back in 1989 where a Cessna flew into the back of a Twinstar (two engined A-star) causing both aircraft to smack into a residential section of town. Luckily for the people on the ground the Twinstar augered in directly in the middle of an intersection and the Cessna got caught in a giant oak tree in someone's backyard. Everybody died however. The helo pilot lost a blade like this guy did in NYC and that blade decapitated the pilot of the Cessna. Pretty gory, but still pretty cool at the same time. I guess that's why this particular accident resonates so much with me since it so closely resembles the one I witnessed.

Totem

Nope.

Generally only when above 1200 feet and in the confines of controlled airspace. And in certain locations like NYC or LA, you only need to make position reports in the blind at specific altitudes after notifying ATC of your intention to use a VFR or low altitude corridor. The sheer amount of traffic makes it too unwieldy for the ATC system to handle low altitude VFR traffic, aside from which FAA rules clearly state it is the responsibility of the pilot to maintain a safe flight profile and distance from other aircraft.

Totem

I got a chance to fly a Diamondstar 20 a month ago and it was the best damn visibility I've ever seen in a small aircraft. Little ******* could climb, too.