Author: Admin
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Sep
22
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Everyone has heard about these technologies that promise to reshape our industry. But no one knows exactly how that reshaping will occur. Each step forward depends on a multitude of factors, including engineering breakthroughs, federal and state regulations, commercial contracts, government budgets, and even consumer demand.
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AUVSI
Uncrewed
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Sep
22
2023
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Posted by Admin
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I knew at age 16 I wanted to fly when I saw my first medical helicopter pick up a trauma patient in front of me. I began my career in air medicine at the ripe old age of 24 as a flight nurse at Lifeline in Rockford, Illinois. It was several years later that safety took on a new meaning when I later flew for AirLife-Denver in Colorado, and our program experienced a fatal crash that rocked me to my core. I was afforded the resources to heal and saw meaningful industry-wide changes develop over time. I still applaud AirLife’s leadership who first supported their people and then mined for lessons learned, sharing them broadly to enhance safety for all. When I became their le
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Safety First
VAST
Categories:
Safety First
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Sep
22
2023
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Posted by Admin
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In recent months, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has joined forces with the Veterans Administration (VA) in a collaborative effort to identify pilots who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, have failed to accurately disclose receiving disability benefits.
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Mil2Civ
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Aug
28
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Many facets of our lives, both personal and professional, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. One significant entity within the aviation industry, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), took great strides in protecting their staff by providing a path for most FAA employees to work from home. During the pandemic, connecting with an FAA staff member once the communication process was developed and released seemed to be simple and functional. As an operator, we were pleasantly surprised by the expeditious email and phone call returns that were occurring in this new FAA work-from-home world, but this was all about to change.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Aug
28
2023
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Posted by Admin
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What we often think will be "easy" quite often turns complicated. This seems to hold true for those seeking an "add-on" rating, such as the pilot with an airplane private pilot certificate who desires to add a rotorcraft-helicopter rating to their pilot certificate. These pilots may have started their primary training in a basic fixed-wing trainer, earned their certificate, and decided to move on to helicopters for pleasure or career aspirations.
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Matt Johnson
Rotorcraft Checkride
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Rotorcraft Checkride
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Aug
28
2023
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Posted by Admin
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“The dreaded “on call”, and “the duty” were just a couple of terms of endearment that we used to describe being “on call” for aircraft maintenance. There were other names with more colorful adjectives that I will not mention here. For certain, in jobs like EMS, Fire/Rescue and Law Enforcement being “on call” is just part of the gig. “On call” could be most frustrating for the mechanic but it also could be very rewarding. Let’s take a quick look from both prospectives.
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Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
On Call
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Maintenance Minute
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Jul
27
2023
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Posted by Admin
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One dark night on the San Diego coast, my crew was launched for LE to intercept a drug-laden “panga” en route from Mexico to the U.S. We got the intel from our command center and launched into the blackness to find our panga. As we headed west over the Pacific Ocean with our radar scanning the surface of the water and our night vision goggles tuned up, we encountered declining ceilings at 1,000 feet AWL. We continued our search pattern at 700 feet and as the evening got cooler, the ceilings got lower. When we went down to 500 feet AWL, we discussed our hard deck of 200 feet AWL and termination of the search. We went down to 300 feet and finally at 200 feet we reached our limit and returned to base. The risk to my crew in declining ceilings was not worth the gain of finding the drug runner.
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Dave McCarthy
Safety First
VAST
Categories:
Safety First
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Jul
27
2023
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Posted by Admin
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It was just before bedtime. You know that moment when you know that you should make your way to bed because if you don’t go now, you will be on the couch or slumped over in a chair for the rest of the night. I was at that point when my cell phone began to scream like a red-tailed hawk looking for his next meal. My response was something like, “Oh no, not now.” Sure enough, it was the night pilot and calling that late meant there was a problem with the helicopter.
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Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
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Jul
24
2023
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Posted by Admin
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Life after leaving the military can be full of surprises for veterans. After years of working in a highly structured environment with clear-cut goals and expectations, adjusting to the world outside of service can be daunting. One of the most significant differences between military life and the civilian sector is the pace at which work and life move.
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Marc Stanley
Mil2Civ
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Jun
26
2023
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Posted by Admin
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For many of us, the daily grind of life presents a real struggle. Not because it’s hot outside or the work we do is exhausting. It’s because of battles being fought within us outside of the public eye. For some, these battles started many years ago and continue to influence day-to-day behaviors and thoughts. People are affected by events and life experiences and react to them in different ways. I believe that you can only truly understand someone when you know and understand their past.
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Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth