So many pilots flying so high. Why do this in helicopters? What about FIRE, HYD fail, TR Fail, Abnormal vibes, Chip Lights, etc etc....

Pilots are afraid of Birds so they risk all the above??? Tell me ya'll are trolling. Who gets into helicopters to fly that high?

How high are you talking about? 

Above 1000ft

the answers you want

Ground speed.  

If you're that paranoid about any particular emergency making an abrubt end to your life, then perhaps you should not break the bonds of earth.  Your ability to see more suitable locations for landing emergencies is enhanced by altitude.  Your rection time for most emergencies is increased.  Depending on your location, your burn rate is decreased.  Those 1500' and lower towers are no longer a factor.  Turbulence is significantly reduced.  Cooler temps for those that do not have a/c. ... The list continues.  These are but a few.     

"Break the bonds of earth?"

Sounds like you have some soul searching to do. Someone's head can't fit through the doorway. 

Taking a look at the cruise performance curves in most helicopters, 4-7 thousand feet is most efficient.  

Airplanes are machines which experience those issues, as well.  However, swap tail rotor for rudder.  

Most low flyer accidents tend to be the result of CFIT or LOC.  I also don't know of any IFR operations, with the exception of takeoff and landing, which are below 1000'.  Most are well above that altitude.

Who gets into helicopters to fly that high???  I and most of my professional colleagues do...

And here is a reply from a should-have-been an engineer type. Performance curves? Nobody I know calls their co-workers, colleagues. See you at the convention, sir. 

There is a level of knowledge and professional respect you have not yet attained. The term "colleague" shows that each in a profession demonstrates equal standing for one another.

Those performance curves are parabolic curves attained from quadratic functions.  All aircraft.  A wise pilot will reference and use them prior to every flight.

I generally don't go to conventions...Don't get much out of them...Except a headache from too many IPAs...

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Performance charts are developed on ISA converted for Temp and Pressure Alt...Not AGL..

I agree with Slug.  If you are that paranoid, you are in the wrong business.   It is hard to generalize altitude.  I trust my machine and my training to work through emergencies.  I also don’t just have a perfect altitude in mind when depart...  Am I flying over steep mountains... offshore... sandbox, IFR or VFR.....   Each has its own complexities that should be used in determining an altitude to fly at...    

Lift-Drag is right on. I would rather have more time to manage the problem and to pick out a spot to land should that become necessary, not to mention it is usually cooler and smoother.

is in the biz of anything except EMS and Oil. No fire pilot replies, no utility, no balls. 

You'll probably prefer the lower altitude after a few years and a few actual emergency situations.

In my nearly fifty years of flying, experiencing an in flight fire, several engine failures and a loss of transmission oil, I was happy that I was only a thousand AGL. I should also say that none of those events resulted in any

bent or broken aircraft. If you think that turbine engines never fail, think again.

Another Old retired Guy

that after even one engine failure, let alone "several", anybody with half a brain would have swore off low level flying for good. seriously, is there a goddamn helicopter pilot alive that would prefer to be low during an engine failure? f**k no there isn't.

Not advocating crazy low level flight. How high do you think a fire fighting helicopter flys for seven or eight hours a day? How bout that guy sticking poles in the ground? Think also about the guy stringing wire or hauling seismic drills , or hauling logs. Those folks are working down low, doing real work.

You,my friend , please stay way up there out of our way.

Stay safe

sticking poles in the ground. 

Try common sense.  Know the area, Know the terrain, know the time of year.  Are you in a bird flyway?  Wx and visibility a factor?  Your in a helicopter.  Speed and altitude are your best friend.  

Used to fly around southern ca below 500'.  Didnt want to mix it up with fixed wing, and didn't want to talk to atc or towers, if I could avoid it.  I'm talking SD/LA basin.   Did this for years.  Then one day I discovered the wonderful world of atc radar control.  What a difference. 3 to 5 k.  Clean air(relatively speaking), good vis, radar control. 
Its just better at altitude.

Are a blithering idiot. Please quit flying before you kill someone with your assenine decision making. 

Lower is safer in 95% of accidents. This is a proven statisical fact. 

if you weren't low, you wouldn't have had the accident bro. lol

anybody that thinks lower is safer is just plain stupid

Op is right

come back when you're a helicopter pilot

about being inflexible and not considering the wide capabilities of helicopters, and how to apply them.  Fear not whatever etc.  Helicopters may not be for ya.

you go out and be flexible and consider the wide capabilities of helicopters and how to apply them without fear etc at 500' and have a ball. 

Look, it's all a balance of risk vs reward. I fly a lot above 3000-4000agl.....IFR. How often have I gotten a chip light? What about fire? Lost HYD? Only a handful of chip lights in my long career, none required any sort of MX(fuz). Fire? Never. Hyd, once in a single.

Now, I compare that against how many bird strikes my organization has annually, probably close to 10-12. Damage? Yep, once every few years. Serious, yes. Broken windows, pedal blockage etc. We are in a high bit migration area.

So the risk is a lot higher for birds for us than anything else. Enough to warrant taking mitigating steps such as flying higher, slower when low etc.

about just get a grip and do your job.