I'm trying to figure out helicopter hover in ground effect and out of ground effect specs in the thousands of feet. I can make sense of ground effect within a wing- or rotor span of the ground, but not a hover out of ground effect spec lower than a corresponding hover in ground effect. This is the closest I found to a meaningful discussion but it doesn't connect in my mind -

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/781418/

What is the significance of hover out of ground effect of 6,000 feet and hover in ground effect of 10,000 feet for the same helicopter?

Thanks,
Sixto

Say you're in Mexico at a location that is 12,000 feet above MSL. The performance of the helicopter is seriously degraded due to the altitude, even when the helicopter is sitting on the ground. The helicopter might be able to hover at 12,000 feet.........but, only in ground effect. In your example, the limit for that helicopter is 10,000 feet in ground effect, therefore, the helicopter could not even get to 12,000 feet because it could not hover in ground effect, and, therefore, could not land.

Now, say you're in Denver at a location that is 5,000 feet above MSL. The performance of the helicopter is significantly better and it can hover out of ground effect (your example shows a 6,000 foot limit). Effectively, it can lift off from Denver and climb to 1000' above ground level (6000 feet above MSL) and hover...........the limit of it's hovering capability out of ground effect.

Altitudes are referenced to sea level, doesn't say how far you are above actual terrain.

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MB-less

The referenced helicopter can't even safely land or take off at Lake Tahoe (~6,200 ft), weak.

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