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Mar
28
2022
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Posted by Admin
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My dad recently celebrated his 90th birthday. We had a wonderful day reminiscing about all the good times we shared hunting, fishing, and playing ball together. When I was around ten years old, he taught me one profound lesson during a walk on a ridge line. Dad noticed that I was looking at the ground under my feet rather than surveying the landscape. He turned, and said, “Son, you’re not gonna to find a deer under your feet.” His lesson continued as he told me to always look out in front of me, scanning the horizon for minute details such as an ear flickering or the swoosh of a white tail. He stressed the importance of taking notice of things that were horizontal. Since everything in the woods grew vertically something horizontal might just be a deer’s back.
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Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
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Mar
28
2022
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Posted by Admin
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As an EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) certified CRM instructor, I am required to attend an 8-hour class every three years to learn what is new or changed in the thinking of crew resource management. During my last recertification that I attended at Global Air Training in Cheshire, England with 12 other CRM instructors who were similarly recertifying we were told the ‘hot topic’ in the industry was something called Surprise, Startle Effect and Resilience. This topic was brought to our attention because there have been a series of accidents where this phenomenon was determined to be a major factor in the fatal crashes and something we should cover in any future CRM classes we were facilitating.
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My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Feb
21
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Balance is critical. It doesn’t matter if it’s the helicopters we fly and maintain, a person on a tightrope or just managing our everyday life. Maintaining balance is required if we are to continue to progress and minimize our limiting factors. We can take anything to the excess and quickly get out of balance. That’s why it is a good idea to have an accountability partner to help you see things that you may miss seeing yourself. The saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees” is accurate and sometimes briefly stepping away will clear one’s focus.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
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Feb
21
2022
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Randy Rowles
Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
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Feb
21
2022
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Jan
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute
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Jan
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Tags:
My Two Cents Worth
Randy Mains
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
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Jan
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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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?
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Randy Rowles
Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
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Dec
27
2021
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Randy Rowles
Rotorcraft Checkride
Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
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Dec
27
2021
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Posted by Admin
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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.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Maintenance Minute