Articles for category 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
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Feb
07
2022
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Posted by Admin
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I remember the day my S1 (personnel officer) came into the standardization office and handed me my retirement orders. She asked if I was excited. I had been excited when I submitted for retirement, but now that the orders were in my hand, I was wondering what the hell I did!
It doesn’t matter how prepared you are for your transition; you will feel stress at some point during the process and it isn’t quickly relieved by getting some exercise and sleep. Transition stress is an increased feeling of pressure, anxiety, and/or loss of purpose and direction triggered by a significant period of change or adjustment. Specifically when talking about veterans, transition stress refers to the difficulty of adapting to life after discharge. It is a longing for the way service members lived while on active duty. Other symptoms include depression, loss of identity, difficulty finding meaningful employment, difficulty navigating relationships, and difficulty relating to civilians. Transitional stress is an “identity crisis.” Basically, when you are transitioning, you are losing your identity, and being forced to develop a new one without the support network you had while in the military. If there is anything positive about your transition, it is that everyone goes through it, so you are not alone.
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Transition Helicopters
Military to Civililan Aviation
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Jan
17
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The American Helicopter Museum & Education Center (AHMEC) in West Chester, Pennsylvania, recently unveiled the crown jewel of its collection: the United States Coast Guard (USCG) HOS-1 that played a leading role in one of the most famous rescues in helicopter history. Also known as a Sikorsky R-6, AHMEC’s HOS-1 (#43-45531) and her crew received accolades for saving survivors of a downed Sabena Airlines DC-4 airliner near Gander, Newfoundland, in 1946, earning her the nickname, “The Gander Express.”
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Tags:
AHMEC’s HOS-1 (#43-45531)
Gander Express
Sikorsky R-6
United States Coast Guard (USCG) HOS-1
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest