|
Aug
29
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
Beginning with this issue, our vertical lift industry media company Rotorcraft Pro, will rebrand itself to be Rotor Pro in order to broaden its horizons in an evolving industry.
The word “Rotorcraft” in our current brand has served us well for more than a decade, but the industry is rapidly changing and it’s too narrow a focus when considering aircraft advances such as powered-lift, eVTOL, unmanned, and urban air mobility.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Editor Lyn Burks
Rotorcraft Pro
RotorPro
Categories:
Company Profiles
|
Aug
22
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
One word is frequently repeated amongst Bell leaders about the V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft they are building for the U.S. Army: transformational.
"It is a leap ahead, not a step ahead," said Terry Horner, director of government relations at Bell and a retired Army chief instructor pilot. "We're seeing right now in world events why these new capabilities are important."
Bell is competing against a Sikorsky-Boeing team for the right to build the military's next-gen medium helicopter. The Army is the lead branch on the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program to develop that helicopter. While Bell is fielding its V-280 Valor in the competition, Sikorsky-Boeing is offering its compound Defiant X with a coaxial rotor system and pusher propeller. Both competitors say their prototypes can fly twice as fast and far as the UH-60 Black Hawk they are seeking to replace. The Army is likely to choose the winner this year and wants its new aircraft operational by 2030.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Bell Military Next Gen Helicopter
Defiant X
Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)
Sikorsky-Boeing military next-gen helicopter
V-280 Valor
Categories:
Helicopter Sectors
Opinion-Editorial
|
Aug
16
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
As helicopter owners, pilots, and mechanics we must consistently be advocates for safety and always meet or exceed the standards. Personal safety and prevention of equipment damage are of utmost importance. The number one concern in the aviation business today is the rising cost of insurance. The rapid rise in insurance is directly due to injuries and equipment damaged.
So, how do we mitigate the risk thereby decreasing premiums? Here are some simple and basic measures that will aid your flight and maintenance operations in keeping safety as the top priority.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Aviation Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
|
Aug
08
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
We’ve all been there: an urgent mission to rescue wounded or dying personnel, or have undergone surge operations in a lengthy campaign against high value that taxes personnel and machines. These scenarios place military aircrews and maintenance personnel in potentially hazardous positions of increased risk and challenging conditions. In these cases, the risk is often assumed by our superiors; sometimes they waive the rules altogether. Teams vow to never leave a fallen comrade and fly until the job is finished, or they operate in hazardous conditions because lives are at stake. Maintainers work extended hours with little rest to keep the machines flying. The actual or perceived pressures to complete these missions are very real. In combat, it may be OK to risk an aircraft and crew to save one life. Organizations have mottos such as “So others may live” or use terms such as “no-fail mission.”
[Read More...]
Tags:
Military to Civilian Helicopters
Military to Civilian Transition
Categories:
Career Development
|
Aug
01
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
What is your current position?
I am chief pilot at the Lee County Mosquito Control District (LCMCD). Our team of pilots operate a fleet of both fixed-wing and helicopters that currently consists of two DC-3TPs, two King Air 200s and six Airbus H-125 helicopters. LCMCD is the largest single-county mosquito control agency in the country and we fly a variety of missions from daytime liquid and granular treatments to nighttime ultra-low volume treatments with the use of NVGs.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Lee County Mosquito Control Aviation Unit
Thurbie Botterill
Categories:
Human Interest
|
Jul
25
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
When it comes to developing cleaner, greener propulsion systems for helicopters, the industry’s original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are going green. “Helicopters account for less than 1% of global CO2 emissions but there are still ways that we can reduce that figure,” said Luca Cossetti, an innovative power solutions specialist with Airbus Helicopters. “We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint to get closer to the end goal of net-zero CO2 emissions.”
“Aviation, including the helicopter market, is under substantial pressure to progress its sustainability initiatives with more efficient engines and airframes,” added Nicolas Chabée, vice president of Sales & Marketing (Helicopter) with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC). “Our priorities include designing more efficient engines with reduced fuel consumption and ensuring our customers know that their P&WC engines can fly on up to 50% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from sources such as used cooking oil and algae.”
[Read More...]
Categories:
Regulatory
Helicopter Sectors
|
Jul
18
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
Another aviation team that bolsters the city and its surroundings is the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) Air Support/Search and Rescue Section. Director Steve Morris, says that the unit’s mission is clear: Provide air support to all sections of the department and any concurrent jurisdictions within Clark County. Their law enforcement helicopter operations date back to 1969 when the City of Las Vegas Police purchased and operated a Hughes 300. In 1973, the Las Vegas PD and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office merged and became the unit it is today. In the decades since then the program has flown Hughes 300, MD 500 (C,D,E), and two retired Air Force Bell HH-1H Hueys. Today, the unit flies one Airbus H145 in search and rescue configuration and three MD 530FFs in LE configuration.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Airbus H145 SAR
Churchill ARS 700 georeferenced moving map system
Goodrich hoisting
Helionix
inserting tactical teams
L3 Wescam MX-10 camera/sensor
Las Vegas Metro Police Air Support
law enforcement helicopter operations
MD530 FF LE Configuration
sling loading
synthetic vision cockpit technology
the aircraft and tactical flight officer (TFO)
Categories:
Company Profiles
|
Jul
11
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
“The helicopter industry is a comparatively small industry that almost has a family feel,” says Markus Schmitz. It’s a family that the managing director of Axnes Inc. has wanted to belong to much of his life. Upon graduating from the University of Applied Science at Aachen in his native Germany with an aerospace engineering degree , the 1998 graduate had to make a choice. One road led to his designing fixed-wing airframes. The other road led to Eurocopter in Donauwörth where Schmitz was offered his way to helicopters. Schmitz took the wanderlust path. “I chose Eurocopter because I wanted to work in the helicopter industry and with its customers and see the world,” he says.
Actually, that decision was pretty predetermined since Schmitz was a young boy growing up in the town of Vellmar, near the city of Kassel. His father sold fertilizer and salt internationally and his mother was a homemaker for her family. “My background was a stable one from a small town,” he says. “My interests growing up were in medicine and aviation. Helicopters always fascinated me from seeing them fly overhead as a small boy and I later understood their capabilities in medical emergencies.”
[Read More...]
Tags:
Markus Schmitz Axnes
Rotorcraft Pro
Rotorcraft Pro Executive Watch
Categories:
Human Interest
|
Jul
03
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
There is a unique city in the heart of Europe that is nicknamed the “City of a Hundred Spires.” This magical city allows one to get lostin the labyrinth of its narrow streets in the inspiring old city center and enjoy the breathtaking views while standing on its beloved Charles Bridge. Prague is a romantic, ancient city, but it’s also vibrant, successful, and cosmopolitan.
Yet, the skies of Prague don't just display its amazing church spires, but also contain a great deal of aircraft flying in and out of the airport as Prague is where Bell Textron has offices in Europe located at the Prague Vaclav Havel International Airport (LKPR). It’s where the only Bell owned service facility in Europe is located.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Bell 429 approved facility in Europe
Bell Amsterdam Distribution Center
Bell Helicopter
Bell Helicopter Maintenance Facility Prague
Bell Textron Prague
Rotor Blade UK
Categories:
Company Profiles
|
Jun
27
2022
|
|
Posted by Admin
|
|
Frank Sonnenberg, the author of the book, Listen to Your Conscience: That's Why You Have One wrote, “Exceptional people don't shun tests of their strength and determination -- they relish them.”
It almost seems there’s a cultural movement in some parts of society who want to diminish the idea of exceptionalism. Personally, I hope the movement is not successful because in our industry, we are blessed with many exceptional people and companies that keep driving us all collectively to new heights with respect to safety, technology, and performance.
Without the existence of these exceptional people and companies, we would be relegated to hand flying underpowered helicopters in only VFR conditions using only basic instrumentation . . . and training in them too! Instead, we are seeing exponential technological advancements in vertical lift aircraft that will relegate many old platforms to obsolescence. It’s both a scary and interesting time for those of us living it.
[Read More...]
Tags:
Rotorcraft Pro
Rotorcraft Pro Editor Lyn Burks
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Helicopter Sectors