Hot and High Operations: The Role and Importance of OGE Max Weight and OGE Ceiling Calculations

Rotor Safety Challenge (RSC)
Tracks: Safety; Operations
Instructor: Christoph Andrykowsky

In hot and high operations—particularly off-airport ops involving, but not limited to, game work, crop spraying, surveying, pipeline inspections, powerline patrols, under-sling work and helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS)—the OGE maximum weight limit is an often-overlooked important planning factor. Most operators track the weight and balance for an operation and keep the METAR on file for the weather conditions of the day, but combining the two to determine OGE weight limit and OGE ceiling for the particular operation is neither done nor documented.

Instructor Bio

Christoph Andrykowsky holds an FAA ATPL and South African Civil Aviation Authority/International Civil Aviation Organization ATPL, with more than 6,250 flying hours in South Africa and the United States over the past 31 years. He has accumulated 3,500 hours of incident-free instruction on both fixed and rotor-wing aircraft, including flying more than 40 aircraft types. His other experience includes serving in the German Air Force, achieving an industrial engineering degree and MBA, working for global corporations, and serving as a formerly air medical captain on the Bo 105.