Author: Admin
Jan
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am chief flight instructor at the University of North Dakota (UND) and a designated pilot examiner for the FAA. UND Aerospace has been training pilots since 1968 and currently has over one thousand active flight students in fixed-wing, helicopter, and UAS degree programs. As chief flight instructor, I have many responsibilities including the day-to-day operations of the helicopter department, hiring and standardizing instructors, conducting evaluations, and teaching academic classes. We flew a record 126,000 flight hours last year making our home airport of Grand Forks routinely one of the busiest in the country. We’ve operated a number of helicopters over the decades from MD500s to Bell 206s and have transitioned exclusively to the Robinson R44 Cadet this past year.
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Tags:
University of North Dakota Aviation
Wes Van Dell
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
Jan
17
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The American Helicopter Museum & Education Center (AHMEC) in West Chester, Pennsylvania, recently unveiled the crown jewel of its collection: the United States Coast Guard (USCG) HOS-1 that played a leading role in one of the most famous rescues in helicopter history. Also known as a Sikorsky R-6, AHMEC’s HOS-1 (#43-45531) and her crew received accolades for saving survivors of a downed Sabena Airlines DC-4 airliner near Gander, Newfoundland, in 1946, earning her the nickname, “The Gander Express.”
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Tags:
AHMEC’s HOS-1 (#43-45531)
Gander Express
Sikorsky R-6
United States Coast Guard (USCG) HOS-1
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
Jan
10
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Best of 2021 - Best of People Remembered
Brian Lacks
Harold Summers
Harry Robertson
Shawn Coyle
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Tags:
Brian Lacks
Harold Summers
Harry Robertson
Rotorcraft Pro Best of 2021 People Remembered
Shawn Coyle
Categories:
Human Interest
Opinion-Editorial
Jan
03
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Michael Leslie is proving Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” wrong. After years of personal and professional growth, the president and CEO of the long-time aircraft component engineering/manufacturing and overhaul company, NAASCO, returned home to his New York home business. He is not only maintaining the legacy that his father founded with his family in 1984, but expanding it. “When recruiting new team members, I let them know they have the opportunity to become part of a 37-year-old startup,” Leslie says. “What I mean is, the NAASCO of today will be completely reshaped over the upcoming years. Our goal is to become the most dominant force within the areas of our expertise in engineering, manufacturing, overhaul, and distribution.”
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Michael Leslie
NAASCO
Dec
28
2021
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Posted by Admin
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The helicopter world is but a small niche industry in the worldwide economy, but in my short 30 years as a participant, I am always amazed at how it adapts to change and perseveres through challenging times.
On the subject of perseverance, renowned physicist Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
Looking back, the last six years have been a roller-coaster ride for our industry. From mid-2015 to early 2017, economic storms pounded our shores. Waves of crashing oil prices, military cutbacks, global economic slowdowns, VA funding cuts, political and policy shifts, and several other factors pummeled most of us including helicopter manufacturers, pilots, leasing companies, operators, and all the support sectors that connect us.
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Editor Lyn Burks
Rotorcraft Pro Editor
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Dec
20
2021
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Posted by Admin
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If you have read my articles in recent months, you know I have talked a lot about character, integrity, and other such tools to have in your toolbox to help you have a successful career as an aircraft maintenance technician. Those are all essential. An often overlooked, but critical tool to have at your disposal is an experienced mentor.
Merriam and Webster’s dictionary defines a mentor as a trusted counselor or guide, a tutor or coach. Do you have a mentor in your life? Is there someone that you consider a coach, accountability partner or trusted advisor? If the answer is no, then you should look for one. A mentor could be someone that works with you, someone that has more experience doing what you do or even someone that can speak transparently into your life.
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Tags:
Aircraft Maintenance Technician
Aircraft Mechanic Mentor Program
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Mentorship
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Dec
13
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Military helicopters have always been the driving force for innovation in the entire rotorcraft sector. With this fact in mind, Rotorcraft Pro spoke with major military helicopter OEMs to find out what new, advanced rotorcraft they’ve got ready to fly now, what’s in immediate development, and what is being planned for the future.
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Dec
06
2021
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Posted by Admin
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This is your formal invitation to join us at HAI’s Heli-Expo 2022 Military to Civilian Transition Workshop!
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Aviation
Categories:
Career Development
Nov
29
2021
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Posted by Admin
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There is a reason that Pratt & Whitney Canada helicopter engines are well-known. It could come from the outstanding customer support, the innovative engine updates, the 24/7 availability with over 2,000 professionals in their Global Service Network, or perhaps overall reliability. Now, in addition to these attributes, they are highly invested in sustainable practices.
Simply put, Pratt & Whitney is a household name as a global aerospace leader. The company was started in the mid-1860s by Amos Whitney and Francis Pratt, a pair of mechanical engineers bent on entrepreneurship, training apprentices, and filing patents for good ideas.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), a business unit of Pratt & Whitney, introduced their first helicopter engine in the early 1970s, according to Nicolas Chabée, vice president, helicopters, Pratt & Whitney Canada. He said that the first engine was the PT6T TwinPac™ that brought, "a new measure of safety to helicopter aviation."
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Tags:
and intermediate twin helicopters
light
medium
Pratt & Whitney Canada helicopter engines
PT6C
PT6T TwinPac
PW200
PW210
Categories:
Company Profiles
Nov
22
2021
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am currently wearing two hats. I am the owner and president of Black Hills Aerial Adventures, primarily an aerial tourism operator based in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and I am serving as Chief Pilot for Redding Air Service, a utility operator with a primary base of operations in northern California. All of this has transpired within the last year. Over the last 12 years I have served as the chief pilot in Southern Nevada with Papillon and chief pilot and subsequently director of operations for Sundance Helicopters in Las Vegas.
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Tags:
Black Hills Aerial Adventures
Chief Pilot for Redding Air Service
MARK SCHLAEFLI
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest