Author: Admin
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Apr
06
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Stephen R. Covey, the American educator and author of the popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People once wrote, “Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It's the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.” And such can be the case when it comes to bringing new helicopters into service.
There are several methods for bringing mission-oriented aircraft – such as those for air ambulance, SAR, or law enforcement – from the manufacturing line to community service. There are times when the aircraft will remain at the OEM facilities during the entire production process, and the customer will travel back and forth from their base of operations for meetings to check the progress. This process can be time-consuming and costly depending on how far the customer has to travel.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
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Apr
06
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Summit Helicopter, a subsidiary of Welk Aviation, is a well known Los Angeles-based company providing helicopters for energy, construction, and maintenance projects. The company operates MD500D, MD500E and MD530F aircraft, but also has a relatively unique Sikorsky S-58T able to provide additional lift up to 4,500 pounds. Through ACA (ENG Division), also a Welk Aviation subsidiary, Summit has access to Airbus AS350 B2 Astars for jobs requiring the abilities of that airframe, as well as access to a variety of airborne imaging systems and data capture capabilities.
Summit Helicopter was founded in 1996 and in 2014 merged with Whiteman Airport-based Welk Aviation, an operator of news gathering and film production helicopters. Summit is an FAA-approved Part 135 air carrier and is also approved for Part 133 helicopter external load operations. Summit employs 20 personnel, including pilots, mechanics, and ground operators. The company's pilots are all experienced utility pilots with many hours on jobs of every sort. Summit’s founder, Jim Woodaman, said, “We look for guys that have excellent judgment and fly smart; there is no room for hotdoggers or guys who move too quickly. We need mature pilots that always make the right decision. That’s our priority.” Summit also provides its customers large-capacity fuel tanker trucks, mobile field shops, and Heiltender support trucks and trailers that follow the helicopters while they do field operations anywhere in the country
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Categories:
Company Profiles
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Mar
30
2020
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Posted by Admin
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John Talmadge, director of worldwide sales for avionics company, Avidyne, says he didn’t choose to work in the helicopter industry; instead, he was born into it. “My dad was a Vietnam War pilot, doing what he called his (high school) ‘senior trip’ to Southeast Asia in 1970,” Talmadge says. “They had nose art on their aircraft back then. The lady painted on his helicopter had a baby bump. That bump was me.”
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Human Interest
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Mar
23
2020
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Posted by Admin
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If asked to describe the present state of the privately operated aerial firefighting industry in the U.S., I would call it robust, thanks in large part to aggressive fleet upgrades prompted by customer requirements and vendor initiatives. Including UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47Ds, operators have acquired turbine-powered equipment that is at least one generation newer than most of the current fleet of medium and heavy Cold War and Vietnam War-era helicopters. At the same time, some regional airliners have transitioned to new lives as large air tankers.
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
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Mar
09
2020
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Posted by Admin
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When I was transitioning out of the military, my friend, Nico, told me that there are three things that will influence job satisfaction: location, pay, and your boss. “If you are lucky you will get two of the three,” he said. Nico later modified the list to include schedule and equipment bringing the total to five, and you are lucky if you get three out of the five. The advantage we had in the military was that every two to three years we would move, but in civilian industry you may be at the same job for many years, so choose your career wisely.
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Categories:
Career Development
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Mar
02
2020
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Posted by Admin
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"Bon domesdi y bën uni da meus tla Dolomites!" This is how you will be greeted and welcomed in the Dolomites in Ladin, a special and unique language spoken only in the region of northeast Italy. Only 40,000 people still speak Ladin and it is a language struggling to survive, but things are looking optimistic as a newly launched newspaper and TV station use the language. So, Ladin has a great chance of staying alive and in full use. But not only is the language in the Dolomites special, so are the people and so is the natural beauty.
The Dolomites are a majestic mountain range declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. Besides breathtaking views, ski slopes, and infamous hiking trails, they offer an amazing 300 days of sunshine per year. For all sun lovers, this is a must-visit destination. The best part of it is you can visit the Dolomites by foot, with an e-bike, or enjoy the view from a higher, birds-eye perspective.
Since 1998, you can catch a sightseeing flight with Elikos Helicopters owned by two brothers: Gabriel and Marco Kostner.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
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Feb
24
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Health and fitness is one of those topics pilots would prefer not to talk about—specifically if there are problems with their personal health and fitness that could affect their flying status. But not talking about health and fitness poses risks to pilots, the people they fly, and the aircraft they operate. If pilots suffering from serious health/fitness issues manage to stay under the FAA’s radar and keep flying, they could experience a physical crisis in the air.
Addressing pilot health and fitness in a positive, career-saving manner is what Delta P is all about. Based in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Delta P helps pilots and their employees deal with aeromedical safety, aerospace physiology, and other human factors that can compromise pilot performance.
“Ninety percent of all aviation accidents are related to human factors and human performance,” said Dr. Dudley Crosson, who founded Delta P in 1988. “Yet, whenever pilots go for training, the great majority of their training is focussed on system failures. We need to start taking human factors more seriously because they are causing most of the accidents.”
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Career Development
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Feb
17
2020
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: In your view, what is the greatest challenge for the helicopter industry at this moment in time?
The helicopter industry doesn’t seem to face pilot shortages in the same way as commercial airlines do but we did experience a drop in the number of people coming through during the 2008-9 recession. There was a five-year gap with not much training going on, and because of that there is a massive skills gap and it’s difficult to find pilots with the right level of experience.
Additionally, there is a huge gap in training between PPL to Instructor and single-engine flying charter. It’s difficult for new pilots to build their hours to be considered for employment.
At Castle Air we wouldn’t employ anyone with fewer than 1,000 hours, but how do new pilots go from 185 (CPL level) to 1,000 hours? It’s difficult for us to fund training up to 1,000 hours and furthermore there are not enough smaller helicopters around to build experience. We’re trying to have more two-seater aircraft at Castle Air to help alleviate the issue and provide some training, but without a robust training regime the gap is going to remain.
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Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Feb
10
2020
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Posted by Admin
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It was a no-brainer for Boeing Global Services Senior Manager of Helicopter Operations Ty Genteman to get into the aviation industry—or more accurately—it was a no-brainer for him to get out of the blistering desert heat. He was pulling cable in his telecom construction business when a friend called with a simple proposition. Genteman clearly recalls the 1986 conversation that changed his life. His friend, Eric Witters, made his pitch, “It’s July in Arizona and you’re working in 118 degrees; how would you like to come to Aviall and get out of the heat?”
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Categories:
Career Development
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Feb
03
2020
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Posted by Admin
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The number of pilots in the United States has grown slightly over the last few years. In 2016, there were approximately 584,000 pilots; in 2018, that number reached 633,320. Today, the demand for well-trained pilots is increasing, especially at the regional airport level.
While aviation can be an exciting career path, it carries with it considerable risk, particularly for those pilots flying non-owned aircraft. Whether flying an A-Star helicopter or a Cessna 550 Citation, or training a future aviator, a pilot can be at risk in the event of an accident. It’s interesting to note that private planes have a substantially higher crash rate than that of commercial aviation. That can be attributed to pilot skill, looser regulations for private planes, and lack of safety and backup systems. Financially speaking, however, a general aviation crash or damaging an aircraft can potentially put a huge dent in a pilot’s wallet and career.
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