Author: Admin
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Aug
29
2023
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Posted by Admin
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“Teamwork makes the dream work.” Is that true in helicopter air ambulance work?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary the definition of teamwork is “cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal.”
I recently visited Atrium Health’s MedCenter Air operation in Charlotte, North Carolina. (See story on Page 49.) Working with their teams reminded me of when I used to fly helicopter air ambulance, how complicated the work is, and how success hinges on many moving parts working together as a whole. If only one of the parts fails or falls short, desired outcomes may fall short as well.
I remember when I was a new air ambulance pilot, we were shut down on a highway waiting for two patients involved in a DUI, head-on accident, to be extricated from their vehicles. Given that I was flying an S76C+ helicopter we had the ability to take both patients. The first patient to arrive at the helicopter was in very critical condition and was bleeding out. I was told by the flight nurse that the second patient should be arriving in five minutes to seven minutes. I made the decision that I would keep the helicopter quiet and would start it when I saw the patient being pushed from the scene towards the helicopter.
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Tags:
Editor Lyn Burks
Editors Letter
Rotor Pro
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Aug
21
2023
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Posted by Admin
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All around us, technology is changing. The helicopters of our youth are dinosaurs compared to today’s aircraft. The modern engines that power these helicopters have become sophisticated, digitally controlled power plants designed to optimize performance and reliability while also reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
To gain insights on where helicopter engine technology is headed, Rotor Pro spoke with Nico Chabée, vice president of sales and marketing at Pratt & Whitney Canada.
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Tags:
Green Helicopter Engine Technology
Pratt & Whitney Canada helicopter engines
PT6T TwinPac
PW206B2
Categories:
Company Profiles
Helicopter Sectors
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Aug
14
2023
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Posted by Admin
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One dark night on the San Diego coast, my crew was launched for LE to intercept a drug-laden “panga” en route from Mexico to the U.S. We got the intel from our command center and launched into the blackness to find our panga. As we headed west over the Pacific Ocean with our radar scanning the surface of the water and our night vision goggles tuned up, we encountered declining ceilings at 1,000 feet AWL. We continued our search pattern at 700 feet and as the evening got cooler, the ceilings got lower. When we went down to 500 feet AWL, we discussed our hard deck of 200 feet AWL and termination of the search. We went down to 300 feet and finally at 200 feet we reached our limit and returned to base. The risk to my crew in declining ceilings was not worth the gain of finding the drug runner.
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Aug
07
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Sweden is a gem among Europe’s nations and its the largest amongst the Scandinavian ones. It is a country with unique Nordic charm, an incredible archipelago made up of over 24,000 islands and a land with more than 100,000 lakes. Sweden is a unique blend of tradition and progress. Known for its high standard of living and its developed economy, it also has a strong commitment to social welfare, democracy, environmental sustainability, and nature preservation.
However, do not let the progressiveness of this culture fool you. They live by a special philosophy named Lagom. Translated that means “moderate”—not too little, not too much; just the right amount. Since the days of the Vikings this philosophy has existed. However, the Vikings of old have been replaced by today’s modern heroes – the pilots of the Swedish National Police (SNP) Air Support Unit. They are the team of expert pilots who keep Sweden a safe and wonderful place to live.
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Tags:
Patria Helicopters AB
Polisflyget
SNP Air Unit
SNP fleet Bell 429
Swedish National Police Aviation Unit
Categories:
Company Profiles
Human Interest
Safety
Training
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Jul
31
2023
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Posted by Admin
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He walked into my office as a confident 22-year-old with the ink still wet on his newly issued Airframe & Powerplant certificate that he proudly carried in his pocket. The young man looked at me and said, “I want to be a helicopter mechanic”. After a brief discussion, his enthusiasm and seemingly sense of life’s direction convinced me to take a chance on him. I placed him under the supervision of a 38-year master helicopter mechanic. My instruction to the young man was “learn from him.”
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Tags:
A&P mechanic
Helicopter A&P Mechanic
Helicopter Maintenance Training
Categories:
Training
Safety
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Jul
24
2023
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Posted by Admin
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I want to be remembered for only one thing: my contribution to aviation. – Howard Hughes
There’s no doubt that Mr. Hughes is remembered in our industry for his contributions . . . or at least I hope so. I cannot help but wonder how many young aviators of this generation do not realize that the iconic MD 500 family of aircraft was originally developed by the Hughes Tool Company in the 1960s. Since then, there have been several owners of the OEM, thousands of aircraft manufactured, and even more pilots and mechanics trained, thereby keeping this workhorse in the game throughout several sectors of the helicopter industry.
With new leadership at MD Helicopters, this iconic brand is sporting an enhanced emphasis on training as a component of its aftermarket services.
"The primary goal since I came on was to improve our aftermarket, which encompasses spares, overhaul, repair and training," related Brad Pedersen, MD Helicopters LLC president and CEO since August 2022. "Training has sort of been a secondary function of the business; we want to make it a primary."
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Tags:
MD Helicopters President Brad Pedersen
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Jul
17
2023
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Posted by Admin
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NTSB report notes iPad linked to CH-47D crash
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NTSB Examination Summary - Exemplar helicopter and iPad-Rel.pdf (1.16 MB)
Categories:
Safety
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Jul
17
2023
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I'm North American new business manager for Loft Dynamics. My task is to introduce our new FSTD in the U.S. With my background at FlightSafety, I’m uniquely equipped to home in on specific helo markets who operate AS350s: public safety aviation, air medical, and commercial operators. They badly need an affordable AS350 simulator, and we have it.
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Tags:
AS350 Simulators
flightsafety
Loft Dynamics
public safety aviation
Woody McClendon
Categories:
Human Interest
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Jul
10
2023
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Posted by Admin
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There are too many unique and interesting facts about Orange County, Florida, to list here, but let’s start with a few and see where it goes:
Did you know that Orange County’s land was part of the first land to come up from the sea millions of years ago, and it is known as Orange Island. Orange County's Rock Springs location is a Pleistocene fossil-bearing area and has yielded a variety of mammal remains, including giant sloth, mammoth, camel, and the dire wolf dating around 1.1 million years ago.
Also, the county was named Mosquito County by Andrew Jackson from 1821 up until Florida was made a U.S. State in 1845, at which point it was renamed Orange County. No doubt, that change helped tourism!
In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. Oddly enough, this new theme park on the West Coast of the U.S. would be the genesis of a population explosion on the other side of the country in the growing State of Florida . . . except that it almost didn’t happen. In an effort to replicate Disneyland in California, Walt Disney began what was called the “Florida Project” and began purchasing and developing land in the Orange County area in the 1960s. Unfortunately, Walt Disney died on 15 December 1966, during the initial planning of the complex.
After Walt’s death, his older brother, Roy O. Disney, came out of retirement to make sure Walt's biggest dream was realized. Magic Kingdom was the first theme park to open in the complex in 1971, followed by Epcot (1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (1989), and Disney's Animal Kingdom (1998). It was loyal Roy who insisted the name of the entire complex be changed from Disney World to Walt Disney World.
In 1840, the county population was 73. In 1960, it was 263,000. Today, Orange County has a resident population of 1.4 million people and welcomes more than 75 million visitors annually, making it the No. 1 destination for tourism and travel in the entire world.
What does all this have to do with helicopters? Well, although very large and diverse populations can be culturally rich and interesting, they can also mean more crime. Fortunately for residents and tourists, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has a long history of aviation-supported law enforcement. Granted, not as far back in history as its Pleistocene fossil era, but still a rich history nonetheless.
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Tags:
aviation-supported law enforcement
B206L4
Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO)
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Jul
03
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Todd Powers is now the VP of Sales for GPMS, a pioneer in predictive HUMS (health usage and monitoring systems) for aircraft. He’s also an active commercial pilot who flies part-time for a half-dozen of his customers to whom he sold helicopters in his previous sales role at Airbus. Yet despite his long and successful career in aviation, he first rebelled against working in the industry.
He rejected the industry as a career after his father, a recreational fixed-wing pilot and an administrator at Iowa Lakes Community College, created a college curriculum customized to usher his son into an airline pilot seat. “He started it the year that I was a high school senior and it’s still a pretty big program today. The first year of college, you get your private certificate and instrument ratings, and then in your second year, you get your Commercial and CFI. And then it was on to Great Lakes Airlines, (then a feeder for United Express airline) That was the path he had set for me, but it wasn’t my path.”
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Tags:
GPMS
Rotor Pro Executive Watch Todd Powers
Todd Powers