A TOUR HELI PLT RPT ON THE DELAY OF HIS TOUR DUE TO WX NEAR VOLCANO IN HAWAII. RPTR CITES THE DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN BEING IN COMPLIANCE WITH SFAR 71; IT BEING TOO ALL-INCLUSIVE AND RESTRICTIVE FOR FULL COMPLIANCE.

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ON A HELI TOUR AS I WAS ENRTE TO AN INTERMEDIATE DEST; I ENCOUNTERED WX SUCH THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONTINUE. I LANDED IN AN AREA OF LARGE FIELDS AWAY FROM PEOPLE AND STRUCTURES TO ALLOW THE WX TO CLR. 4 ACFT WERE ON THIS FLT SEPARATED BY APPROX 2-5 MI FROM EACH OTHER. THE OTHER 3 COMPLETED THEIR TOUR WITHOUT INCIDENT. MY RTE OF FLT WAS DIFFERENT THAN THEIRS BECAUSE MY ACFT DID NOT HAVE FLOATS. I ELECTED TO STAY INLAND WHILE THE OTHER 3 WENT SHORELINE. MY RTE WAS MORE DIRECT. AT 12 MI I COULD SEE MY INTERMEDIATE DEST (A VOLCANIC VENT WITH VOLCANIC SMOKE RAISING INTO THE SKY). IT WAS STRAIGHT AHEAD. AT THAT TIME I HAD AN OVCST SKY AND IT WAS HIGH ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN MY REQUIRED 1500 FT AGL (SFAR 71) AND CLOUD CLRNC. BECAUSE OF NOISE ABATEMENT PROC IN THE AREA I COULD NOT FLY STRAIGHT TO MY DEST. I WAS REQUIRED TO USE A CORRIDOR BTWN SUBDIVISIONS. THE CORRIDOR WAS TO MY L FRONT APPROX 4 MI. I TURNED TOWARDS THE CORRIDOR AND IT STARTED TO BECOME OBSCURED WITH MISTY RAIN AND CLOUDS. I TURNED BACK TO VIEW MY INTERMEDIATE DEST AND COULD STILL SEE IT WITH NO RESTRS. TO THE R OF MY ORIGINAL RTE IS THE SLOPES OF MAUNA LOA -- A VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN RISING TO APPROX 14000 FT MSL. I KNEW THE CLOUDS ABOVE ME WOULD MEET THAT SLOPE; SO I COULD NOT GO IN THAT DIRECTION. I TOLD MY PAX THAT THE TOUR WAS CANCELED. I DECIDED TO CIRCLE AT MY PRESENT LOCATION; WHICH WAS AN AREA OF OPEN FIELDS. AS I CIRCLED THE CEILING STARTED TO DROP. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO GO BACK IN THE DIRECTION I HAD COME; THE CEILING HAD COME DOWN SO LOW I FELT I WOULD GO BELOW MY REQUIRED 1500 FT AGL. THE SYS SEEMED TO BE MOVING VERY FAST. LISTENING TO ATIS AT HILO ARPT; WHICH WAS APPROX 12 MI AWAY; I HEARD VISIBILITY RPTED AT 10 MI. I ELECTED TO LAND IN THE OPEN FIELD TO WAIT OUT THE WX. AFTER APPROX 5 MINS THE WX BEGAN TO CLR. I DEPARTED THE OPEN FIELD ENRTE TO HILO ARPT. THERE I WOULD FUEL AND START MY TOUR OVER AGAIN. I COMPLETED THAT TOUR WITH NO OTHER INCIDENTS. BECAUSE OF THE RESTRS OF SFAR 71 AND THE NOISE ABATEMENT PROCS WE FOLLOW HERE IN HAWAII; AND THE LACK OF EMER FLOATS ON THE ACFT; I WAS PUT IN A POS OF COMPROMISING SAFETY. IF I COULD HAVE CONTINUED ON A DIRECT COURSE TO THE VENT I WOULD NOT HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE WX THAT I DID. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE ACFT OR PROPERTY.