Articles for category My Two Cents Worth
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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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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Apr
20
2023
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Posted by Admin
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A key concept in the development of early relationships is finding common ground; elements within each of our lives where we share interest and experience. It is through these shared perspectives that we gain trust and confidence that our communications with each other have meaning and understanding. At times, identifying common ground can seem like an impossible task. As the vertical lift industry becomes more diverse, the people, aircraft, and even operating methodologies look very different; however, the importance of working together has never been more critical than it is today.
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My 2 Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Feb
27
2023
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Posted by Admin
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The general aviation industry is hemorrhaging pilots to the airlines, and it doesn’t appear that this practice will slow soon. For decades, helicopter pilots were not a targeted market for the airline industry, but times have changed. Qualified and highly skilled helicopter pilots have their own path to airline selection from both military and civilian backgrounds. This situation has placed a strain on the helicopter industry to obtain and retain qualified aviation management personnel.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Rowles
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Nov
28
2022
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Posted by Admin
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When I came back to North America after nearly 30-years of flying overseas, my main goal was to try to put an end of what was in my mind an unacceptable helicopter accident rate in the USA, specifically, in the HAA industry. While flying abroad, I witness a new paradigm, a much safer way to operate that if adopted in the USA would undoubtedly significantly lower the accident rate.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
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My Two Cents Worth
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Oct
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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I am in awe of aviation mechanics. I have always admired their ability to fix complex and even not-so-complex machines by wading through, what are to me, confusing-to-understand thick, cumbersome maintenance manuals.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Sep
26
2022
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Posted by Admin
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I very nearly lost my life in a training accident while serving as a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam but my training to expect the unexpected saved my life and the instructor flying with me. I’d been ‘in country’ for three months when my instructor nearly killed us. I was taking my check ride to become an aircraft commander in the Bell 205 Huey. Imagine the irony of losing your life while training to save your life in an emergency only to die training for it. It seemed nuts. It also sounds like a line out of the book Catch-22.
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My 2 Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Aug
26
2022
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Posted by Admin
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A friend of mine recently sent me a copy of a letter addressed to all copilots at American Airways dated 25 October 1930.
When I read it, I realized how far we’ve come in 92 years in the crew resource management world. In fact, quite a lot of what I read, I found shamelessly politically incorrect when compared to today’s thinking in our aviation world.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Jul
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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The title of this blog should be “Know your autopilot.” As an ATP examiner having tested and examined pilots from over twenty countries, I have seen my share of pilots miss-handle the autopilot both in the aircraft and in the Level-D flight simulator and get themselves into trouble. What I observed in most cases was the pilot flying would ‘punch off’ the autopilot just when they needed it most, mainly because they were not certain what the autopilot was doing. Whenever they hit the autopilot disconnect button, I called it the “I’m going to kill myself switch” and watch the fun begin.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Jun
26
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Let me pass along to you an important tip: Listen to a pilot you are replacing; if a pilot quits a job you’ve just accepted and tells you, “Hey man, the machine’s unsafe,” or “This is an unsafe operation.” Believe them.
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Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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May
19
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Hello Randy, quick question if I may. I’m formerly the Director of Safety at MercyFlight in Central NY (Rochester/Syracuse), now I’m doing my Multi-Commercial fixed wing and CFI’s in Daytona Beach. My old program is going to be replacing 4 legacy BK-117's with new single engine IFR Leonardo 119's. They will be phasing in the 4 new ships over a year to 18 months. Is there a standard for when new platform training should occur so it isn't too far away from delivery ? The concern is having crew take the training and have too much time pass. It's common sense to do it close to delivery, just curious if there were any best practice documents, thesis, etc. that may have addressed the question.
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Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth