Author: Admin
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Apr
19
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Last year we launched Rotorcraft Pro’s annual U.S. Pilot Salary & Benefits Survey. Traditional surveys of decades past were sent directly to employers by snail mail in ballot form, then collected and tabulated. This old method did provide interesting results, but because employers are reticent to reveal the exact salaries and benefits they provide, the sampling could be rather small and probably wasn’t always representative of the larger whole.
We felt using modern online technology to survey actual pilots and their employers would generate more interest throughout the industry. Wow, did it ever! Like last year, this year’s survey had excellent participation. We again got the latest information on pilots:
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Categories:
Career Development
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Apr
11
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Ever had someone sneak up behind you while twisting a wrench and inquire if you were doing it “by the book”? Ever wonder what book they were referring to?
What follows is my own unconventional interpretation. I’m by no means an expert. However, after years of practicing I think I can get this as mixed up as the best of them.
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Categories:
Training
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Apr
04
2016
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Posted by Admin
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For those not familiar with Metro Aviation, HFTC’s parent company, it has two main facets to its business. First and foremost, it is an EMS helicopter operator with over 130 aircraft in operation. Second, it’s also a Part 145 maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility, as well as a helicopter completion center.
According to Palmer and Mike Stanberry, Metro’s CEO, the impetus for creating HFTC was two-fold. Twelve years ago, Metro Aviation saw value in using simulation when it began using FlightSafety simulators for certain aspects of its Part 135 training programs. Not only is simulation training less expensive, but it also reduces the risk of damaging aircraft in training. However, as Metro Aviation’s teams grew, the cost of paying retail prices for training from a variety of third-party vendors began to grow as well. So the initial idea for creating HFTC was born out of necessity. It was a way to bring both pilot training and mechanic training back in-house, allowing for cost effective improvements in quality and standardization.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
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Mar
29
2016
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Posted by Admin
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So you’ve provided all of the required training to your student. That’s it, they're ready to visit the FAA and apply for that sought after certificate or rating. However, there’s one last thing you have to do: You must certify to the federal government that as an authorized flight instructor you have provided the required ground and flight training, and found the applicant prepared to take the appropriate FAA practical test.
So what defines an authorized instructor? The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) define specific training requirements an instructor must meet to provide training for a certificate and/or rating. This definition is found within FAR 61.1: Applicability and Definitions. Most of the time, there is little confusion on this issue. However, over the last few years many regulatory changes and FAA Legal Interpretations are worthy of a closer look.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
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Mar
21
2016
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Posted by Admin
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What is your current position?
I am the vice president of flight operations at Firehawk Helicopters, Inc. At Firehawk we operate four Sikorsky S-70 commercial Black Hawks and four BHI H60 Hawks (former Army UH-60s) and four Airbus Helicopters AS-350B3s. The aircraft are used for aerial firefighting, research and development flight testing, construction and external lift, and television and film productions. Previously I spent 17 years at Sikorsky Aircraft. The first nine years I was a test engineer and the last eight years I was a test pilot. Concurrent with my time at Sikorsky I was also in the US Army Reserves where I flew UH-60s for a decade.
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Categories:
Human Interest
Career Development
Training
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Mar
14
2016
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Posted by Admin
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I’m going to give you a simple mental tool to keep you safe: Risk Resource Management (RRM). It’s a tool Chesley Sullenberger used for 14 years before he famously landed his Airbus A320 in the Hudson River. It’s also a tool he instructed his students to use when he taught crew resource management at US Airways. It’s a tool you can use in your helicopter to make better decisions, whether you’re flying single-pilot or multicrew.
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Categories:
Training
Safety
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Mar
09
2016
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Posted by Admin
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I love helicopters!
I have a great appreciation for the training and skill it takes to fly a helicopter. Rotorcraft are vital to our transportation system; they have remarkable agility and go where no other transport vehicles can go. They often serve the common good and help our economy by providing medical care, fighting fires, assisting law enforcement, serving as “aerial cranes” in construction, transporting workers to inaccessible locations, and generally doing work that no other vehicles can do.
Helicopters have personal significance for me, too. Before I was born, an American-trained Choctaw CH-34 pilot saved my parents and three older brothers by flying them to safety during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. One of those brothers, now a surgeon, has been able to help traffic crash victims, thanks to the emergency medical helicopters that transport him to those who are injured far from his Level 1 trauma center.
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Categories:
Safety
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Mar
07
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Rotorcraft Pro predicted last year that 2015 would be an exciting time for helicopter development as new helicopters and rotorcraft-related products hit the market. Our prediction proved true. Now, based on what the industry’s leading helicopter OEMs have revealed to us, 2016 promises to be just as innovative. While some new models and updates will be on display later this year at Heli-Expo 2016, you don’t have to wait until then. Here’s an OEM recap of 2015 and a preview of what’s coming.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
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Feb
29
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Erickson Air-Crane Inc. is known in the helicopter world not only for its iconic orange Aircranes, but also for its iconic reputation. With a varied fleet of rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, and employees who have won numerous industry awards, the Portland, Oregon, company has operations not only in North America, but also South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Australia.
Erickson is not only engaged in vertical flight, but is also vertically integrated and diversified through three divisions: Commercial Aviation Services, Government Aviation Services, and Manufacturing & MRO. There are few missions beyond Erickson’s capabilities, or as the company says: If we can’t do it, it can’t be done.
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Categories:
Career Development
Company Profiles
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Feb
22
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Last year was difficult: stock market volatility, Eurozone volatility, financing volatility, and for those of us in the helicopter industry—oil price volatility. Just why is the price of oil so important to helicopter values? The answer goes back almost 70 years.
In 1948, oilmen and fur trappers in Louisiana were in a dispute about the oilmens’ marsh buggies (used to reach drill sites) trampling muskrat breeding grounds ... and in turn the trappers’ livelihood. A very young Bell Helicopters brought in a demonstrator to show how the oilmen could bypass the breeding grounds by replacing marsh buggies with helicopters. Bob Suggs took that idea and ran with it, forming Petroleum Helicopters Inc (PHI). From there, helicopters found full-time work in the oil fields. PHI still remains a strong presence in offshore oil & gas, although they have been surpassed in size in the intervening decades by Bristow Group and CHC Helicopters.
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors