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Jan
09
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Dale Neubauer, founder and CEO of Oregon-based HeliLadder is rare among mechanics. That’s too narrow a claim; in fact, he’s rare among people. He noticed a real need as a working mechanic: he and his fellow wrench turners were contorting themselves in risky, uncomfortable, and inefficient working conditions, dangling themselves from old-style ladders that hadn’t made a significant step-up in half a century. “I thought that it was just ridiculous that maintenance ladders had not improved,” he says. “Nothing had changed, except they were now made out of fiberglass, but it was still the same conventional design they’d used in World War II.”
[Read More...]
Tags:
Dale Neubauer
Executive Watch
HeliLadder
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
Company Profiles
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Jan
02
2023
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Posted by Admin
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The South Africa Red Cross Air Mercy Service Trust (AMS) in partnership with the Emergency Medical Services of the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness provides an emergency rescue and air ambulance service to the community of the Western Cape Province via a fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. This partnership aims to ensure that all citizens have access to equitable, acute specialized care at all levels.
The AMS’s rescue platform, which provides air-sea and air-mountain rescue services by helicopter, has more than 20 years of experience working with the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Wilderness Search & Rescue (WSAR), Lifesaving South Africa, and its many affiliates.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Air Mercy South Africa
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Dec
23
2022
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Posted by Admin
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When you’re young, you rarely think about the day before, rather always looking ahead to the future. However, at 55 years old, I find myself reflecting on the past a little more these days. Looking back to my younger years as a pilot, I feel like I was really fortunate to have crossed paths with quality people throughout my career in the helicopter industry—colleagues and friends who tested me, shared insights with me, and opened doors of opportunity for me. All of them had my best interest at heart.
I will never forget the time I asked for my first pay increase as a helicopter pilot. I was piloting a Bell 206 for Aircoastal Helicopters flying news, charter, and utility work. I had been working in that capacity for a little over a year and my plan was to go to the company owner and ask for a $5 per hour pay increase.
[Read More...]
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Dec
19
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Have you ever heard your mother or grandmother quote John Wesley saying, “cleanliness is next to godliness”? Turns out that quote is effective in aircraft maintenance as well. I like to think that cleanliness is the twin brother to order, and all aircraft maintenance requires cleanliness and order to attain the highest level of professionalism.
When I was a young helicopter mechanic at Carraway Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, the first job my mentor assigned me was to wash the helicopters each morning. The primary reason was to display a professional image for the hospital. Next, he explained to me that washing and cleaning the helicopter was another way to inspect the machine and look for obvious defects. I quickly learned this was sound advice and I practiced it consistently. While washing helicopters, I have discovered many defects, including busted chin bubbles and windshields, broken antennas, missing or hanging strobe lights, corrosion, various cracks, bird nests, and the occasional dead bird just to name a few.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
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Dec
12
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The future looks bright for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, at least for the pioneering companies who invest in this emerging low-cost market now. With their reliance on simpler, smaller, and lower-cost rotorcraft architectures, eVTOLs are poised to open up profitable new markets not currently served by conventional helicopters. These include urban aerial airport shuttles, metro services, and taxis; medical logistics and organ transport; and just-in-time/last mile cargo deliveries.
That’s the message from a White Paper titled, “Helicopter Industry Embraces Electric Flight: How Advanced Air Mobility Creates New Market Opportunity for Today’s Helicopter Operators” by Helicopter Association International (HAI) and NEXA Advisors.
[Read More...]
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Dec
05
2022
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Posted by Admin
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A question that has been asked many times by transitioning military pilots is: What can I be reading, studying or learning right now to get me ahead of the game for my transition to civil or general aviation? Assuming you don’t have any prior experience as a civilian airman and you utilized the MilComp (military competency) method to get your certificates and ratings, the answer is easy – study those topics that fall in the cracks between military and general aviation training. What are some of those topics? They include airworthiness requirements, supplemental type certificates, airworthiness directives, minimum equipment lists, advisory circulars, endorsements, Part 119 and Part 135 operations, practical test standards, helipad markings and pilot logbooks—just to name a few!
[Read More...]
Tags:
Helicopter Military to Civilian Transition
Categories:
Career Development
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Nov
30
2022
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Posted by Admin
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FlightSafety International’s name and reputation in aviation training has been built over seven decades. But the truest test of that value comes when pilots are facing split-second decisions, and their training takes over.
In one pilot’s case, FlightSafety training and how it prepared him for anything, are the reasons he believed he and his crew survived a dangerous situation.
Sgt. David Sizemore had seen a lot in his more than 13,000 flight hours. But during a December 2020 flight in his Ohio State Highway Patrol helicopter, he faced the biggest challenge as a pilot.
[Read More...]
Tags:
FlightSafety International
Reality-Based Simulator Training
Categories:
Training
Company Profiles
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Nov
28
2022
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Posted by Admin
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As a resident of this state for 42 years, I find it interesting that Florida is the second-most popular tourist state in the country despite the fact that we’re home to hurricanes, sharks, alligators, rattlesnakes, scorpions, bats, fire ants—and mosquitoes.
And we’re not talking about just any little mosquito. Florida mosquitoes are so huge they have N-numbers and get issued squawk codes by air traffic control! However, most of those who live here just shrug it off and say that it’s the price we pay to live in paradise – that is, until you cannot even walk your dog or sit on your deck without being carried away by the blood-sucking pests.
Fear not: many organizations across the state are using both science and aircraft to reduce the impact of mosquito misery on the people. Once such organization is the Lee County Mosquito Control District (LCMCD), which is the largest mosquito control agency in the country.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Lee County Mosquito Control Aviation Unit
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Nov
21
2022
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am a single-pilot IFR HAA Line Pilot, Part 135 check airman, instructor, and FOQA gatekeeper for Metro Aviation, and a designated pilot examiner (DPE) for the FAA. I also remain active as a sworn law enforcement (LE) officer flying on a part-time basis for a sheriff's office.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Matt Johnson Metro Aviation
Meet A Rotor Pro
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
Human Interest
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Nov
14
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Large swells, high winds, tight vessel schedules that can change frequently during a single day and a narrow harbor entrance with various sand banks, makes Durban Harbour a challenging environment for any ship pilot to navigate. To assist the vessel pilots trying to enter or leave the harbor, Transnet Aviation transports skilled ship pilots with an intimate knowledge of the harbor to pilot the vessels.
South Africa was one of the first countries in the world to utilize a helicopter for marine pilot transfer, launching the Helicopter Marine Pilot Transfer (HMPT) concept in 1995.
HMPT operations are a high risk, hostile, and dynamic operating environment requiring exceptional flying skills and precision hoisting as well as efficient and flawless maintenance. It takes years of training to achieve the highest levels of proficiency in safety and efficiency. There are only a handful of qualified offshore helicopter pilots, experienced helicopter hoist operators and licensed aircraft maintenance engineers who have flown and worked on the marine pilot service, and who meet the stringent minimum requirements.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Helicopter Hoist Operations
Helicopter Marine PIlot Transfer
HMPT
Transnet Aviation
Categories:
Company Profiles