Jen Boyer, Author at Helicopter Association International

HAI Member Spotlight: Digital AirWare, North Carolina, USA

Jen Boyer — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 10:00:04 +0000

A look at an HAI member up close and personal. Digital AirWare of Charlotte, North Carolina, began in 2007 because of one man’s ingenuity. While working as an A&P and inspection-authorized aviation mechanic, US Marine veteran Joaquin Demoreta-Braza developed an extensive Excel spreadsheet to better track his customers’ maintenance requirements. After studying his friend’s program, Brad Goodman suggested they replace the spreadsheet with a Web-based program they would build themselves. Later, in 2011, Michael Demoreta-Braza joined the team to develop the operations side of the business and Digital AirWare took off, acquiring its first law enforcement agency customer, the San Antonio Police Department, not long afterward. The company has since grown to become a premier Web-based aviation management system for multiple operators, including many in the airborne law enforcement community. Airworthiness and Operational Status at a Glance Using a highly visually based system, Digital AirWare literally gives users a clear picture of the status of the aircraft, equipment, pilot, training, and safety status at a glance. For aircraft, each customer’s dashboard includes an image and tail number of each aircraft, next to a traffic signal icon that indicates green for airworthy, yellow for upcoming items needing attention soon, or red (more…)

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HAI@Work webinar, Jul. 8: Fatigue and Maintenance Duty Cycle Management

Jen Boyer — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 10:00:25 +0000

Panelists to share best practices for prevention, ramifications of poor management. Fatigue is a significant issue in the rotorcraft industry, and maintenance personnel face a particular risk for the problem due to nighttime and rotating shift work, long and unregulated duty times, sleep disruption, and cumulative sleep deficits. Fatigued technicians can experience impaired judgment, difficulty focusing, memory lapses, lowered moods and motivation, and other performance limitations. The result can be mistakes and oversights that contribute to devastating accidents. Fortunately, a strong maintenance management mindset paired with good awareness and team communications can combat fatigue and vastly increase overall maintenance safety. Join us for the Jul. 8 HAI@Work webinar as members of the HAI Safety Working Group share their firsthand insight into how maintenance management can take a proactive approach to avoid fatigue within their operations. They’ll discuss the issue from three vantage points: management’s perspective, the technician’s point of view, and the legal consequences of failing to take steps to prevent fatigue. Our panelists for the webinar will be: Tarek Loutfy, Senior Operations and Flight Safety Manager, Flight Test Operation, GE Aviation Duke Puharich, Safety Director, Siller Helicopters Robert Lakind, Aviation Attorney, Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein & Blader In this webinar (more…)

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HAI Member Spotlight: Wilson Construction, Oregon, USA

Jen Boyer — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 12:45:43 +0000

A look at an HAI member up close and personal. Wilson Construction Co. of Canby, Ore., is a full-service utility construction company specializing in the design and construction of electric utility infrastructure for power providers. One of the region’s largest privately held companies of its kind, Wilson’s work includes designing, building, and repairing overhead and underground transmission and distribution transmission infrastructure. Its teams also engineer, drill, and perform grading for substation and switchyard construction. The company has performed extensive work across the United States as well as Canada, American Samoa, and Indonesia. Today, its locations in Canby and Woodburn, Oregon; Spokane, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; and Sacramento and Corona, California, support Wilson Construction’s expansive operations. Wilson’s History Matt O. Wilson founded the company almost 70 years ago in Troutdale, Oregon, installing power lines for the federal Rural Electrification Administration, which first brought electricity to farms in Oregon and Washington. He taught his son, Don Wilson, the current president of the company, that carefully selected and trained personnel, adaptability, and a desire to embrace the best technology for the job are essential building blocks to success. Recognizing helicopters’ vital position as a preferred workhorse in utility operations, the company purchased and today (more…)

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HAI@Work webinar, Jul. 1: Salute to Excellence Humanitarian Service honorees, plus preparing for the 2021 fire season

Jen Boyer — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:00:06 +0000

With record high temperatures and a historic drought, the industry is preparing for a fire season like no other. Throughout the night of Sep. 5, 2020, members of the California National Guard (Cal Guard) 40th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) rescued 242 people and numerous pets from the uncontained Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest northeast of Fresno. In the end, the soldiers described the experience as much worse than flying in combat. Labor Day vacationers that day were cornered by the blaze, huddled on a beach and in the forest’s Mammoth Pool Reservoir, suffering from burns, broken bones, and difficulty breathing due to smoke inhalation. With a UH-60 Black Hawk and a CH-47 Chinook, the 40th CAB flew three harrowing missions each that night to bring the people to safety, earning the team the 2021 HAI Salute to Excellence Humanitarian Service Award. Hear from the team itself at the Jul. 1 HAI@Work webinar, where members of the 40th CAB will tell their heroic story and discuss the growing dire conditions that could increase the need for more such rescues this year. They’ll then join panelists from Erickson and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to (more…)

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HAI Member Spotlight: Helidosa Aviation Group, Dominican Republic

Jen Boyer — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:15 +0000

A look at an HAI member up close and personal. In 1992, there were no multiservice helicopter operators in the Dominican Republic. Helidosa Aviation Group’s founders set out to change that situation, envisioning the use of helicopters for a variety of operations previously unavailable in the country, including transportation, entertainment, charter flights, and tourist sightseeing. Now, almost 30 years after it opened, Helidosa is the Dominican Republic’s premier full-service aviation company. Headquartered in Santo Domingo, the operator provides charter, air ambulance, and helicopter tour services using 23 helicopters and 13 fixed-wing aircraft. The former group includes Bell 206, 212, 407, 429, and 430 aircraft as well as Airbus EC135 and Robinson R66 helicopters. Geographic Range Helidosa’s charter and medical transportation services support the Caribbean (including French territories), Central and South America, Europe, and the eastern United States. The company uses helicopters for local and direct service and airplanes for longer-distance transportation. Helicopter charters are popular for quick trips throughout the Dominican Republic, from crowded city centers to the airport and between towns. Airplane charters, meanwhile, are popular throughout the Caribbean and beyond. Air Medical Services Helidosa is the only company in the Dominican Republic with full advanced life support aircraft (more…)

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HAI@Work webinar, Jun. 24: How to fly neighborly in your R44

Jen Boyer — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 10:00:18 +0000

HAI Fly Neighborly / Environmental Working Group member shares tips for reducing helicopter noise, maintaining positive community relations. Local, state, and even federal legislation is beginning to limit helicopter operations as a direct result of community noise complaints. When we voluntarily choose routes, power settings, maneuvers, and flying styles to reduce our noise footprint, we can reduce the cause of these complaints. What better group to set an example than those operating one of the world’s most popular helicopters—the Robinson R44? Indeed, R44 pilots and operators have the power today to protect the entire helicopter industry’s ability to fly in the future. HAI Fly Neighborly/Environmental Working Group member Eric Jacobs will explain how at this week’s HAI@Work webinar, on Jun. 24. In addition to covering the basic tenets of the FAA’s Fly Neighborly Noise Abatement Training program, Jacobs will share valuable tips and insights about how to mitigate helicopter noise, including specific guidance on how to apply these tactics when operating the heavily flown R44. In this webinar you’ll learn: What noise abatement is Ways to reduce your noise footprint in an R44 How Fly Neighborly training helps improve community relations The potential fallout when pilots don’t mitigate helicopter noise (more…)

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HAI Member Spotlight: Liquid Measurement Systems, Vermont, USA

Jen Boyer — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 10:00:05 +0000

Photo above: iStock/Lo-So-Ma A look at an HAI member up close and personal. Liquid Measurement Systems (LMS) of Georgia, Vermont, provides fuel-management and -gauging systems for rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft for both the commercial and military sectors. The company designs, certifies, and makes electromechanical systems and components with light weight, safety, accuracy, and value in mind. The manufacturer is also innovating and leveraging its expertise to enter the growing hybrid-electric and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market sectors. Products and Services LMS’s products include carbon composite fuel probes, digital fuel-quantity indicators, signal conditioners, and external-refuel preselect panels. The company also works with its clients to design and manufacture custom solutions for individual customer needs, including supporting prototype designs. Operating from its commitment to safety, quality, accuracy, and innovation, LMS credits its success to its collaborative approach with customers. The company works closely with clients as early as possible in requirements development to produce superior system designs and encourage innovative approaches to complex challenges. The result, LMS says, is high-quality solutions on budget and on schedule. Backed by a team of engineering, assembly, quality assurance, and support experts, LMS serves some of the world’s largest and most innovative OEMs and tier 1 (more…)

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HAI@Work webinar, Jun. 17: What the NTSB Most Wanted List Means to You

Jen Boyer — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 10:11:29 +0000

Image above: Mark Bennett NTSB members to share how helicopter accidents inspired the two aviation safety improvements on the 2021–2022 list. For years, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its biennial Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements, a set of recommendations that addresses the most egregious accidents. For 2021–2022, the list includes only two aviation items, both directly affecting helicopters: one calls for requiring safety management systems (SMS) in all revenue passenger-carrying aviation operations; the other, for installing crash-resistant recorders and establishing flight data monitoring programs. What led to these recommendations? How will they affect rotorcraft operations across all sectors of our industry? What are the benefits? The potential issues? We’ll explore these questions and others during the Jun. 17 HAI@Work webinar, at 4 pm eastern (UTC-4). Two NTSB members will present the board’s rationale for making the recommendations, and afterward, HAI President and CEO Jim Viola will conduct a Q&A between the panelists and webinar attendees. Our speakers for the webinar: Bruce Landsberg, Vice Chair, NTSB Michael Graham, Board Member, NTSB. In this webinar you’ll learn: What’s implied in the two NTSB recommendations Which accidents led to their creation The goals for each recommendation What (more…)

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HAI Member Spotlight: Macro-Blue, California

Jen Boyer — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 10:00:44 +0000

A look at an HAI member up close and personal. Moorpark, Calif.–based Macro-Blue produces tactical displays for law enforcement aerial surveillance. Engineered to optimize output from infrared sensors, EO (electro-optical) cameras, and moving map systems, the displays are designed to deliver clear images in all conditions, including direct sunlight, night, and night-vision goggles (NVG) operations. Macro-Blue’s latest series of displays, the MB-Q, features an advanced graphics-processor platform intended to bring superior intelligence to passively displayed camera or mapping-system videos. The displays transmit four high-definition (HD) video signals simultaneously, providing users a combination of up to four videos on a single screen. The displays support HD-camera and mapping systems as well as plug-in sensors such as tail-boom, hoist, or skid cameras. The manufacturer also makes an analog 1:4 composite video distribution amplifier and an SDI (serial digital interface) 3G reclocking 1:4 splitter to support its displays. MB-Q Series Macro-Blue’s MB-Q Series tactical displays come in a wide variety of sizes and orientations to fit any aircraft configuration. Options include touchscreen and dual-mode NVISs (night-vision imaging systems) models and remote-mount military-style rotary knob controllers and push-button controllers with rotary brightness knobs. Individually tested and qualified, each MB-Q display panel is issued a (more…)

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HAI Member Spotlight: SkyQuest Aviation, Arizona, USA

Jen Boyer — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 10:00:54 +0000

A look at an HAI member up close and personal. A Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business as designated by the US Small Business Administration, SkyQuest Aviation (SQA) is an aviation services provider delivering overall program management, systems integration, aviation maintenance and flight operations, quality assurance, quality control, personnel qualifications management, and aviation environmental health and safety management. For more than 20 years, the Glendale, Arizona–based company has supported a wide variety of US Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security contracts in and outside the contiguous United States. SQA supports rotary-wing, tilt-rotor, and fixed-wing aircraft. Services include aviation support, engineering and training, and logistics, each with a focus on quality, safety, analysis, and reliability. Aviation Support SQA’s aviation support services comprise maintenance, flight and ground operations, flight testing, ground handling/servicing, systems modification, equipment corrosion control, ground support equipment/vehicle overhaul, personnel training and qualifying, and logistical services critical to safe and reliable aircraft operations anywhere in the world. Engineering and Training Services The company’s engineering services incorporate repair analysis, field and air support, and electrical and mechanical software modification. Training services include professional training programs for flight, maintenance, tactical missions, and specialized focuses. Logistics When (more…)

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