“Careful!  Easy now!”  The voice of the anxious shop foreman called out as he directed the crane operator loading a Bell 222B onto a flatbed trailer for the start of a long journey from Phoenix, Arizona to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Birds are a severe danger for pilots. Especially when flying at low altitudes with high speed – a profile that is typical for helicopter flights.. What can be done to prevent strikes and to save lives and costs?

Three years ago, I wrote an article entitled “The State of the Used Robinson Helicopter Market.”  At that time, the factory was laying off workers and holding a huge inventory of cancelled orders, and the used market was severely depressed.  Anyone who has lived through a recession knows that the economy is cyclical.  However, at that time, it was very difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As many of you know, I am passionate about safety and unreasonable regulatory and political initiatives, but I thought it might be nice to discuss my other passion — the people that make up this great industry of ours. Besides, if I think about regulations, legislation, politics, and life inside the Beltway too much, my head hurts, my stomach aches, and my brain turns to mush.

A Squirrel, a Moose, and Loss of Control in Helicopter Accidents By Lee Roskop  (IHST team member) Years ago, many kids used to watch the TV cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle.  For those who ...

Super Bowl Sunday, 2008. A day that will go down in infamy. Not so much because the NY Giants beat the New England Patriots 17 - 14. That was a well deserved end to a great season. However, for those who remember, it was during that football game when the owner of the largest helicopter school in the world sent an email to everyone in the organization indicating that Silver State Helicopters was officially shut down.

Eurocopter recently began the U.S. tour of its X3 high-speed hybrid helicopter, which will demonstrate the unique operational capabilities of this advanced transportation system during a month of visits to military facilities and hub locations for civil helicopter operators.

The President of HAI (Helicopter Association International), Matt Zuccaro,  is calling on industry to take action on an aviation provision that has snuck its way into a highway funding bill (S.1813) currently being negotiated by members of the House of Representatives and Senate that threatens both access to airspace and air safety.

Mention maintenance and helicopter in the same sentence and you get another “M” word - more money.  Well okay, make that two “M” words.  However, complying with your maintenance requirements doesn’t have to mean writing a blank check and hoping for the best.

There are hundreds of law enforcement helicopters operating in the US today and most fly traditional law enforcement missions. Naturally, you might be thinking, what is a traditional mission? Some might think it’s to take off from a dolly, fly little circles, patrol a highway, and then land back on the dolly. Well, in a general sense, if you throw in some pretty cool technology like..........

Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) provide life-saving transports for the critically ill or injured. However, the rising number of U.S. HEMS accidents over the past decade is cause for serious questions as to their operational safety. For this reason a national effort is underway to reduce HEMS accidents.

Hi my name is Lyn and I’m an addict. There I said it, I’m an addict. This semi-freeing confession elevates me beyond the stage of denial. Perhaps it’s the first step of many towards curing me of my addiction.

Before you judge me, I’m betting that most of you share my addiction as well. I admit that I love my smart devices. My Droid Razr phone. My iPad2. They are always near. Always keeping me connected to everything I enjoy. My business. My family. My music, photos, books, magazines……..everything.

From managers to maintainers to pilots to crewmembers, tablets and smartphones are rapidly working their way into the hands of the helicopter industry. Although the devices themselves are cool, it’s the even cooler apps designed for them that make us carry our mobile devices with us everywhere we go……including the cockpit.

Assaults on our industry have become interwoven into the very fabric that constitutes our daily activities. Don’t get me wrong, I welcome discussions on relevant issues such as safety and noise issues, and appreciate the opportunity to improve in these areas.

Since 1999, the WFF has provided emergency support services, including financial assistance and immediate and ongoing emotional support, to over 150 families of firefighters seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.  The WFF recognizes pilots and other aviation crews as wildland firefighters when they are involved with fire suppression and management duties.

Night Vision Goggles may conjure up thoughts of elite Special Forces units going into battle in the dead of night, but they also have found a use in nighttime helicopter operations. A number of fire departments and agencies have employed these devices to allow them to attack wildfires at night and to perform difficult night rescues that would be foolhardy otherwise.

As a measure of something’s quality or worth you could safely use longevity as a yardstick.   I am lucky to own and fly a Robinson R-22 that has an early serial number.  N9015V was the 11th R-22 to roll off the assembly line in Torrance, California on January 19, 1980.  What makes this fact special to me is that I had been hired by Frank Robinson in 1979 to work for him as a mechanic. I was fresh out of A&P school and as green a helicopter mechanic as a Wenatchee apple.  Frank had me assigned to work with Dave Akamine who was one of the first mechanics at Robinson Helicopter Company.  Dave would try to keep me out of trouble.

Fire Academy Brings Together Regional Helicopter Community with Unique Training Program
By Lyn Burks

It’s no secret that certain parts of the Midwest U.S. are a hotbed of helicopter activity, and Ohio is no exception. This is especially true when it comes to sectors like EMS, Law Enforcement, and Electronic News Gathering (ENG), where a variety of helicopters, from a variety of operators are literally operating in the back yards of the communities they serve.

When I left the military in pursuit of my first civilian flying job, I assumed Part 135 was a common component on several different Bell 206 models.  My first helicopter job was with a small company that had difficulty making payroll and cut corners on maintenance and training.  My priority after this experience was to seek out a large and stable company that adhered to the regulations and preferably had direct deposit.