Remote sites and offshore platforms
Remote sites
Switch departure or destination to Remote Site, then:
- type a site name (for example Ridge LZ 3), and
- paste coordinates (decimal or degrees-minutes) or press Pick on map.
The nearest reporting airport supplies weather, notices and airspace and is labelled weather station only — its runways are never offered as your landing direction. The route, distance, arrival time and obstacle and terrain scans start and end at the real site. The report adds a Remote Landing Zones panel and the kneeboard card lists the sites.
Saved landing zones
Many operations use pick-up spots that are on no chart — the school soccer field, a hospital overflow lot, a ranch pad. Save one once and reuse it:
- Pick the site, then press Save landing zone. Give it a name and optional notes (for example wires along the north edge, gate code with dispatch).
- Save it to just you or share it with your organization so every crew member sees it.
- Next time, choose it from the Saved landing zones list — name, coordinates and notes fill in for you.
Your notes go into the report as local knowledge, not verified by this report. They help the next crew; they never replace a recon.
Landing Zone Survey
Every remote site on land gets a close-up Landing Zone Survey — the kind of picture a crew would want before a first visit:
- Satellite map of the ring around the site with mapped power lines, towers, poles, turbines and FAA obstructions drawn on it.
- Elevation contours in soft yellow lines. Lines close together mean a slope or drop; widely spaced lines mean flat ground. The elevation data is coarse (about 90 m), so contours show the general lie of the land, not ditches or banks.
- Suggested approach and departure headings into the forecast wind, drawn on the map, with a warning if a mapped wire crosses the final approach.
- Slope, the biggest terrain rise around the site and its direction.
- Surface read: if the centre looks like a dirt or gravel road, a plowed field, sand or snow, the report adds an "appears to be" caution about brownout, whiteout and loose debris. On a road it reminds you about traffic control by ground units.
- The lay of the land — a short plain-language description of the site and its surroundings, written from satellite imagery.
- Night items for a night landing: lit and unlit structures nearby.
What the survey cannot do is honest and on the page: map data never proves there are no wires, satellite imagery may be out of date, and the AI image read only lists things to look for. Recon is still required.
Offshore platforms
Choose Offshore under Purpose & mission (or the offshore site option) and search by name, operator or block — for example MC 582, BA A 105 A or Gail.
The list covers about 937 Gulf of Mexico platforms with heliports, 23 Southern California platforms and 17 Alaska structures. Where government data doesn't publish staffing, the result says manned status not published · confirm with operator — we never guess. Rigs also appear as markers on the maps; click one to use it.
On an offshore site you can add:
- Floating deck (yes/no);
- the deck's D-value and weight limit;
- Emergency floats fitted;
- your wave limit.
What the report does with them
- A platform acceptance checklist — deck size against your D-value, load limit, hover performance, escape sector.
- The two nearest Coast Guard rescue helicopter stations.
- A single-engine, no floats warning on long over-water legs — life vests and rafts don't replace floats.
- A call-out for unlit or unmarked structures close to your track, with height and distance.
- Platform weather is never assumed from the shore station: the report tells you to plan the approach from the site's own wind, deck orientation and obstructions.