I am no genius when it comes to aviation, but here is my two cents.
I flew with Bob Gobla and Scott Butler at WYOU.
I flew with Dave Frey and Randy Freeman at WNEP.
I flew in a stunt plane for a WNEP story, and I flew in a Vietnam era National Guard helicopter for another story on WARM.
If I didn't feel safe, I wouldn't have done any of it.
I've had flights where we got knocked around in the wind. Visibility was fine.
The only time I was a little nervous was one Monday, when rain forced a postponement in a Pocono race from the day before. The reason for my anxiety was other air traffic over the track-- three other helicopters. Air traffic controllers gave each of us an individual altitude, and as long as no one strayed, we would all be fine. We were.
I will admit to being considerable relived when our noon broadcast was over and we were heading back to the pad at the station.
The bottom line-- quit speculating, and let the experts do their jobs.