Articles for category Training
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Jul
13
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Call it what you want: H/V (height/velocity) curve, dead man’s curve, or even “limiting height-speed envelope” for those who like sophisticated phrases. The “dead man’s curve” term is probably a carryover from our fixed-wing brethren. The helicopter industry generally accepts the simple reference of H/V curve. The inside of the curve is the area from which it will be difficult, or nearly impossible, to make a safe landing following an engine failure (if you are in the same conditions depicted with respect to airspeed, height above ground, weight, and density altitude).
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Categories:
Training
Safety
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Jul
06
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Every wildfire is different and every wildfire must be respected. It is another triple-digit afternoon, and the third call-out of the day. The radios are awash in static and layers of non-stop chatter. With each hiss and scratch, a mental picture is drawn of the size and scope of the fire. Each crew member prepares for what is to come, and tries to push down rising adrenaline with an outward façade of calm.
Both S-2 air tankers have already made their initial drops and are heading back to base to reload and return. Directed in by the airtactical plane orbiting the columns of smoke, the gleaming white and red UH-1H ‘Super Huey’ charges in at low-level and banks hard to the left. Eyes inside the rotorcraft thoroughly survey the area through airborne debris and haze for any threats adjacent to their chosen landing zone.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Helicopter Sectors
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Jun
30
2015
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: How did you get your start in helicopters?
The first job I had was as a CFI for a company that went out of business. My second job was with a company that changed ownership. My business, Independent Helicopters, started with $25, a lease agreement with Matt Spitzer, and a positive attitude. So, you could say I have had three starts. Independent Helicopters was where it all really started. I hit the ground running with no safety net and never looked back.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
Company Profiles
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Jun
22
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Without reservation, I can say that I have found my passion in life. I love teaching the art of helicopter flight. I don’t know when, where, or why my passion for sharing my love for helicopters developed, I only know that I enjoy it. Equally enjoyable is serving the FAA as a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). Do all instructors share this passion? If not, what motivates instructors in their vital role within our industry?
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Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Training
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Jun
15
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Maintenance engineers and mechanics have known about ‘The Dirty Dozen’ for years. They are the 12 most common human error preconditions or conditions that act as precursors to accidents or incidents for mechanics.
I first learned about The Dirty Dozen when I put together a crew resource management course for helicopter engineers and mechanics. I instantly realized that pilots would be safer if they knew about these dozen error traps too.
The Dirty Dozen is a concept developed in 1993 by Gordon DuPont, when he worked for Transport Canada. They have since become a cornerstone in maintenance training courses worldwide.
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Categories:
Training
Safety
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Apr
22
2015
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Posted by Admin
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In the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner hears ghostly voices coming from his Iowa cornfield telling him, “If you build it they will come,” meaning he should build a baseball diamond and former members from the Chicago Black Sox would come. Each day for the two months that I worked building a crew resource management instructor’s course, a similar line kept replaying in my head: What if I build it and no one comes?
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Categories:
Training
Safety
Helicopter Sectors
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Apr
20
2015
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Posted by Admin
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As a member of the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Safety Management System (SMS) Working Group, we attempt to provide helicopter professionals with useful ideas and tools to help with their SMS implementation and sustainment. As you might imagine, the needs of aviation programs can vary widely depending on the size and scope of the operation. Despite the FAA’s reluctance to regulate SMS for other than Part 121 operators in the U.S., many proactive aviation companies and agencies have voluntarily begun their own implementation with varied results. By now, most of us in this industry are familiar with SMS and its four pillars: (1) safety policy (2) safety risk management (3) safety assurance (4) safety promotion. (If these four components aren’t familiar to you, it’s time to get out of the cave and see the light!) These items are interrelated and are the essential framework for an organization’s SMS program.
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Categories:
Safety
Training
“The doctor told me I’d never walk again,” former Utah flight nurse Stein Rosqvist told the group with obvious emotion. “I saw that wheelchair being pushed towards me down the corridor and said, ‘That’s definitely not for me.’”
Through months of physical therapy by a nurse that would not permit him to say, “I can’t,” Stein walks today. His is just one of the stories I heard during the three-day digital story workshop I attended recently in Denver, Colorado.
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Categories:
Training
Safety
Helicopter Sectors
The FAA requires all initial pilot certificate applicants (except ATP) to demonstrate cross-country proficiency during a practical test. The Practical Test Standard (PTS) Area of Operation identifying the proficiency to be demonstrated is titled “Navigation.” Tasks included within this section of the PTS are pilotage and dead reckoning, radio navigation and radar services, diversion, and lost procedures. This portion of the exam is intended to verify that the student has sufficient knowledge to fly a helicopter safely outside of his or her local flying area.
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Categories:
Training
Safety
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Apr
06
2015
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Posted by Admin
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In today's safety culture, zeroing in on the “who and what” of unsafe acts has become the new priority—again. Companies have been working overtime to arrive at a common safety destination, or to target specific safety practices in an effort to reduce the number of incidents. Yet, injuries still occur and aircraft are still damaged.
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Categories:
Safety
Training