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Author: Admin




Feb
21
2022

IIMC | Darwin’s Tangled Web

Posted by Admin

Too often we hear of a family on a helicopter departing with a loved one at the controls. Somewhere along the route, they encounter poor weather conditions. A decision to press on into the deteriorating weather conditions is made. The flight ends with a family perishing in what has become a predictable outcome.  [Read More...]



Tags: Randy Rowles Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories: categoryRotorcraft Checkride



Feb
21
2022

Dying to Please—Again

Posted by Admin

All parents reach a point where they eventually have to trust they have done all they can in teaching their kids right and wrong and what’s safe and unsafe. In the 10-plus years I have been writing this column for Rotorcraft Pro magazine, I have felt like a parent offering advice, guidance, and tools I gained from over a half-century of aviation experience to help my readers bring themselves and their passengers home safely at the end of each flight.   [Read More...]



Tags: My Two Cents Worth Randy Mains
Categories: categoryMy Two Cents Worth



Jan
24
2022

Maintenance Minute - January 2022

Posted by Admin

The year 2021 was a tough year but we made it. Covid diagnosis and recovery, family health issues, a crazy economy, and low staff due to a myriad of reasons are just a few of the challenges we faced. It appears adversity was the only constant during this past year. It was that way for most of us but as a people, a family, a team we just leaned forward and kept marching. [Read More...]



Tags: Maintenance Minute Mark Tyler
Categories: categoryMaintenance Minute



Jan
24
2022

CRM WORKS Reach Air Medical Services

Posted by Admin

I often wish a bell would ring when an accident or incident is prevented when crew resource management, CRM, is practiced.  On occasion, however, a bell does ring for me when people send me a personal CRM story or recall an incident they heard about.  They usually let me know via email or Linkedin or in this recent case my friend, Joe Mattern, sent me a direct message on Facebook informing me of an event where CRM most likely saved the lives of all on board their air medical helicopter that night. [Read More...]



Tags: My Two Cents Worth Randy Mains
Categories: categoryMy Two Cents Worth



Jan
24
2022

Traffic Patterns…Clear Left, Center, and Right!

Posted by Admin

I’ve found that most if not all new helicopter pilots have been taught to look outside when making turns, at least that’s what they want us to believe by the callouts they’re taught in training. It appears instructors are teaching to verbally state that your clear to the left, center, and right of the aircraft before making turns, but are they really completing the task? [Read More...]



Tags: Randy Rowles Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories: categoryRotorcraft Checkride



Dec
27
2021

When Phones Fly!

Posted by Admin

Recently, I was conducting an FAA Helicopter Instrument Rating practical test in a Robinson R22 aircraft. To follow along with the applicant during the flight, I often use a commercially available navigation app on my smartphone to follow along for my own situational awareness. The fact this action is so commonplace in our lives can cause momentary complacency on properly securing the device for flight.  [Read More...]



Tags: Randy Rowles Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories: categoryRotorcraft Checkride



Dec
27
2021

Aircraft Mechanics Create Ripples

Posted by Admin

Once I attended the funeral of a man I didn’t know. His name was William, but everyone who knew him well just called him Will.  I was there because Will’s son was my friend and at the time was my co-worker. As everyone sat quietly respectful and listened, one friend after another spoke of Will and what he meant to so many people.  I remember thinking this man was only four years older than I am and died way too soon. [Read More...]



Tags: Maintenance Minute Mark Tyler
Categories: categoryMaintenance Minute



Dec
27
2021

Fatigue a Stealthy Killer

Posted by Admin

Have you ever been so tired flying at night or early morning that, thinking back on it, you could not remember the takeoff? As an air medical pilot in the early days in Houston and San Diego, I can raise my hand and say, “I have.” And why was that? The answer: Fatigue. [Read More...]



Tags: My Two Cents Worth Randy Mains
Categories: categoryMy Two Cents Worth



Nov
29
2021

Times Change

Posted by Admin

“Times change.” I’ve heard that saying all my life. “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome” is the unofficial mantra of the U.S. Marine Corps. When I maintained an S76C+ in a former position, our mantra was, “We’re fluid because flexible is too rigid”. The ability to adapt in any situation is crucial. A paradigm shift can sometimes be the only obstacle between success and failure.  [Read More...]



Tags: Maintenance Minute Mark Tyler
Categories: categoryMaintenance Minute



Nov
29
2021

The SCHELL Model

Posted by Admin

File this month’s blog as ‘nice to know’ information but not necessarily critical to flight safety.  I think I’m correct in assuming that most of us in aviation have heard of Professor James Reason’s Swiss Cheese model of accident causation sometimes called the "cumulative act effect.”  But have you ever heard of the SHELL model developed much earlier?  I hadn’t heard of the SHELL model until I attended a 5-day CRM Instructor’s training course at Global Air Training in Cheshire, England. Global Air Training is an institution that has been training airline flight, cabin and all manner of aviation personnel for over 25 years to become certified CRM Instructors. [Read More...]



Tags: My Two Cents Worth Randy Mains
Categories: categoryMy Two Cents Worth


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