• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
Helicopter Flight Training Sponsors
Oct
24
2022

Editor's Letter - Change is in the Air

Posted 1 years 156 days ago ago by Admin

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” - Socrates

As you might have seen in my July-August 2022 editor’s letter, we changed our brand from Rotorcraft Pro to Rotor Pro. The word “Rotorcraft” in our old brand served us well for more than a decade, but the industry is rapidly changing and it’s too narrow a focus when considering aircraft advances such as powered-lift, eVTOL, unmanned, and advanced air mobility.

Several years ago, I interviewed the late Matt Zucarro (former president of the Helicopter Association International) and one of his biggest concerns was that the helicopter industry would not take up the new vertical lift technologies that are coming down the pike. Back then, he was encouraging traditional helicopter operators to not resist the changes, but as the experts in vertical lift, to view them not as competition, but to consider them an extension of their current product lines.

Fast forward a few years, and as you can see in the article on page 74 titled, “eVTOL: How It Could Affect Pilots,” the current HAI president, Jim Viola, is strongly promoting a similar message when he says, “Let me be clear: AAM (advanced air mobility unmanned aircraft) and eVTOL (electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) operations are complementary to conventional helicopters.”

The message from industry: adapt—or be left behind.

A perfect example of an operator embracing these changes, is embodied in the story on Page 46 titled “The Battle Between Helicopters and Bugs.” The article is how Lee County Mosquito Control, who traditionally flies helicopters and airplanes in an effort to control mosquitos in SW Florida, now has an entire division dedicated to integrating unmanned aerial aircraft into its service delivery and mission profiles.

Speaking of change, not only did the Rotor Pro brand change, but our editorial lineup will be changing in 2023.

First, on Page 12 of this issue, we introduce Matt Johnson in our “Meet a Rotor Pro” column. Readers will be seeing much more of him as he will be taking over the “Checkride” training column in January-February 2023.

For those of you who enjoyed the “Checkride” training columns by Randy Rowles for the last decade, fear not! Rowles will be taking over the “My 2 Cents” column in January-February 2023, which has been written by Randy Mains for the last decade. Mains has been a prolific columnist for Rotor Pro for a decade and his contributions, which have informed, educated, and entertained our readers leaves us with a deep sense of gratitude. He will be starting a new chapter in his journalistic journey, which involves helicopter themed children's books. We wish him the best of luck.

There will be a couple of other exciting editorial additions to the publication in 2023, so stay tuned and embrace the change with us!

READ MORE ROTOR PRO: https://justhelicopters.com/Magazine

WATCH ROTOR PRO YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://buff.ly/3Md0T3y

You can also find us on

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rotorpro1

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rotorpro1

Twitter - https://twitter.com/justhelicopters

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/rotorpro1