Helicopter PilotsRotorcraft performance and currency

Built for the Rotorcraft Pilot

You fly into confined areas, calculate hover performance in density altitude, and operate offshore where weather changes in minutes. You need tools that understand rotorcraft operations — not fixed-wing assumptions.

Helicopter operations demand weather intelligence that goes beyond ceiling and visibility. You need density altitude for hover performance, wind at the LZ, and micro-weather that changes between the helipad and the hospital.

AeroCopilot is built to serve rotorcraft pilots with the performance data, currency tracking, and weather tools that match how you actually fly — low, slow, and into places fixed-wing pilots never go.

Density altitude and hover performance calculations for current conditions
Wind at surface level — direction, speed, and gusts at your actual operating altitude
Helicopter-specific currency: NVG, overwater, autorotation practice, and instrument
Confined area and pinnacle approach weather and performance planning
Offshore weather monitoring with sea state, fog, and wind forecasts
Digital logbook with rotorcraft fields: hover time, NVG, external load, and EMS

Rotor tools

What a rotorcraft pilot actually needs. Performance and weather for how helicopters fly.

Hover performance

IGE and OGE hover ceiling calculated from current temperature, pressure altitude, and wind. Know before you pull pitch.

Density altitude alerts

Continuous DA monitoring with alerts when performance margins shrink. Critical for mountain and summer operations.

Confined area planning

Wind direction and speed at the LZ. Approach and departure path options based on obstacles and current conditions.

Offshore weather

Sea state, fog probability, wind forecast, and platform weather for offshore helicopter operations.

Rotorcraft currency

NVG currency, overwater qualification, instrument currency, and autorotation practice tracked per FAR requirements.

EMS and utility logging

Log HEMS, external load, utility, and tour flights with mission-specific fields and time categories.

Day in the life

An EMS shift with AeroCopilot. How the platform fits into rotorcraft operations.

0500 — Pre-shift brief

AeroCopilot pulls METAR + TAF for your base + likely scene clusters in your operating area. The forecast discussion is NWS public-domain text, displayed verbatim — no AI summary that could mistranslate.

0900 — Scramble call (data-source honest)

AeroCopilot displays the closest METAR/TAF for the scene lat/lon (interpolated from station data within 25 nm where available). Density altitude is shown for the closest reporting station elevation, with explicit warning "scene elevation may differ — verify". Obstacle data comes from FAA Digital Obstacle File (DOF) public-domain release with cycle date stamped on each query. Scene-elevation DA at the LZ lat/lon is Q4 2026 roadmap.

0905 — When data is incomplete

When data is unavailable for the scene coordinates, the UI says so — it does not interpolate or guess. Blanks stay blank.

1100 — Hospital handoff

AeroCopilot shows your destination heliport from FAA NASR. Pad elevation, lighting, surface, and known obstacle avoidance corridors are displayed where the FAA dataset includes them. Where it doesn't, the field is blank — not invented.

1800 — Log and currency

AeroCopilot tracks logbook entries against §61.57 currency — takeoff-and-landing recency under §61.57(a), instrument approaches under §61.57(c). NVG currency is a DIFFERENT rule on a DIFFERENT clock: §61.57(f) runs on 2 calendar months to carry passengers, 4 calendar months without. Either way it is recent-experience verification AeroCopilot does NOT self-certify — your operator's training program records are the source of truth. AeroCopilot displays your last logged NVG event but cannot replace the ops manual recordkeeping required by §135.21.

HEMS / Part 135 Subpart L

HEMS Operations Awareness

If you fly helicopter air ambulance, your operation is governed by a tightly specified regulatory subpart. AeroCopilot does not replace your operational control center, your OpsSpec authorizations, or your pre-flight risk analysis — but we do surface the citations you reference daily.

14 CFR §135.601 – §135.621

Subpart L — the requirements applicable to each certificate holder conducting helicopter air ambulance operations, from applicability and definitions through the briefing of medical personnel.

§135.603 — Pilot-in-command instrument qualifications

Since April 24, 2017 the PIC of a helicopter air ambulance operation must meet §135.243 and hold a helicopter instrument rating, or an ATP certificate with the category and class rating for that aircraft that is not limited to VFR.

§135.605 — Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS)

HTAWS equipage for helicopters in air ambulance operations. AeroCopilot’s synthetic vision and obstacle overlays are advisory only and are NOT HTAWS.

§135.607 — Flight Data Monitoring System

Since April 23, 2018 the helicopter must carry an approved flight data monitoring system: powered from the bus of maximum reliability, and operating from the application of electrical power before takeoff until its removal after the flight terminates.

§135.609 — VFR ceiling and visibility, Class G airspace

The 135.609(a) ceiling/visibility floors for VFR helicopter air ambulance operations in Class G airspace, by terrain, local/non-local and day/night/NVIS. Weather minimums — not risk analysis, not operational control.

§135.617 — Pre-flight risk analysis

The pre-flight risk analysis the certificate holder’s FAA-approved program requires before each helicopter air ambulance operation. This is the risk-analysis anchor of the subpart.

§135.619 — Operations control centers

OCC requirements — required of certificate holders with ten or more helicopter air ambulances assigned in their operations specifications, not of every HAA operator.

AC 135-14B — Helicopter Air Ambulance Operations

FAA guidance (3/26/15, AFS-200) for HAA operators and the Subpart L rules above. It supersedes the former EMS/HAA advisory circular.

Scope statement. AeroCopilot does not provide HAA-compliant operational control or OCC dispatch (§135.619), nor the pre-flight risk analysis required under §135.617. Those functions remain with your certificate holder. We surface regulatory references and weather decision support — not operational control.

Chart status disclosure

Helicopter Route Charts (HRC)

The FAA has migrated standalone Helicopter Route Charts (NYC, DC SFRA, LA Basin, Boston, Chicago, Houston) into the NASR product set. AeroCopilot is building a self-tile pipeline ingest for the NYC and DC HRC corridors first, with a Q3 2026 target. Until then, helicopter route corridors are not overlaid on the moving map. Pilots flying in HRC airspace should continue to reference the official FAA chart products for corridor routing.

Airworthiness & special regs

Part-Specific Rotorcraft Certifications

Helicopter operators are reminded of additional certification requirements beyond Part 91 and Part 135 general operating rules.

Part 27 — Normal Category Rotorcraft

Airworthiness standards for normal-category rotorcraft under 7,000 lb maximum gross weight.

Part 29 — Transport Category Rotorcraft

Airworthiness standards for transport-category rotorcraft 7,000 lb and above — Category A and B performance.

Part 133 — External Load

Rotorcraft external load operations — Class A/B/C/D loads, congested area plans, and human external cargo (HEC).

SFAR 50-2 — Grand Canyon

Special Federal Aviation Regulation 50-2 — Grand Canyon route structure, altitude floors, and commercial tour requirements.

Roadmap — Q4 2026

Rotorcraft Weather & LZ — What We Do Not Yet Do

Current helicopter weather coverage in AeroCopilot is general METAR / TAF / SIGMET. The following rotorcraft-specific items are tracked as Q4 2026 roadmap and are not in the product today.

Density altitude at LZ

Per-LZ DA calculation tied to elevation, OAT, and pressure altitude — with hover-required vs hover-available delta. Q4 2026.

Hover power required vs available

Power-required curves cross-checked against engine torque available for current weight, DA, and wind. Q4 2026.

Transverse flow & VRS risk

Transverse-flow effect and vortex-ring-state hazard assessment based on rate of descent, airspeed, and wind. Q4 2026.

SVFR helicopter minima

Helicopter Special VFR ceiling and visibility logic distinct from fixed-wing SVFR rules. Q4 2026.

Honest about the gaps

AeroCopilot is honest about what it does and does not yet do for rotorcraft operators. We track the gaps publicly — HEMS operational control, HRC corridor overlays, density-altitude at LZ, hover power margins, transverse-flow and VRS assessment, SVFR helicopter minima, and Part 133 external load planning are all open work.

If you fly HEMS, Part 133 external load, or commercial tour operations and want to influence the rotorcraft roadmap, email rotor@aerocopilot.ai. We answer.

Helicopters are not small airplanes

You should not have to translate fixed-wing tools into rotorcraft reality. Hover performance, confined areas, density altitude margins — these are not edge cases for you, they are every flight.

AeroCopilot understands the difference and builds for it.

Fly rotorcraft with rotorcraft tools

Start free. Performance and currency for the vertical world.

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