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Oct
09
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Like the company she founded, Jan Smith is opportunistic. For example, Smith’s corporation S3 Inc. (AKA “S-cubed”) stands for System Studies and Simulation, but it evolved and grew greatly from a software developer startup that began in Smith’s Alabama house with only three employees (Smith first hired “me, myself, and I”) to a Huntsville-based corporation that follows the money to where it leads and now wholly owns three subsidiaries: Kachemak Bay Flying Services (KBFS), Global Logistics Support Services (GLSS), and S3 International Inc. (S3I).
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Human Interest
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Oct
02
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Question for helicopter pilots: Why not fly higher?
Every few years, I use this platform to push for change. One of my pet peeves and favorite topics to kick around involves the altitudes at which we fly our helicopters.
The fiction writer, Tamara Cohen, once wrote: “People don't change. The world carries on spinning inexorably around but people don't spin with it. They dig their heels into the shifting sand and cling on for dear life.”
I feel like we as an industry are sometimes incapable of changing our behavior. We continue to do the same things over and over that cause us problems. This really applies to helicopter altitudes. I travel monthly to South Florida to fly an AW109E as a contract helicopter pilot. I stay at the home of a family member. Almost daily, helicopters fly over the house at 500 feet or below. The culprits range from light single-engine training helicopters to medium-twin engine IFR helicopters. Because I am a helicopter pilot, many of the neighbors ask me, “Do they have to fly over us that low?” My answer is always a resounding NO!
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Categories:
Safety
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Oct
01
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Our U.S. helicopter community just went through the worst short-term surge in fatal accidents we’ve experienced within the past six years. With four fatal accidents within a 10-day span, the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team feels that there is a benefit to informing our broader community of this information. We also feel that it is appropriate timing for some straightforward reminders that can contribute to safe flying.
We would appreciate your help in communicating this important message to our community. We invite you to tailor it accordingly as you think would be most effective.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Safety
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Sep
24
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Helicopters are characterized by a high number of rotating parts. These include the main rotor, the tail rotor, the engines, the transmission shafts, etc. Other rotating and non-rotating parts such as pumps, bearings, dampers, and the landing gear system can also induce vibrations. These are not always easy to identify and correct. Historically there have even been cases of cells that after being put into service had to be discarded because of a tendency to give rise to high frequency vibrations that could not be corrected. Regardless of origins, a high level of vibration is a main obstacle to comfort and therefore also to the commercial placement of a helicopter. Since vibrations are in most cases related to the action of the rotors, the dynamic balancing of rotors and shaft is a very critical helicopter maintenance operation.
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Sep
17
2018
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Posted by Admin
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You’re about to be that guy—that guy that gets his first civilian flying job and can’t stop talking about how he used to do things in the military. Look, we get it; your military flying is the only gauge you have to measure your new civilian flying job. I’m here to tell you—it’s grating to hear the new guy prattle on about how he used to do things in the military.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Career Development
Helicopter Sectors
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Sep
10
2018
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Posted by Admin
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In aviation, there are some topics that never seem to remain settled. For instance, does the responsibility for the inspection and maintenance of an aircraft fall to the owner/operator or the mechanic? Simple. The owner or operator.
However, this hierarchy still gets twisted around occasionally. The reasons vary on both sides of the fence. They range from simple misinformation or misinterpretation of the FARs to intentional motives in pursuit of an external agenda.
Follow along as we delve into the available guidance and provide a balanced, one-stop-shop approach to who’s in charge of maintaining an aircraft.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Regulatory
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Sep
04
2018
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am the director of maintenance for Haverfield Aviation in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Haverfield operates 23 MD-500 D and E models, one Garlick UH-1H, and one Delta Enterprises UH-60 A model Blackhawk. Haverfield Aviation is an innovative operator that utilizes its fleet to service the transmission power grid throughout the United States. Haverfield offers comprehensive visual inspections, demolition and construction, maintenance, OPGW support, aerial tree trimming, helicopter lift services, FLIR, and drone services.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Human Interest
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Aug
27
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Helicopter communications and flight tracking are becoming more reliable, consistent, and affordable; thanks to a multi-platform (cellular/radio/satellite) approach being taken by manufacturers and service providers alike. Here’s a sampling of what’s available today to keep helicopter pilots and their ground stations connected and constantly informed.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Company Profiles
Helicopter Sectors
Training
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Aug
20
2018
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Posted by Admin
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If the key to Success City is preparing oneself to take advantage of opportunities, then Kaman’s Senior Director of Business Development Roger Wassmuth has worn that master key to a nub. “Taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves on my path pretty much got me to where I am today. I enjoyed most of the path that I took,” he circumspectly says.
The path has been no leisurely stroll down a meandering way, rather Wassmuth’s career path ascended to his senior position beginning at a fast and purposeful pace. The Columbus, Ohio, native—and proud Ohio State University Buckeyes fan—entered the military in 1978 directly out of high school, where he served as a Navy maintenance technician. He even honed his maintenance skills earlier as a boy in his father’s full-service gas station. (You may remember those now extinct establishments: service attendants wore ties, and usually a smile, as they checked your oil, belts, battery, and tires while topping off your tank.) The boy started out pulling weeds on the station’s lot and eventually worked his way up to performing repairs, tune-ups, and oil changes.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Company Profiles
Human Interest
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Aug
13
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Even though I had arrived one and a half days earlier in Sesto Calende, Italy, I found myself in culture shock and jet lagged. On my first day in the Leonardo Training Academy classroom, we jumped right into the aircraft specifications and limitations at a swift pace after a short introduction by our ground school instructor Paolo Fracchia and the issuance of our Microsoft tablet and training materials.
When I realized the training bus was leaving the station and I better get on board and start taking notes, it took my brain at least 30 minutes to catch up. Then at the end of the first day, we were informed that at the conclusion of ground training there would be a 100-question closed-book exam, proctored by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). We would have to correctly answer 75 percent of the questions to continue training. My visions of gallivanting around Italy with my colleagues, drinking beer every night and dining on pasta, evaporated in an instant.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Training