How many lifts can a helicopter do in a day?
It depends almost entirely on cycle time. With a two-minute flight cycle and pre-rigged loads, a utility programme can turn a load every three to four minutes; with a fifteen-minute cycle and manual hook-up, six loads an hour is optimistic. Enter your own cycle and ground time above rather than trusting a headline figure.
Why add a weather and handling allowance?
Because lift days are never clean. Wind holds, load re-rigging, a drop point that is not ready, crew rotation and briefings all consume time. A programme planned at 100% efficiency arrives at the end of the window with loads still on the ground.
Is it cheaper to do one long day or two short ones?
Usually one day, because mobilisation, positioning and crew duty cost repeat. But duty-time limits, daylight and the site's own access hours often make a single day impossible. Operators will say which shape they can actually fly.
Do you provide the ground and rigging crew?
SkyMatch does not perform any part of the operation. Ground handling and rigging are normally provided by the operator, by a specialist lift contractor or by the project itself — who does what is one of the things the brief settles before quotes are compared.
Why does the tool not tell me which helicopter can lift my load?
Because no honest tool can. Hook capability on the day depends on the specific airframe and its configuration, fuel state, hover height, wind, temperature, site elevation and the operator's performance charts. The class ranges shown here are indicative manufacturer figures for planning conversations; the operator's flight manual is the only authority.
Why is there no price on this page?
External-load and aerial-crane work is priced differently from passenger charter — by lift programme, positioning, rigging crew, ground support and standby, not by seat. Publishing a number here would be a guess. These tools size the mission so operators can quote it properly, and the comparison tool works only with figures you already hold.
Who approves flying a load over a site, road or building?
The relevant civil aviation authority and, depending on the country, local authorities, the site or building owner and the road or rail operator. Approvals, exclusion zones, closures and public-safety conditions are set by them, not by SkyMatch or by this calculator.
Does this calculator book a lift?
No. It is a planning tool. SkyMatch Group is an independent helicopter broker and a human-reviewed mission platform: the lift brief is reviewed by a person, operators holding the relevant external-load approvals are researched, and an introduction happens only once SkyMatch approves it. The performing operator confirms aircraft, performance and feasibility.