Articles for category Training
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Apr
04
2016
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Posted by Admin
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For those not familiar with Metro Aviation, HFTC’s parent company, it has two main facets to its business. First and foremost, it is an EMS helicopter operator with over 130 aircraft in operation. Second, it’s also a Part 145 maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility, as well as a helicopter completion center.
According to Palmer and Mike Stanberry, Metro’s CEO, the impetus for creating HFTC was two-fold. Twelve years ago, Metro Aviation saw value in using simulation when it began using FlightSafety simulators for certain aspects of its Part 135 training programs. Not only is simulation training less expensive, but it also reduces the risk of damaging aircraft in training. However, as Metro Aviation’s teams grew, the cost of paying retail prices for training from a variety of third-party vendors began to grow as well. So the initial idea for creating HFTC was born out of necessity. It was a way to bring both pilot training and mechanic training back in-house, allowing for cost effective improvements in quality and standardization.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
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Mar
29
2016
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Posted by Admin
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So you’ve provided all of the required training to your student. That’s it, they're ready to visit the FAA and apply for that sought after certificate or rating. However, there’s one last thing you have to do: You must certify to the federal government that as an authorized flight instructor you have provided the required ground and flight training, and found the applicant prepared to take the appropriate FAA practical test.
So what defines an authorized instructor? The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) define specific training requirements an instructor must meet to provide training for a certificate and/or rating. This definition is found within FAR 61.1: Applicability and Definitions. Most of the time, there is little confusion on this issue. However, over the last few years many regulatory changes and FAA Legal Interpretations are worthy of a closer look.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
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Mar
21
2016
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Posted by Admin
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What is your current position?
I am the vice president of flight operations at Firehawk Helicopters, Inc. At Firehawk we operate four Sikorsky S-70 commercial Black Hawks and four BHI H60 Hawks (former Army UH-60s) and four Airbus Helicopters AS-350B3s. The aircraft are used for aerial firefighting, research and development flight testing, construction and external lift, and television and film productions. Previously I spent 17 years at Sikorsky Aircraft. The first nine years I was a test engineer and the last eight years I was a test pilot. Concurrent with my time at Sikorsky I was also in the US Army Reserves where I flew UH-60s for a decade.
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Categories:
Human Interest
Career Development
Training
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Mar
14
2016
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Posted by Admin
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I’m going to give you a simple mental tool to keep you safe: Risk Resource Management (RRM). It’s a tool Chesley Sullenberger used for 14 years before he famously landed his Airbus A320 in the Hudson River. It’s also a tool he instructed his students to use when he taught crew resource management at US Airways. It’s a tool you can use in your helicopter to make better decisions, whether you’re flying single-pilot or multicrew.
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Categories:
Training
Safety
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Jan
11
2016
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Posted by Admin
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Over the years, I have developed a few instructional techniques that I use when teaching students. One such technique has proven beneficial time after time, and begins at the first meeting with the student. Once a student is assigned to me, I’ll reach out to them to introduce myself, and schedule their first ground school session. I request they bring their spouse or significant other, and let them know that this first ground school session is on me…as in FREE!
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Categories:
Training
Career Development
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Dec
14
2015
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Posted by Admin
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To provide a path for a pilot holding a pilot certificate from another country to operate a U.S. registered aircraft, the FAA publishes Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 61.75. Within this FAR, a pilot can apply for and be issued a private pilot (PPL) certificate from the FAA, based upon their foreign pilot certificate. To receive this certification, no additional testing is required as long as the foreign pilot certificate is valid and the applicant meets minimum English speaking requirements of ICAO Level 4 proficiency.
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Categories:
Training
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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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Nov
09
2015
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Posted by Admin
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RP: How did you get your start in helicopters?
After returning from Desert Storm, I started taking flight lessons in an R22 and chose a career in law enforcement. I continued serving in the Kansas Army National Guard as a crew chief on Hueys and Blackhawks. In law enforcement, I was a state trooper in the Kansas Highway Patrol, and was eventually selected for a pilot-in-command position in the patrol’s Special Operations Air Unit. That’s how I got my break flying missions every day in helicopters and airplanes. It was just after 9/11 and there were so many security and surveillance flight missions. It was a great time to be a pilot in law enforcement who wanted to fly and build flight time. Best job I ever had!
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Categories:
Career Development
Becoming A Pilot
Training
Company Profiles
Human Interest
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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