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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
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Oct
12
2015
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Posted by Admin
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In October 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released new regulations related to the use of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) in the US National Airspace System. Inclusive of these newly minted FARs was guidance on NVG pilot training and certification contained within FAR Part 61. Additionally, specific criteria was established to be an NVG Instructor. Although the regulation is clear as to the specific eligibility requirements to be an NVG Instructor, the guidance to provide an NVG instructor the required endorsement per FAR 61.195(k)(7) is non-existent. Since the release of these new regulations in 2009, FAA personnel have struggled to find unity among their colleagues on this issue.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
Regulatory
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Oct
05
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Has anyone ever said to you, “But we’ve always done it this way”? It’s a complacency trap that once held the potential for dire consequences for five of us employed as HEMS pilots for the king of Saudi Arabia.
I was new to the organization, standing on the bridge of the king’s yacht with the chief pilot. We were both looking half a mile away through binoculars as he explained the approach to the hospital helipad. “You’ll fly to the waypoint listed “WALL” in the GPS, which is the wall at the edge of the palace grounds. Once you reach it, you’ll make a left 90-degree dogleg turn, keeping those five construction cranes on your right while staying well clear of that big unlit stadium on your left. See it?”
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Categories:
Training
Safety
Human Interest
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Sep
28
2015
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Posted by Admin
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What is your current position?
Being the owner of a small business, I ask myself that question every day! My official title is chief pilot and CEO of Raven Helicopters LLC in San Diego. That means that my responsibilities range from washing the helicopter and scheduling reservations for charters to sitting in the middle of Mexico watching motorcycles and trucks race across the desert, and filling out all the fun paperwork and administrative duties that come with owning a business. I never know what I will be doing on any given day. Obviously my favorite days are when I just get to fly.
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Categories:
Human Interest
Career Development
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Sep
21
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Myth 1: Enhanced vision systems (EVS) have only one application.
Many aircraft owners or operators believe that EVS only applies to operations during periods of darkness. However, enhanced vision systems provide increased situational awareness during day, night, NVG, IFR, firefighting, aerial application, EMS, SAR, ALE, and ISR flight operations. Most flight operations occur during periods of reduced visibility that are associated with obscurations such as fog, smoke, haze, dust, snow, precipitation, or low levels of illumination. All of these can be contributing factors when it comes to possible IIMC or CFIT incidents. EVS helps in mitigating these factors by allowing pilots to see clearly.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
Safety
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Sep
14
2015
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Posted by Admin
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If you are a helicopter pilot trained by the U.S. military, you have flown a Bell Helicopter. No other helicopter manufacturer played such a crucial, in-depth role in training military helicopter pilots. For nearly 70 years, Bell Helicopter (formerly Bell Aircraft Company) has supported the U.S. vertical-lift warfighter with a safe, efficient, and predictable training fleet. To this day, every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces uses a Bell helicopter as their primary helicopter-training platform.
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Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Helicopter Sectors
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Sep
07
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Throughout the training life cycle of a student pilot, the instructor will be required to provide endorsements in the student’s training record. These endorsements will include confirmation of citizenship, preparedness to take a knowledge exam, and most importantly, the final confirmation that a student is prepared to sit before the FAA for a practical examination toward airman certification. It sounds simple enough, however endorsements remain a weak link among many flight instructors.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Career Development
Training
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Sep
01
2015
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Posted by Admin
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Where did you get your start flying commercially?
After the Alaskan summer tour season was over with TEMSCO, I decided to continue my aviation endeavor at Precision Aviation located in Newberg, Oregon, flying a Schweizer 269C. There is where I achieved my additional ratings: fixed-wing add-on to my helicopter private, commercial helicopter, instrument airplane and helicopter, and helicopter CFI. I continued to instruct at Precision for a couple of years to build my hours and then moved straight into the world of flying a heavy helicopter as second in command (SIC) in a copilot position. I quickly concluded that a heavy helicopter is where my heart belongs. Not only do I love flying utility in the “big iron,” I also enjoy the camaraderie that comes out of working with so many different people from such diverse backgrounds. In this industry we have a bond because of our shared goals and experiences. You don’t necessarily have to be best friends with everyone in the group to know you have their support or that you are there to support someone else.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Company Profiles
Training
Helicopter Sectors
Human Interest
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Aug
24
2015
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Posted by Admin
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If I were to answer the question as to why I love the helicopter industry so much, I would have to say it’s because of the quirky characters I’ve met and worked with over the years. Characters that immediately come to mind are guys like “Lofty” because of his extraordinary height, “Bambi” because of his doe-brown eyes, a Brit we called “Captain Kleenex” because he had a sinus condition that caused him to leave tissues strewn about all over the cockpit, “Too Tall McCall” because he was short, and an Australian we all called “Trackless” because he was even shorter than Two Tall. (In fact, he was much shorter because his legs were so short his butt would drag behind him and wipe out his tracks, hence the name.) There was also Robert “Don’t call me Bob” because that’s how he introduced himself, “Squeaky Cheeks” because he had an odd walk, a New Zealander we called “Sumo” because he resembled a Sumo Wrestler, a Brit we called “Crusher” because he landed on a load handler hooking up an underslung load on a wellhead in the oil field and “slightly” crushed him.
[Read More...]
Categories:
Human Interest
Training
Helicopter Sectors