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Aug
06
2024
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Posted by Admin
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Maximize Your Helicopter Training
Training is foundational to every flight. Incorporating simulators or flight training devices (FTD) into your training regimen can remove the potential risks of in-aircraft training plus bring added effectiveness and lowered costs.
Safer, Smarter Environment
Compared with simulator training, in-aircraft training entails substantial drawbacks such as liability issues, avoidable wear and tear on the aircraft, and the inability to practice various types of critical emergencies.
Properly practicing a scenario in a simulator rather than imagining one in the aircraft could mean the life-saving difference during an actual crisis when the safety of those onboard comes down to split-second decisions. Simulators offer a safe platform for practical and comprehensive training, from performing the very basics to rehearsing the rare and unexpected.
Using state-of-the-art technology, normal and abnormal procedures can be simulated using a wide variety of aircraft, weather and environmental conditions without risk. Adverse and emergency events happen just as they would in the actual aircraft, presenting valuable practice opportunities.
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Tags:
flight training devices
FlightSafety International
Simulation Based Training
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Aug
05
2024
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Posted by Admin
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Last year there was an exuberant atmosphere in Madrid. Thousands of people are flocking to the city center to welcome their football club, Real Madrid, after their victory in the UEFA Champions League final. The Spanish police have mobilized massively to ensure the smooth conduct of this event. Additionally, from the air, a helicopter is vigilantly keeping an eye on potential risks and incidents and relaying information to ground units. This year, the Spanish police will celebrate their 200th anniversary, and the aviation department will mark its 45th birthday. This milestone prompted Martin Scharenborg & Ramon Wenink/Global Aviation Review Press to take a look behind-the-scenes at this busy unit.
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Jul
29
2024
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Posted by Admin
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In 1997, I was a relatively new FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) in the South Florida FAA District Office. On a beautiful Saturday in December, I was asked to complete an FAA private pilot added-rating exam for an applicant at a helicopter flight school at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE). As I had done many exams for this school, there was nothing unique about this day. At least, that was my thoughts prior to my arrival.
The exam was scheduled for 8:00 a.m., so I arrived about 15 minutes early. I often arrived early so I could stroll next door and visit my friend Terry at CavAir, a helicopter maintenance facility, and have a cup of coffee. We enjoyed a quick chat and off to work I went.
Volar Helicopters, the flight school hosting the exam, was owned, and operated by Tony Hicks. Tony would often be in his office when I arrived, so when I walked through the door of the school and heard someone shuffling papers in the office area, I assumed it was him. At that time, a voice said “Hello”. At that moment: I knew!
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Tags:
FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE)
my two cents worth
Categories:
Career Development
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Jul
22
2024
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Posted by Admin
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In 1836, the Western and Atlantic Railroad companies were trying to connect Chattanooga, Tennessee with Savannah, Georgia. They drove a milepost into the ground in what is now Foundry Street and named the settlement “Terminus.” According to the railroad’s chief engineer, Stephen H. Long, Terminus would be good "for one tavern, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else." A few years later following the building of a small grocery store, the settlement’s name changed to Thrasherville.
By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Later, John Edgar Thomson, chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlanta, as a feminine version of the word "Atlantic,” referring to the Western and Atlantic Railroad. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on 29 December 1847.
During the Civil War, the Union Army invaded Georgia from the north with a plan of capturing Atlanta in order to make it a strategic military hub. On the first of September 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood decided to retreat from Atlanta, and he ordered its destruction by burning of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, the city's civilian population was ordered to evacuate.
Since then, the Atlanta metropolitan area has become the hub of the Southeast U.S. for many industries, and boasts a population of more than 6 million people.
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Tags:
Atlanta Police Department Aviation Unit
Categories:
Company Profiles
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Jul
15
2024
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I’m a helicopter air ambulance (HAA) pilot for Metro Aviation, assigned to the Tampa General Hospital Program in Punta Gorda, Florida. Our base operates an EC135P2+ as our primary aircraft and a Bell407GX as our backup.
RPMN: Tell me about your first experience with helicopters.
I was around 15 years old, sitting in the backseat of my parent's car, which was at a standstill in a line of traffic, due to a major car accident. I vividly recall observing a helicopter landing on the highway to airlift a patient. As the helicopter ascended and departed the scene, I was struck by a profound sense of purpose, realizing at that exact moment that my future ambition was to become a medical helicopter pilot.
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Tags:
Danielle Fuller
Meet A Rotor Pro
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Opinion-Editorial
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Jul
08
2024
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Posted by Admin
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One might think there have been many sleepless nights in Torrance, California. Well, maybe there was some sleep here and there, but you wouldn't know it from the amount of hard work the Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC) put into their new Instructor Standardization Course. Their Safety and Flight Training department has embarked on a new venture that will surely garner a lot of interest, and more importantly—reduce accidents. It is a unique project that has been in the works for some time but recently became a reality under the leadership of new RHC CEO Dave Smith.
I had the opportunity to personally experience the course recently, and an experience it was. I was fortunate to attend only the second iteration of the course. The first class consisted of eight highly experienced CFIs and DPEs from across the United States and internationally. My second iteration class was just as impressive, with six CFIs and one DPE (myself). Overall, the group brought a fantastic amount of experience ranging from 3,000 to more than 20,000 hours, much of that in an instructional setting. Regardless of the experience level, it became immediately apparent that those in attendance were there for the right reasons: "I have over 22,000 hours as a pilot, and I feel I have a lot to offer and have started to give back by doing flight instruction – I'm here because I want to do things right" said Alex Leal of Laredo, Texas.
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Categories:
Career Development
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Jun
28
2024
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Posted by Admin
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Conservative columnist George Will wrote:
“To immigrate is to make an entrepreneurial act. It’s to uproot yourself and maybe your family and take a risk.”
The youngest child of Cuban immigrants, Miami native Anthony Rios is proud of his Latin heritage and his parents’ entrepreneurial spirit. He says, “In South Florida, you strongly identify with your Latin roots; I come from a proud Latin family.” (Despite his Cuban roots, Rios doesn’t drink coffee or enjoy cigars. “I make up for that with rum,” he laughs.)
He recalls, “I grew up in an entrepreneurial home, not because it was popular being an entrepreneur, but because it was what was required to make life work.” His father began work in America as a mechanic at Firestone, but opportunities for promotion were limited for Latinos back in the 1960s. So, the family patriarch struck out on his own to open a service garage that he operated for 40 years. Rios’ mother left her waitressing job at a Latin restaurant to help run the garage. “That business put me and other relatives through private school and college, and I think that is a great story of my parents’ perseverance and work ethic,” Rios says with appreciation.
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Tags:
Anthony Rios Free Flight
Rotor Pro Executive Watch
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Jun
24
2024
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Posted by Admin
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“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Mahatma Gandhi
As a result of a confluence of events, I recently found myself reflecting on the concept of serving others. Whether it be family, community, country, God, or even a mere stranger, in my own personal experience, there’s something very fulfilling about helping someone in need.
I never really thought about it, but my entire family has dedicated most of their working lives to service-related careers and efforts. I myself served as a U.S. Marine, then a decade with Fire Rescue, then worked as an EMS helicopter pilot. Heck, I am such a sucker for service, I even serve on the board of my homeowners association. My wife was a math teacher for much of her professional career. Our daughter is a deputy sheriff. As a family we have all served others through missionary work in Haiti and in Central America.
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Tags:
Air Rescue
EMS Helicopters
Law Enforcement Aviation
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
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Jun
17
2024
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Posted by Admin
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There’s a revolution taking place in pilot training, thanks to VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality; also known as mixed reality or MR). Both offer computer-assisted ways to make pilot training safer both on the ground and in flight. In doing so, these technologies make it possible for student pilots to gain relevant skills before they ever go aloft, and to receive training assistance once they are in the cockpit and flying for the very first time.
“Virtual reality or VR replaces the real world with a virtual world,” said Martin Keil, CTO at Reiser Simulation and Training, a German manufacturer of Level D full flight simulators that has added VR to its training portfolio. “augmented reality (AR) combines the virtual world with real world elements, offering the possibility of creating new, highly immersive training environments.”
A Quick Tech Primer
Here’s the rule of thumb for VR versus AR training. VR training is usually done on the ground with the student wearing ‘VR goggles’ (aka headsets) that encase their eyes and cut off the outside world.
To convey realistic moving images to the wearer, “VR goggles contain a light LED screen and two lenses that distort the image so that it appears to be in three dimensions,” said Nacho Navacerrada, sales director at the flight simulation company Entrol. “The sensors located in the VR goggles track the position of the user’s head to coordinate what is being projected, providing the illusion of being immersed in another world.”
In contrast, “AR headsets superimpose computer-generated imagery onto the real world,” Navacerrada said. “For example, pilots can see a procedural flow superimposed on the cockpit’s control surfaces.”
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Categories:
Training
Helicopter Sectors
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Jun
10
2024
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Posted by Admin
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As the quality and cost of flight simulation decreases, the regulatory limitations on its use within the flight training industry remain stagnant. Looking much like it did decades ago, the credits offered on the use of simulation provide very little in the way of aeronautical decision-making (ADM) and focus on simulation versus flight-hour credits on limited aircraft-based maneuvers. Does this maneuver, credit-based simulation model truly capture the capabilities of the flight training simulation available today?
Many years ago, we acquired an FAA-approved flight training device (FTD) for use in our flight school. The acquisition model at the time was purely based upon the hours of flight training credit the FTD would provide back to the customer. Approved maneuvers were inclusive of both VFR and IFR training, however, the IFR training credits far outweighed those of VFR maneuvers. The ability to offset 20 hours of instrument flight training into the FTD was a tremendous savings to the customer, and the training quality was quite good.
My curiosity, though, caused me to seek out additional areas of training where the FTD would thrive, even if no FAA training credit was available. Our staff developed scenarios to include cross-country dual and solo flights, teaching our tour pilots routes and airspace checkpoints, as well as simple local area orientation flights to new pilots and instructor staff. Although we found success in these training events, the real benefit was found during flight instructor training.
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Tags:
Flight Training Devices FTD
Flight Training Simulation
Helicopter Flight Training
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
Training