Articles for category Human Interest
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Jan
18
2021
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am a fire pilot for Heliqwest. I fly a B205 on a local fire contract in Southern California (Heaps Peak) for the U.S. Forest Service.
RPMN: Tell me about your first flight.
My first flight was in an R22 out of Torrance, California. I remember walking up to the helicopter wondering, Wow, is this small helicopter going to fly? I had never seen one up close and only knew that helicopters were typically much larger. Once in the helicopter and in a hover I was certain now this was what I would do for living. I was astounded by how it felt to just float above the earth's surface like that. My flight took me over the coast and back to the airport. I was hooked.
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Tags:
Desiree Horton
Forestry Helicopter Pilot
Heliqwest Fire Pilot
Meet A Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Jan
11
2021
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Posted by Admin
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“To paint a picture of how remote some of the people are that we serve, it takes the inhabitants who live in areas of the Zambezi Delta three days to reach civilization by dugout canoe. The helicopter can reach those areas in 20 minutes.” - Matthias Reuter, Mercy Air helicopter program director
THE MISSION
From 1977 to 1992, the Mozambican Civil War was a bloody battle to control the African nation. The war was fought between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), anti-communist insurgent forces of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), and a number of smaller factions.
The Mozambican Civil War destroyed much of Mozambique's critical rural infrastructure, including hospitals, rail lines, roads, and schools. Additionally, according to estimates, over one million Mozambicans were killed in the fighting or starved due to interrupted food supplies; an additional 5 million were displaced across the region.
In 1990, Mercy Air was born out of this conflict as a Christian initiative operating as a fixed-wing missionary program. The airplanes were initially used to provide relief and support to refugees fleeing Mozambique along the border of South Africa. Due to rebels and the poor security situation in the region, moving people and supplies via ground vehicles was too risky.
In 2004, Mercy Air decided to add helicopters to their operations. Rotorcraft not only enhanced the aviation operation’s capability, but significantly expanded the geographic locations it could serve.
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Tags:
Humanitarian Relief Helicopters
Mercy Air
Categories:
Human Interest
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Dec
28
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Matthew Zuccaro was a quintessential leader for the Helicopter Association International (HAI), serving first on the board of directors in 1987, then as board chair in 1991, then as president in 2005. He retired in January, only about a month before his passing on Feb. 25, 2020 at the age of 70.
“Matt was one of a kind in our industry,” current HAI President and CEO James Viola said. “Helicopters were part of his life, beginning with his U.S. Army service in Vietnam. Throughout his career, he made safe helicopter operations his priority, and we are a better, stronger, and safer industry today because of his efforts on behalf of rotorcraft.”
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Tags:
Helicopter Association International Matt Zuccaro
Matt Zuccaro
Categories:
Human Interest
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Dec
28
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Former Helicopter Association International (HAI) Board of Directors chair James Wisecup never stopped learning. When he retired as assistant chief pilot for Air Methods in 2019, he had just earned a bachelor’s in aviation science from Southern Utah University.
“Jim was a highly respected member of the rotorcraft community, and we will miss his knowledge and leadership,” HAI president and CEO James Viola said. “He was an advocate for safe flying, training, and mentorship, and he was always willing to share his experience and passion for flying.”
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Tags:
Helicopter Association Internation Jim Wisecup
Jim Wisecup
Categories:
Human Interest
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Dec
28
2020
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Posted by Admin
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Rudy Frasca was a true pioneer in the world of flight simulation. He was first inspired by his older brother’s model airplane that motivated him to learn to fly at the tender age of 14. “From then on, he was just hooked,” said his daughter Peggy Prichard, marketing manager for Frasca International. Frasca joined the Navy in 1949, teaching pilots at the Glenview Naval Air Station on early Link Trainers. After the Korean War, he attended the University of Illinois Aviation Research Laboratory at Urbana-Champaign, where he honed his flight simulation skills and conducted research in aviation psychology.
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Tags:
Frasca Simulation
Rudy Frasca
Categories:
Human Interest
Opinion-Editorial
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Dec
21
2020
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Posted by Admin
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The Airbus Helicopters Inc. president and head of the North America region for helicopters was once so shy he was afraid to phone anyone he didn’t know. Romain Trapp says, “I was really super shy. I had to write down in advance every word I planned to say in a call.” So, the college accounting and finance student got fed up with his handicap and devised a strategy to overcome it. “I came to the point where enough was enough and I began to force myself out of my shyness,” he says. “For example, I volunteered to organize a conference at my college; it forced me to interact with people. Eventually, I worked my way out of my shyness, so that I now have no problem speaking to an audience of 200 people.” That’s a good thing, because presiding over a global original equipment manufacturer (OEM) like Airbus Helicopters is not a cubicle-in-the-bowels-of-a-building position for the super shy. It requires someone who can get out into the rotorcraft world, see how it’s changing, and react. When pressed to talk about his personal strengths as a top corporate executive , the humble leader says, “My strength, I think, is my ability to grasp the big picture and develop strategy from that view. Also, I develop a sense of belonging to the team as soon as I start a new job. You’ll notice that when I talk, I use the word ‘we’ and never ‘them’ nor ‘I.’ Finally, I have developed an ability to adapt to changing circumstances because I’ve had different responsibilities in different countries.”
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Tags:
Airbus Helicopters president
Romain Trapp
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
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Nov
23
2020
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Posted by Admin
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What is your current position?
I’m the owner and operator of Helicopter Air Specialty Service, owner and operator of AMP/HASS LLC a Robinson Service Center, owner and operator of the Maple Grove Heliport (E66), and manager of the Maple Grove Airport (65G) at Fowlerville, Michigan.
Tell me about your first flight?
I had a chain of 126 retail stores and needed to get to one of them fast. I hired a pilot that turned out to be a CFI to get me there. He let me fly! Most expensive flight I ever took. It was a thrill. Five lessons later, I was buying my first helicopter: a Robinson R22. I had no license, but I owned a helicopter, which forced me to get my license. Failure was not an option.
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Tags:
Dennis Bowdoin
Helicopter Air Specialty Service
Meet A Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
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Sep
28
2020
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Posted by Admin
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There are wildfires in the woods, and then there are crazy-strange wildfires such as a recent one in Florida that was fueled by hundreds of cars. When you battle that kind of conflagration, you’re bound to learn a few new lessons. We certainly did.
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Tags:
Car lot aerial fire
Charlotte County Aviation Unit
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
Training
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Aug
24
2020
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am the regulatory compliance manager at Coptersafety in Helsinki, Finland, which means that I manage and direct all aspects of Coptersafety’s FAA training programs as well as our FAA Level D full-flight simulator qualifications. We operate H125, H145, AW139, and AW169 full flight simulators. Coptersafety is the largest independent simulator training center in the world. We provide helicopter specific initial training and type ratings, recurrent training, and specialty tailored training programs in our simulators for customers around the world. My family and I moved to Finland about three years ago from Canada after I left my previous position of nine-plus years with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation where I held positions as a maintenance test pilot, site manager, and field service representative.
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Tags:
Coptersafety
Matt Presnal
Meet A Rotorcraft Pro
Categories:
Human Interest
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Jul
27
2020
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Posted by Admin
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TracPlus, headquartered in New Zealand, coordinates collaboration and communication between first responders on a shared platform that has now logged 6,500,000 flight hours, which seems to approximate how many academic credit hours the technology company’s CEO, Trevor McIntyre, has accumulated. The executive has a bachelor’s degree and postgraduate degrees from Rhodes University in his native land of South Africa, as well as a further postgraduate degree from the University of Natal, and a Master’s Degree (with first class honors) from the National College of Ireland. Then there are his two professional charters as well. He’s a Chartered Accountant through his fellowship in the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. That’s impressive book-cracking. However, you’d be mistaken if you deemed McIntyre an ivory tower student detached from the real business world. Most of those degrees were earned in night classes while he pursued his career in the light of day day with Big Four accounting consulting firms, like KPMG and PWC, helping companies recognize their strengths and find their sometimes hidden flaws. “Studying that way (at night) taught me how to manage my time effectively and that you can fit more into your life than you believe that you can. I believe that education is a key part of constantly striving to improve yourself. My parents were both teachers and really emphasized the importance of lifelong learning to my brothers and I. It is a key part of what I try to embed into my teams.” says McIntyre.
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Tags:
Executive Watch
TracPlus
Categories:
Career Development
Company Profiles
Human Interest