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Sep
23
2024
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Posted 22 days ago ago by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
Right now, I been working as the assistant chief pilot of Metro Aviation Inc. in Shreveport, Louisiana, as an instructor and check airman for the EC-135 and EC-145 and as an instructor on the Bell 407 for our programs, I flew the line for five years and three years ago I was invited to the Helicopter Flight Training Center and I’ve also worked as director of training at Night Flight Concepts Inc. in Waco, Texas, as an NVG Instructor pilot for the last 10 years. I’m very happy with both companies. They've been like family since I came to the U.S., which is my new homeland.
RPMN: Tell me about your first experience with helicopters.
I had the honor and opportunity to join the Mexican air force academy and served in the Mexican armed forces for 15 years. I had my first solo in a Stearman PT-17 on 26 February 1993 as a first-year cadet. After graduating from the academy and flying fixed-wing two years later at the air force base in Acapulco where I was stationed, I was assigned to helicopter flight school and I have been flying helicopters since 1997, and yes, my first flight trying to hover that Bell 206 got me hooked!
RPMN: How did you get your start in the helicopter industry?
Well, I was a Pilatus PC-7 instructor pilot and a second lieutenant when I got my orders to go to helicopter flight school. I was shocked because I was enjoying being an instructor pilot on a PC-7 in my squadron. As soon as I got that first session of trying to hover on the Bell 206 transition aircraft, I knew I was going to love it. Now, I say that change was the best thing that happened to me in my aviation career.
RPMN: When and how did you choose the helicopter industry? Or did it choose you?
Well, like I said I got ordered into helicopters, but being a helicopter pilot has given me so much satisfaction and opportunity to travel to different countries and meet great instructors, brethren, mentors, friends and professionals during the past 27 years of my helicopter career.
RPMN: Where did you get your start flying professionally?
My first job as a civilian pilot was at the Mexico State Government Air Rescue Unit. That gave me the opportunity to fly VIP. but also to be part of the best helicopter air ambulance and search and rescue unit in Mexico at the time. I had some of the best training in my early experience. Our unit became so known for what we did, we even had a reality show on the state television channel. That show was called Relampagos Unidad de Rescate Aereo.
RPMN: If you were not in the helicopter industry, what else would you see yourself doing?
Since I was a little kid, I used to fly my Eagle 2 remote-control plane in my hometown where this Mexican army general used to fly his own models. He became a great mentor and friend to me, so maybe If I wasn’t a helicopter pilot I would be an army guy working for the IC.
RPMN: What do you enjoy doing on your days off?
I like to spend time with my family, love to travel, have a good book to read, smoke a nice cigar from time to time and to be thankful with God and life for everyday blessings.
RPMN: What is your greatest accomplishment to date?
On the personal side, the goal is to raise my kids to the best of my ability to make them good Americans, but most important good and honest human beings. On the professional side, having the opportunity to transmit knowledge and experience to young helicopter pilots, or to those transitioning from the military to the civilian world, is something that makes me happy to come to work every day.
RPMN: Have you ever had an “Oh crap” moment in helicopters? Can you summarize what happened?
One time during external-load training for a new PIC flying an MI-8T helicopter, Engine 1 quit because the fuel suction pump broke. I remember the young pilot immediately looking at me and saying we had to get rid of the cargo and he pressed the release-cargo button and we flew OEI with the helicopter landing safely over the taxiway. It was not until we landed that the “Oh crap” moment came to us when we asked ouselves where in the world the external cargo landed. Fortunately, the vicinity of the base where the cargo landed was nothing but trees and grass and not a general’s car!
RPMN: If you could give only one piece of advice to new pilots, mechanics, or support personnel, what would it be?
In this line of work, the day we stop learning is the day we start dying. We don’t have to be afraid of speaking directly because in aviation there are so many lives depending on us. I say to my student pilots, give a little bit of respect to yourself and your aircraft and the people you care for by giving at least 10 minutes daily to do or read something that will make you a better person or a more professional pilot. There is always space for improvement!
RPMN: What is the greatest challenge for the helicopter industry at this time?
It’s sad to analyze the statistics and observe that we keep making the same mistakes we were doing 10 and 20 years ago in the helicopter industry. I know for sure that the authorities have put so many resources at hand and that any instructor pilot goes far and beyond trying to do what’s best for his students, but in the end it is that one bad decision we make that gets us. I remember the words of one of my medcrew who told me once “Alex, if we don’t have more than an 80% probability of coming back I don’t want to fly.” Before I could even answer him, I heard a more senior, experienced nurse who said “No way, let’s make it a 100%; the way I see it, we are 100% full of life!” So, let’s keep that in mind before we lift that collective in order to not become a statistic.
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