Author: Admin
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Aug
16
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Round up five pilots for some hangar flying and you will undoubtedly get a mixed-bag of opinions on what exactly constitutes an official weather briefing and how one goes about getting that illustrious “official weather briefing.” No need to argue hangar professors! On 15 March 2021, Advisory Circular (AC) 91-92 was released and it is likely one that you will want to read; not only does this AC address the role and legality of online and mobile software platforms in the weather briefing process for pilots, but it also lays out a framework (checklist) of items and resources to utilize for your briefing. For icing on the proverbial cake, there is also a new online course that reviews the concepts covered in the advisory circular!
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Tags:
Advisory Circular
Advisory Circular (AC) 91-92
Self-Briefing Advisory Circular
Categories:
Regulatory
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Aug
09
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Some of the biggest questions military pilots ask when transitioning to the civilian pilot sector are: “What kind of flying jobs are out there for me?” “Which helicopter jobs am I qualified for?” “How much money will I make?” Plus many more questions. To find answers, we looked at our own niche in the helicopter industry and asked our friends in other flying jobs for the information to assemble an overview.
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Aviation
Military to Civilian Helicopter Mechanics
Military to Civilian Pilots
Military to Civilian Transition Aviation
US Army Helicopter Pilots
US Army Helicopter Salary
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Career Development
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Aug
02
2021
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Posted by Admin
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COVID-19 has shaken global society to its core. Yet the virus hasn’t been able to slow the progress of law enforcement (LE) aviation technology, particularly in the rotorcraft space. Even as the pandemic continues, police aviation units have been pressing ahead with improvements in the equipment and aircraft they are flying – COVID be damned.
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Tags:
Law Enforcement Aviation
Law Enforcement Helicopter Pilots
Law Enforcement Helicopters
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Jul
26
2021
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Posted by Admin
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What is your current position?
I currently fly a UH-1H “Super Huey” as a civilian NVG fire/search & rescue pilot/CFII, for the Kern County Fire Department. We operate as single pilot, 24/7, with a fire captain in the left seat for water dropping. For rescues, the captain joins two other firefighter EMT paramedics in the back, to perform hoist recoveries.
Tell me about your first flight or experience with helicopters?
My first flight was in an OH-23C (Hiller UH-12C) in March, 1970, to see if I wanted to become a helicopter mechanic.
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Jul
19
2021
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Posted by Admin
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I bet if you were to ask where Hillsborough County, Florida, is located, most people couldn’t point to it on a map. However, if I asked about cities like Tampa and St. Petersburg there would be instant recognition. Although it may lack in name recognition, this fourth largest county in Florida is rich in history and progressively serves its 1.4 million citizens and seasonal visitors on many fronts.
The 1,266 square mile county was established in 1834 and was named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough, who served as British Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772. It should be noted that I found an interesting historical tie to aviation in my research.
Did you know that Hillsborough County was home to the world’s first scheduled airline service, which was founded by Tom Benoist who signed the world’s first airline contract on December 17, 1913 and began operations on New Year's Day 1914. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line began flying passengers and cargo on the 23 mile leg from St. Petersburg to Tampa using flying boats. In 1914 depending on means of travel: the trip from St. Petersburg to Tampa could be 2 hours by boat, 20 hours by car, or 4 to 12 hours by train. However, by flying boat, the travel time was about 23 minutes.
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Tags:
Aviation Section
HCSO
Hillsboro County Sheriffs
Regional Domestic Security Task Force
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Jul
12
2021
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Posted by Admin
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“I have the best job in the world. If I have to start over again, I’d do this job exactly the same.” That’s a rarely heard bold statement in any industry, but Jean-Charles de Troy, managing director of Helisim LLC, proudly proclaims it from deep in the heart of Texas where he helped establish Helisim in North America. Helisim, with centers in both France and Texas was founded 21 years ago from a consortium of Airbus, Thales AVS, and Défense Conseil International. It is a pilot’s pilot training company—literally. For de Troy comes from a father who was a Bird Dog pilot for France in the Algerian War and who continued to fly as a private pilot for pleasure. He passed his love of aviation on to his son, who says, “Flying is in my DNA.” As a young child, de Troy always had a toy airplane in his hand, which he would put down to hold one of his very first books The Little Aviator. The story stuck. Even when de Troy was old enough to work alongside his two sisters in their parents’ restaurant, named Le Chanzy, in the northern French town of Arras, he dreamed of being a pilot.
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Categories:
Human Interest
Career Development
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Jul
05
2021
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Posted by Admin
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All over the world, helicopter flight training is at the heart of every facet of helicopter operations. Whether training a new hire, or providing recurrent training to seasoned pilots, the quality and quantity of training can have an impact on areas like accident rates, safety in operations, and direct operating costs.
As is in most industries, technology is advancing rapidly and making simulation training more realistic and cost effective. It used to be that only larger helicopters like the Sikorsky S76, Bell 412, or Airbus Super Puma would have simulators available for clients to train in. Now even light twins such as Airbus H135 and single engine helicopters such as Bell 505, Airbus H125 and Robinson R44 have simulators available for training.
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Tags:
Entrol
flight simulation
flight simulators
FlightSafety International
FRASCA
Helicopter Simulator Advance
HeliSim
Rotorsim
Categories:
Training
Safety
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Jun
28
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Ever since my daughter went into a high school criminal justice magnet program in the ninth grade, she wanted to work in law enforcement (LE).
She recently had several events come together, which kicked off the career that she has worked hard for. She finished an internship with a federal LE agency, graduated with her bachelor’s degree, and was accepted into another university’s graduate program for LE intelligence. Within two weeks of graduation, she was hired by an LE agency.
I’ve always been a fan of LE. Although not directly in it, I’ve been tied to that field for much of my career in more ways than one. Having said that, given the current political environment, and my own child’s entry into the field, I couldn’t help but wonder: Is now a good time to be entering LE?
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Tags:
APSON 2021
Law Enforcement Helicopters
Rotorcraft Pro Editor Lyn Burks
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
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Jun
21
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Have you heard the term “evidence based training” (EBT)? It’s sometimes referred to as “competency based training.” EBT is a relatively new approach to flight training developed in 2013 on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that was led by a group of airline industry experts to increase the effectiveness of pilot training to meet the challenges of airline operations in the 21st century. If the past is any indication of the future, I think we will hear more about EBT in our industry.
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Tags:
Competency-Based Education in Aviation
Evidence Based Training
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Categories:
Career Development
Training
Safety
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Jun
14
2021
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Posted by Admin
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For any helicopter pilot paying the scantest bit of attention to the news, the conclusion is inescapable: Commercial unmanned aircraft – a.k.a. drones – are no longer toys. They have grown in size, payload capacity, mission profiles, and range to become bonafide aerial platforms.
The fact that commercial unmanned aircraft are achieving ‘critical mass’ (the minimum size or amount of something required to start or maintain a venture) raises big questions for helicopter pilots: Will the advent of drones take work away from humans? Or does this emergence open up vast new possibilities for aerial applications – and new employment opportunities for pilots as a result?
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Tags:
Helicopter Urban Air Mobility
UAM
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors