Articles for category Helicopter Sectors
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Jun
13
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Last month, the Professional Helicopters Pilots Association put out a statement regarding the Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition (LAAHNC) Ongoing Efforts to Solicit Complaints Against Helicopter Noise which read:
The Professional Helicopter Pilots Association is troubled with the LAAHNC’s ongoing efforts to solicit helicopter complaints from Los Angeles residents. Although we encourage people to utilize the Federal Aviation Administration’s automated helicopter noise complaint system when they are bothered by helicopter noise, it appears the LAAHNC may be encouraging people to “game” the system and make multiple complaints on single incidents or simply complain about any sort of noise and attribute that noise to helicopters. The LAAHNC also continues to proclaim that no progress with regard to helicopter noise has been made.
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Categories:
Regulatory
Helicopter Sectors
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Jun
06
2016
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Posted by Admin
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For the aerial firefighting industry, 2016 is evolving into a transitional year. Fleet modernization is accelerating along with retirements of aging, legacy aircraft.
Specifically, operators are focusing on technology which will enhance safety, reliability, and capabilities. To cite one example, Helimax Aviation is in the final assembly stages of a 2,500 gallon internal water tank installation on its former US Army CH-47D Chinooks, with FAA certification anticipated by June 15th of this year. Upon certification, the tank is to be installed in its two Chinooks for the 2016 fire season, with USFS approval.
The system will be capable of multiple drops of varying capacity on the same spot, drawing water from sources as shallow as 18 inches. Turnaround times will be reduced, given the greater volume of water compared to the 2,000 gallon bucket system currently used. Other advantages include less downtime attributed to bucket failures, and long-line problems.
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
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May
31
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Once the stuff of science fiction, unmanned helicopters are increasingly becoming a part of daily life. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter program, using both the small MQ-8B and the Bell 407-derived MQ-8C, provides the Navy’s littoral combat ships (LCS) with eyes in the sky that enhance both situational awareness and precision targeting. Furthermore, the Lockheed Martin/Kaman Aerospace K-MAX unmanned helicopter has distinguished itself by flying unmanned cargo missions for the Marines in Afghanistan, and is also being configured to support civilian applications such as firefighting, forest management, humanitarian aid, and oil & gas industry support. Meanwhile, about 2,400 Yamaha RMAX remotely controlled helicopters are being employed for crop-dusting around the world. Yamaha is also teaming with Northrop Grumman to develop an autonomous RMAX for the military called the R-Bat (Rotary Bat) for intelligence gathering.These are just some of the unmanned helicopters in use today, with more in development.
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
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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
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Dec
07
2015
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Posted by Admin
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With over 24 years of experience, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has achieved a strong reputation for delivering the very best pre-hospital emergency care to patients across the Midlands region of the United Kingdom (UK). From just one Bolkow 105 helicopter flying out of a temporary airbase in Shropshire, to three state-of-the-art EC135 helicopters serving the largest air ambulance region in England with a population of in excess of 6 million people, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity certainly has come a long way since 1991.
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Company Profiles
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Nov
16
2015
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Posted by Admin
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HAITI
That simple, short two-syllable word immediately brings to mind another two-syllable word—EARTHQUAKE. However, the ramifications and repercussions from that tragic event were not short and simple. Even today, more than five years after the 7.0 MW catastrophic quake ruptured rocks—and lives— the reverberations continue.
Yet, it would be another tragedy to still see Haiti through the images of misery and mayhem that flooded the news media those years ago. For out of that rubble and ruin, forces arose more powerful than past casualties and chaos. Those forces: restored lives and hope. Yes, Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with many problems to solve. However, its proud people are anything but poor in spirit. They are determined to climb to new heights—in new ways.
One new way they are reaching those heights is through Ayiti Air Anbilans (Haiti Air Ambulance), a nonprofit organization that arose out of the 2010 rubble. In North America helicopter air ambulance is often taken for granted. In Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, it is seen as something to fight for and cherish.
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Categories:
Training
Helicopter Sectors
Company Profiles
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Oct
26
2015
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Posted by Admin
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When it comes to training new helicopter pilots, the world’s military organizations are increasingly looking to third-party vendors for help. Choosing an outside organization, rather than doing training in-house, can help cash-strapped militaries exchange the cost of buying and maintaining their own training fleets for predictable fixed fees. Third-party contractors can also provide training in highly specialized areas that are just not cost-effective for militaries to provide for themselves.
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Categories:
Training
Helicopter Sectors
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Oct
20
2015
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Posted by Admin
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It’s known as The Graveyard of the Pacific and the infamous name fits. Since records have been kept, its treacherous waves, winds, fog, and currents have claimed more than 2,000 ships and 700 lives. It is where a river intent on disgorging its contents clashes with a massive ocean determined not to yield to the lesser water. A titanic fight ensues in never-ending combat: The river spews out water and sediments while the ocean lashes back, trying to invade the river with a fury that belies its tranquil name. It’s the Columbia River Bar, and it takes a special breed of not only boat pilots—but also helicopter pilots—to safely navigate through this natural war.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Safety
Helicopter Sectors
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Sep
14
2015
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Posted by Admin
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If you are a helicopter pilot trained by the U.S. military, you have flown a Bell Helicopter. No other helicopter manufacturer played such a crucial, in-depth role in training military helicopter pilots. For nearly 70 years, Bell Helicopter (formerly Bell Aircraft Company) has supported the U.S. vertical-lift warfighter with a safe, efficient, and predictable training fleet. To this day, every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces uses a Bell helicopter as their primary helicopter-training platform.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Helicopter Sectors
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Sep
01
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Where did you get your start flying commercially?
After the Alaskan summer tour season was over with TEMSCO, I decided to continue my aviation endeavor at Precision Aviation located in Newberg, Oregon, flying a Schweizer 269C. There is where I achieved my additional ratings: fixed-wing add-on to my helicopter private, commercial helicopter, instrument airplane and helicopter, and helicopter CFI. I continued to instruct at Precision for a couple of years to build my hours and then moved straight into the world of flying a heavy helicopter as second in command (SIC) in a copilot position. I quickly concluded that a heavy helicopter is where my heart belongs. Not only do I love flying utility in the “big iron,” I also enjoy the camaraderie that comes out of working with so many different people from such diverse backgrounds. In this industry we have a bond because of our shared goals and experiences. You don’t necessarily have to be best friends with everyone in the group to know you have their support or that you are there to support someone else.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Helicopter Sectors
Human Interest