Articles for category Opinion-Editorial
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Sep
12
2022
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Posted by Admin
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“I never really thought I’d have the title “Vice President” in front of my name. Coming out of the Army as basically an A&P mechanic, I never really thought my career would reach this level; it’s a pretty daunting responsibility to be honest,” says Vice President Kip McDermott of night vision leader Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU) in Boise, Idaho. His current responsibilities seem daunting for sure: working with government regulators all over the world, writing test plans, certification plans, and wrangling designated engineering representatives (DERs) up for engineering reports, overseeing a Part 145 repair station along with ASU’s Part 135 and Part 141 flight operations groups, as well as being responsible for supplemental type certificate (STC) certification and ASU’s highly regarded night vision goggle (NVG) lab would “daunt” any executive, but McDermott is confident he can handle his lengthy list. If he loses his grip, he says there’s help, “The saving grace of it all is that I’ve got good guys I’m working with; I don’t have to micromanage them (I’ve never been a micromanager and will never be.) They make my job easier; if I drop something, they pick it up.”
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Tags:
Aviation Specialites Unlimited
Executive Watch
Kip McDermott ASU
RotorPro Executive Watch
Categories:
Company Profiles
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Aug
22
2022
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Posted by Admin
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One word is frequently repeated amongst Bell leaders about the V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft they are building for the U.S. Army: transformational.
"It is a leap ahead, not a step ahead," said Terry Horner, director of government relations at Bell and a retired Army chief instructor pilot. "We're seeing right now in world events why these new capabilities are important."
Bell is competing against a Sikorsky-Boeing team for the right to build the military's next-gen medium helicopter. The Army is the lead branch on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program to develop that helicopter. While Bell is fielding its V-280 Valor in the competition, Sikorsky-Boeing is offering its compound Defiant X with a coaxial rotor system and pusher propeller. Both competitors say their prototypes can fly twice as fast and far as the UH-60 Black Hawk they are seeking to replace. The Army is likely to choose the winner this year and wants its new aircraft operational by 2030.
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Tags:
Bell Military Next Gen Helicopter
Defiant X
Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)
Sikorsky-Boeing military next-gen helicopter
V-280 Valor
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Opinion-Editorial
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Aug
16
2022
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Posted by Admin
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As helicopter owners, pilots, and mechanics we must consistently be advocates for safety and always meet or exceed the standards. Personal safety and prevention of equipment damage are of utmost importance. The number one concern in the aviation business today is the rising cost of insurance. The rapid rise in insurance is directly due to injuries and equipment damaged.
So, how do we mitigate the risk thereby decreasing premiums? Here are some simple and basic measures that will aid your flight and maintenance operations in keeping safety as the top priority.
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Tags:
Aviation Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Jun
27
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Frank Sonnenberg, the author of the book, Listen to Your Conscience: That's Why You Have One wrote, “Exceptional people don't shun tests of their strength and determination -- they relish them.”
It almost seems there’s a cultural movement in some parts of society who want to diminish the idea of exceptionalism. Personally, I hope the movement is not successful because in our industry, we are blessed with many exceptional people and companies that keep driving us all collectively to new heights with respect to safety, technology, and performance.
Without the existence of these exceptional people and companies, we would be relegated to hand flying underpowered helicopters in only VFR conditions using only basic instrumentation . . . and training in them too! Instead, we are seeing exponential technological advancements in vertical lift aircraft that will relegate many old platforms to obsolescence. It’s both a scary and interesting time for those of us living it.
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Tags:
Rotorcraft Pro
Rotorcraft Pro Editor Lyn Burks
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Helicopter Sectors
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May
09
2022
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Posted by Admin
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“Timing is everything,” says Marek Polcak, CEO and co-founder of the Czech Republic-based technology company that he hopes is timed to transform rotary- and fixed-wing aviation training. That company, Vrgineers Inc., has a unique spelling that reflects its unique combination of technology it is introducing to aviation. The first two letters are pronounced as individual letters: V-R-gineers. That captures what Polcak and his team do—they are virtual reality (VR) engineers creating realistic training scenarios in virtual- and mixed-reality systems that put civilian and military pilots into certain scenarios that allow the training of more tactics or missions than a normal simulator.
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Tags:
Marek Polcak
Rotorcraft Pro Executive Watch
Vrgineers Inc
Categories:
Company Profiles
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
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May
02
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Foreword: Pilot shortages are real for several reasons
Before we dig into the salary and benefits survey numbers, we wanted to paint a picture, even if only anecdotal, of what we believe are the forces currently impacting the supply of working helicopter pilots.
It was around 2005 that articles and online communities began raising alarms about our aging Vietnam-era pilot population and a looming shortage. That era of helicopter pilots were considered the “baby-boomers” of helicopter pilots in that they represented nearly 50% of the working pilot force and most were in their late 50s and early 60s at the time. It was well known that the lion's share of that population would retire somewhere between 2010 and 2020. Questions began to arise about whether or not the traditional training institutions (civil schools and military) could produce the pilots as fast as they would be retiring when the time came. Now that most of those pilots have left the cockpit, and hindsight being 20/20, we now know the answer to that question is no. But it wasn’t only retiring pilots that contributed to the problem.
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Tags:
Helicopter Pilot Salaries
Pilot salary reports
pilot salary survey
US Helicopter Pilot Salary Report
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Apr
25
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The title of this editor’s letter is actually a quote from John C. Maxwell, a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, pastor, coach and speaker who has sold more than 24 million books in 50 languages. The quote reminds me that there is unprecedented change happening in every corner of our industry.
Carbon dioxide reduction, special aviation fuels, urban air mobility, e-vtol, personnel shortages, unmanned vertical flight, virtual-mixed reality in training, and the list goes on. The question for industry: Will this inevitable change be an opportunity for growth, or will many get left behind?
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Tags:
Rotorcraft Pro Editor Lyn Burks
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Opinion-Editorial
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Mar
30
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Balance is critical. It doesn’t matter if it’s the helicopters we fly and maintain, a person on a tightrope or just managing our everyday life. Maintaining balance is required if we are to continue to progress and minimize our limiting factors. We can take anything to the excess and quickly get out of balance. That’s why it is a good idea to have an accountability partner to help you see things that you may miss seeing yourself. The saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees” is accurate and sometimes briefly stepping away will clear one’s focus.
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Tags:
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Training
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Mar
14
2022
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
My wife, Alison and I own Jerry Trimble Helicopter Inc. We started the company in 2007 with one helicopter and one airplane. We provide primary and advanced flight training in both helicopters and airplanes. Our school is located in McMinnville, Oregon.
RPMN: Tell me about your first flight or experience with helicopters?
I flew with my dad, Robert Trimble, in one of his Bell 47s back in the ‘50s. He worked for Etna Helicopters along with his two partners – Bill Mathews and Erling Hertager.
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Tags:
Jerry Trimble Helicopters
Meet A Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Human Interest
Opinion-Editorial
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Feb
21
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Of course the headline above is a smidge spectacular and only a little dramatic. Although the helicopter industry was negatively impacted by the pandemic, it never really shut down.
Reflecting on this time last year, I remember when the Helicopter Association International made this announcement:
“Until the beginning of 2021, all signs had pointed toward a successful show. Over the past week, as second deposits became due for exhibitors, a large number either pulled out or expressed discomfort with attending or exhibiting. The Board of Directors looked at the numbers and made a difficult decision that continuing with HAI HELI-EXPO 2021 was not in the best interest of the industry.”
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Tags:
Lyn Burks Editor
Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Helicopter Event Coverage
Opinion-Editorial