Author: Admin
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Dec
18
2023
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Posted by Admin
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There’s a revolution underway in aviation, and it is being driven by artificial intelligence. AI is already affecting everything from helicopter/fixed-wing design and manufacturing to in-flight operations and maintenance, along with air traffic control and anything else that touches flying.
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Tags:
Aviation Artificial Intelligence
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Helicopter Sectors
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Dec
11
2023
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Posted by Admin
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After many testing phases and successful results since 1953, aerial treatments have only been operated since the 1970s. The society Trans-Héli SA was created to continue the development of this relatively new way to reach land plots located in difficult places. In Switzerland, mainly in the cantons of Vaud and Valais, the target plots are in the mountains and very steep. Air-Glaciers SA, the local helicopter company based in Sion, services this hard-to-reach agricultural land, flying in from the air above.
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Tags:
Air Glacier Helicopters
Swiss Vineyard Helicopter Operations
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Dec
04
2023
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am an associate director at Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) in helicopter marketing, and my function includes program management. I’m responsible for all interactions between certain helicopter OEMs and P&WC. My role is exciting because I have a wide breadth of responsibility: everything from the tactical (deliveries, quality, etc.) to the strategic (new products, new technologies) to the relationship with my OEMs.
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Tags:
Meet A Rotor Pro
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
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Nov
15
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Most pilots these days have logged some time in an aircraft with a Garmin G500H coupled to some type of drive unit, such as a Garmin 430, 650, or 750. The primary flight display (PFD) and multi-function display (MFD) provide you with almost all the information a pilot could need to efficiently aviate, navigate, and communicate. While you probably noticed the design elements you loved and made your life easier, if you are like most helicopter pilots however (i.e. a touch of a cynic), you’ve also noted some design features you thought Garmin should have done differently. An enormous amount of time, money, and research has been spent creating the features that make a great display- or likewise condemn an unsuccessful one noted only for its commercial failure. We are going to focus this discussion on the way the human brain interprets the information a PFD gives the flight crew, as this is a large factor in commercial success. We’ll use the Garmin G500/G500H models as representative displays.
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Tags:
Glass cockpits
multi-function display (MFD)
PFD
Primary Flight Display
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Nov
15
2023
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Posted by Admin
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“I say every day do one teaspoon of work. In a week you have something, in a month a good mound, and in a year a mountain of work,” so says Luis Olarte, founding CEO of Entrol. We can add to his quote: in less than two decades one will have established many mountains into a mountain chain that spans the globe: from its beginning in Madrid, Spain, to over 30 countries across seas and continents in which Entrol-brand flight simulators are sold.
What started such mountainous growth? Did an army of investing angels launch from the Gothic spires of Madrid Cathedral to spread Church treasure to capitalists in need? Dream on. Did a conglomerate of well-established helicopter OEMs cooperate to spin off a sim manufacturer to service the training needs of their global customers? Nope. Did two brothers with dreams, guts—and very few funds—sacrifice to build flight simulators in a garage-size niche the big-boy sim manufacturers overlooked? Bingo!
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Tags:
Executive Watch
Luis Olarte Entrol
Categories:
Human Interest
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Nov
13
2023
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Posted by Admin
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On 25 Aug. 2023, surrounded by employees, dignitaries, and media, Airbus Helicopters celebrated its 20th anniversary of manufacturing helicopters at its facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
It all began in 2003, when Airbus Helicopters (then Eurocopter) committed to building a manufacturing facility in Columbus, Mississippi, in order to broaden its footprint in North America. By 2004, the location grew from a small facility and seven personnel to 85,000 square feet and 100 personnel when it landed an AS365 Dauphin re-engining contract with the U.S. Coast Guard.
By 2006, the company achieved a major milestone, and solidified the future of the Columbus plant, when it was awarded the contract to produce the UH-72A for the U.S. Army. Since its humble beginnings, the facility today has grown to employ a skilled team of 300+ personnel (35% military veterans) and has completed nearly 1,700 helicopters. The Columbus facility is an important part of the Airbus business picture as it accounts for 20% of the helicopters manufactured by the company globally. The success of the Columbus facility has not only brought the aerospace industry to the region, but significant economic development as well.
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Tags:
Airbus Helicopters
Columbus Mississippi facility
UH-72A facility
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Nov
06
2023
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Posted by Admin
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I recall that when I was an emergency medical services pilot back in the 90s, I wrote many times that it was my belief that training was the key to reducing the high accident rate in EMS. Although I flew an S-76 with an autopilot and glass cockpit, technology was not as prevalent for light-single helicopters.
For the most part back then, we received our initial part 135 training, then our annual recurrent training (which was pretty light) only once per year. For most operators, training involved shooting an instrument approach and performing an unusual attitude recovery under a view limiting device (foggles) during VMC conditions. Given the lack of technology, as compared to today, it’s difficult to fault the operators. I always used to say that if the operators could not train themselves to be safer, they would eventually be regulated and “technologied” into safety.
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Tags:
Helicopter Technology
Helicopter Training
Rotor Pro Editor's Letter
Categories:
Regulatory
Training
Opinion-Editorial
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Nov
06
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Technology That Gives You Edge
Technology is increasingly being recognized as a lifesaving resource in the world of helicopter flight training. With rising accessibility to advanced training equipment, pilots can safely and more consistently confront and practice real-life scenarios in ways not achievable before.
Adding Flight Simulator Training Devices (FSTDs) to a training regimen particularly opens the door to the exposure and practice of emergency procedures – conditions often too risky to experience through in-aircraft training. So, not only is greater proficiency achieved on the fundamental level, enhanced threat awareness instills pilots with a bolder confidence and edge to take to the cockpit.
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Tags:
Frasca Flight Simulation
FTDs Level 1-3
Categories:
Training
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Oct
30
2023
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Posted by Admin
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The growing use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and the anticipated rollout of eVTOLs (manned electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) will have a far reaching impact in manned flight, as helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft must share the heavens with them. But how will UAVs and eVTOLs affect helicopter communications, especially in controlled airspace, and what will this mean for helicopter pilots and operators? Here’s what Rotor Pro has been able to find out.
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Tags:
UAV pilots
V-150 SKELDAR
V-200 SKELDAR
Categories:
Regulatory
Helicopter Sectors
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Oct
23
2023
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Posted by Admin
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We all consider ourselves to be professional pilots and as such, we study and memorize everything we can about how we conduct our daily operations, to include the National Airspace System. We use the charts in the AIM, VFR Sectionals and Terminal Area Charts, and tablets with navigation applications. We refer to 14 CFR § 91.126-135. We check—and double check—the weather so we can remain compliant with 14 CFR § 91.155. VFR, IFR, GPS/WAAS, ATC - it all blends into this magnificent (and admittedly complex) system.
But where did all this come from?
Part of it began during WWII. Thomas Causby (and his flock of chickens) owned a parcel of land about a half mile from Lindley Field in Greensboro, North Carolina. The United States government, via what was then the Department of the Army, used Lindley Field for training bomber and fighter pilots. And they used it a lot. So much in fact, that quite a few (over 150) of Mr. Causby’s chickens died due to the noise and vibrations from the constant takeoffs and landings. The location of Mr. Causby’s property placed the landing and departing aircraft approximately 85 feet over the farm (and only 20 feet above the farm's highest object). Mr. Causby filed an inverse condemnation lawsuit against the government for damages, claiming that the airport’s activity had cost him his business and that the United States had “taken” without compensation his rightful property from him. He claimed that this was a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
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Tags:
AIM
National Airspace System
VFR Terminal Sectionals
Categories:
Regulatory