The concept is simple. The solution is elegant. And the benefits are huge.

The idea of monitoring a helicopter’s dynamic components to determine the operational health of an aircraft has been around for decades.

But the complexity, high cost and weight of early-generation health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) limited its use to large military and commercial helicopters.

That changed when Foresight MX, an all-in-one HUMS solution, was launched by GPMS International, a Waterbury, Vermont-based company.

Leveraging technological advances in computing power, new algorithms, and the cloud, GPMS created a next-generation HUMS that provides an unprecedented depth of operational knowledge paired with an easy-to-use experience.

“It’s monitoring all the dynamic components — the gearboxes, engines, bearings, drive shafts — basically, if anything moves in the aircraft, we can measure it,” said Ronnie Ries, vice president of marketing for GPMS.

Utilizing an on-board network of “smart” microprocessor sensors, the Foresight installation is over 50 percent lighter, more accurate, and with the “HUMS as a Service” model, more accessible than legacy HUMS solutions.

From the first supplemental type certificate (STC) granted for the Bell 407 in 2018, GPMS has continued to expand the list of approved installations that now includes a wide range of types and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) — from light MD 530F and Airbus AS350/H125 series, through to Bell 212/412 medium helicopters, and right up to Sikorsky UH-60 and Boeing CH-47 heavy aircraft.

“When a customer decides to outfit their fleet with HUMS, they typically don’t just operate one type from one OEM. The ability to install a single common certified solution across a mixed fleet is hugely beneficial for efficiency,” Ries said. “One of the things we’re most proud of is how simple Foresight is to use. We’ve designed an intuitive user experience that can be accessed from anywhere in the world on any web-enabled device.”

Without the need for a pilot to interact with the system, data is sampled from the system at up to eight times per second from aircraft startup to shutdown. Once a mission is complete, Foresight automatically uploads the data to the cloud through a cellular connection.

In addition to displaying the status of a helicopter’s components — easily interpreted on the diagnostic dashboard with color-coded indicators — GPMS has designed Foresight to analyze data trends to provide an assessment of the predicted remaining useful life (RUL) of a component. “Let’s say, we’ve just detected that based on 50 hours of data, a bearing is trending toward the warning line,” Ries explained. “From that data analysis, we can tell the operator that the predicted remaining useful life of the bearing is about 70 hours. That predictive nature allows the customer to turn potential unscheduled maintenance and downtime into scheduled maintenance. The ability to forecast the need for parts then becomes streamlined, hopefully reducing the impact of parts shortages and supply chain issues.”

And when Foresight signals an issue with a component, it can simplify the troubleshooting process, giving maintenance engineers additional insight that can speed up a helicopter’s return to service.

Foresight also features integrated flight data monitoring, capturing over 60 different flight parameters. Mission data can be viewed using Foresight’s flight visualization tool, downloaded, or transferred via API for further analysis.

This element of Foresight brings comprehensive flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) to an operator by combining flight data monitoring with HUMS mechanical diagnostics and detailed exceedance documentation.

“If the HUMS system tells you how healthy your aircraft is, the flight data monitoring tells you how ‘healthy’ your pilots are flying,” Ries said. “The system will also send proactive alerts of any exceedances by text message or email.”

The extensive dynamic component dataset continuously captured by Foresight drives a feature that customers have found gives an immediate return on their investment — the process of rotor track and balance (RTB) optimization.

“Typically, when you’re getting a lot of vibration in the cabin, it’s because you’re out of balance, so you bring in the mechanics when you land,” Ries said. “They put expensive equipment on, and the pilot goes out on a test flight. They land, the mechanics make an adjustment, then another test flight, and then maybe more adjustments and more test flights. It can take anywhere from several hours to several days to get it done.”

With Foresight’s analytics and recommendations, “every time  you land, not only do you know exactly how in balance you are, but you’ll see what adjustments to make to reduce vibration and improve RTB. It can dramatically reduce the number of test flights, and cost.”

For many years, bringing a cost-effective, powerful, and lightweight HUMS to all helicopter operators has been the focus of Eric Bechhoefer, CEO, co-founder, and chief engineer of GPMS.

Recognizing the development of Foresight MX and his years of leadership in expanding the use of HUMS, the Helicopter Association International presented Bechhoefer with the 2023 Salute to Excellence Award for Safety.

“GPMS’s industry leading knowledge, experience, and technology have produced the most advanced HUMS solution available,” Ries said. “With Foresight, you can know it before it matters.”

The post GPMS International: Gaining the power of Foresight appeared first on Vertical Mag.

From its roots, Salus Aviation is building on the strengths of its three legacy companies — Oceania Aviation and Airwork Helicopters, both based in Auckland, New Zealand, and Heli-Parts Network, located in Boulder City, outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Our official brand launch as Salus Aviation is taking place at Heli-Expo to showcase to the industry that we’re an international company with the capability to reach and support customers and operators around the globe,” said Greg Edmonds, CEO of Salus Aviation. “We have a history of providing high-quality products, service and innovation across all of the rotary- and fixed-wing capabilities — all built on decades and decades of experience.”

Across all its facilities, Salus Aviation now offers a one-stop, nose-to-tail service for the aviation industry, providing comprehensive and extensive helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) that includes service for dynamic components, gas turbines, avionics, paint, blade repair, part-out, refit and projects, component design and manufacturing.

In addition to helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft sales and leasing, the fixed-wing facilities in Nevada and Hamilton, New Zealand, offer services for avionics, paint, parts, maintenance, components, piston engines, CD-155 engine upgrades, propellers and instrument calibration.

“We have a very deeply developed capability. We have part 145 certification across many countries, along with part 146 design certification and part 148 manufacturing authority,” Edmonds said. “This allows our own in-house design team to develop modifications and new products for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, which we take right through to STC [supplemental type certificate].”

The Salus operation at Ardmore Airport in Auckland is considered the core overhaul, maintenance and leasing providers for customers located across all six continents, providing essential services for repair, overhaul, parts supply, and engineering support.

The now combined Salus Aviation provides greater MRO services for most helicopter types — Bell, Schweizer, Robinson, MD, Kawasaki, and Airbus — along with Honeywell/Lycoming and Rolls-Royce turbine maintenance and transmission overhaul.

“We are bringing transmissions back to New Zealand for overhaul from Europe, the U.S., South America, Australia, and Africa, with Salus having a global reach in heavy overhaul,” Edmonds said. “And as we grow, we will put footprints in place on other continents for maintenance services. We currently have maintenance capability everywhere we operate and lease aircraft.”

The company’s leasing portfolio specializes in Kawasaki and Airbus BK117s, and Airbus EC130 and AS350 models, with a fleet of 45 helicopters operating in countries around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Guinea, and Peru.

Edmonds is most proud of the long-standing partnerships Salus Aviation has with the search-and-rescue (SAR) services in New Zealand.

“New Zealand’s geography and topography means that we have a high need for helicopter emergency medical services [HEMS],” Edmonds said. “The services are operated by charitable trusts, and we are fortunate to supply around 70 percent of the HEMS aircraft.”

With a fleet of Kawasaki and Airbus BK117s in HEMS service in New Zealand, Salus provides maintenance service to those aircraft seven days a week, as well as all the line and heavy maintenance.

“We’re truly entrenched in HEMS in this part of the world,” he said. “Since we lease aircraft into the HEMS environment in other countries outside of New Zealand, we can do the fitment into a HEMS configuration, and we’re also certified to repurpose helicopters from HEMS.”

Salus Aviation in the U.S. — a 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) facility in Boulder City, Nevada — is also involved in HEMS aircraft service. Previously known as the Heli-Parts Network, in addition to helicopter maintenance, the operation manages the worldwide distribution of its extensive and comprehensive part and component inventory focused on the Airbus AS350 line.

“As in New Zealand, we have project completion facilities in Nevada,” Edmonds said. “For example, with our customer, Air Methods, we take their aircraft out of the HEMS configuration at the end of their time with the operator, and we repurpose them, repaint them, and then remarket the helicopters as utility, tourism, or VIP machines.”

Globally, Salus has a team of over 260 people spread between Boulder City and in New Zealand — in Queenstown, Hamilton, and three facilities at the company’s home base at Ardmore Airfield.

The integration of the three previous operations in New Zealand and the U.S. will give Salus Aviation’s customers improved service, as Edmonds continues the work needed to bring the three companies together as one organization, with combined systems and procedures.

“We are underway with a number of changes that will make it easier for our customers and will improve service delivery, including a simplified management structure, cross-training of our engineers, and the consolidation of workshops and hangar facilities,” Edmonds said.

New Zealand may be a small country with limited resources, but it has a worldwide reputation for innovation and creativity — values that Salus Aviation will continue to emulate as it looks to expand its operations, according to Edmonds.

“Our initial growth plans will have us focusing on the United States and the North American market,” he said. “With our investment in Nevada, we are looking at significant growth in that region, and we will continue to evaluate opportunities across Africa and Asia.”

The post Salus Aviation: Stronger together appeared first on Vertical Mag.

This sponsored article was created by Insight magazine, the sponsored content division of MHM Publishing, on behalf of Alpine Aerotech.

For more than three decades, Alpine Aerotech has been recognized as a one-stop shop for high-quality helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services.

At its base in Kelowna, British Columbia, and its fully equipped facility in Abbotsford, B.C., Aerotech’s capabilities range from simple repairs and inspections to extensive aircraft upgrades and complete refurbishment.

As well, the company specializes in the design, certification and production of helicopter parts and accessories at a satellite manufacturing facility also located in Kelowna.

Aerotech is accredited as a service center for Airbus and Leonardo, and is one of the largest Bell service centers in the world.

“Our comprehensive capabilities are really due to our diverse workforce,” explained Jeff Denomme, Aerotech’s president. “We have subject matter experts across many specialties who are all committed to providing best-in-class service to our customers. Aerotech’s growth has been attributed to by the successes of our experienced workforce, and the strong relationships they have developed with our loyal customers.”

One of those employees is Crystal Bruce, an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) and avionics technician who started at Aerotech in 2013 after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for eight years — including two tours in Afghanistan — maintaining the RCAF’s fleet of CH-146 Griffon helicopters.

While working on the Griffon — a militarized variant of the Bell 412 — Bruce recalled seeing components supplied by Aerotech, leading her to focus on joining the company as she transitioned to civilian life.

“They really care about who they bring in, so that we become a close-knit group,” Bruce said. “Morale is really high because there is a lot of care taken to support people. Like with me, [they said] ‘You’re interested in avionics? Go ahead, have a try.’”

Bruce was given the opportunity to add avionics to her skillset, and recently finished autopilot and electrical training on the 412 at Bell’s headquarters in Texas.

“I do systems installs for avionics [and] build wiring harnesses, and we do a lot of heavy-duty avionics upgrades, including our Garmin G500 STC,” she said.

As part of the 120 employees at Aerotech’s 64,000-square-foot (5,950-square-meter) HQ in Kelowna, Bruce and her colleagues get the opportunity to work with the team of 30 at the company’s 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,790 sq.-m) facility in Abbotsford.

“We’re another resource for Aerotech, 320 kilometers [200 miles] to the west of Kelowna,” explained Steve Storteboom, general manager of the shop located at Abbotsford International Airport (YXX).

“We can support commercial operators with heavy maintenance, and private operators with regular maintenance — there’s quite a bit of diversity in the types we service. Right now, we’re working on a classic Bell 206B, a 407GXP and a 212, and we have customers with brand-new Bell 505s and 407GXi helicopters.”

Storteboom points to his support of his employees as a key part of the culture of Aerotech and is most proud of the client feedback he passes to the team.

After carrying out extensive work on a Bell 212, Storteboom said he asked the client, “‘How’s the aircraft running?’ He just said, ‘It’s the best one in the fleet,’ and booked his next aircraft in for service.”

Aerotech’s central planning department ensures that the company operates as one business, seamlessly integrating the Kelowna and Abbotsford facilities, its manufacturing division, and all the different departments within the organization.

“Our planning department is the link between the customer and ‘everything Aerotech,’ so our customer has a single point of contact. That gets rid of the common problem of getting lost in the shuffle,” Denomme explained. “We report directly from the floor to the customer with 100 percent visibility on every project, so there are no surprises at the end.”

Storteboom added: “When I get a call from a customer, I coordinate with the planning department to determine whether Kelowna or Abbotsford is the best fit for the scope of work and if we need to shift extra manpower between the locations.”

Brad Brossart, a veteran of the B.C. helicopter industry for 21 years, leads Aerotech’s planning department with its many critical functions. Brossart holds an AME license and his background provides him with the essential skills that he utilizes every day.

“We are the central point of contact,” Brossart explained. “From initial inquiry, the planning team helps determine the scope of work [and] a cost quote, and directs the work through the various departments and project phases. We provide progress updates to our customers and ensure all expectations are met.”

“Customer feedback speaks for itself,” Denomme stated. “We have a very personable, honest approach, and we believe that’s why our customers return year after year. Our people are our biggest asset. It’s crucial to allow employees to have the opportunity to do things differently. We all have different backgrounds, and the biggest thing is listening to our employees and making changes for the better.” 

Denomme’s passion for aviation is key to his management philosophy, ensuring that the teams in Kelowna and Abbotsford have his full support.

“We have a bright future ahead of us — we have some exciting projects and opportunities on the horizon that will enhance Aerotech’s industry-leading reputation.”

The post Alpine Aerotech: Industry-leading reputation appeared first on Vertical Mag.

The rotor blades on a brand-new helicopter are clean and pristine, with an optimized lift-generating airfoil that perfectly slices through the air.

Put that aircraft into service on agricultural, firefighting, or military missions, and the blades will quickly show the effects of flying in a harsh environment.

“The leading edge of the blade becomes beat up and eroded, and then you no longer have a nice, beautiful airfoil,” explained Seth Hardage, owner of Rotorcraft Repair and Manufacturing in Pocohontas, Arkansas. “It affects how the helicopter will fly — it will no longer fly nice and smooth. It makes the blades not track as well, and over time, it’s putting extra stress on the engine so you’re also using more fuel.”

With decades of experience in overhaul and repair of rotor blades, to address the problem, Rotorcraft has quietly developed an advanced blade erosion and corrosion protection coating.

Rotorcraft’s proprietary Dragon Skin Xtreme — DSX — underwent six years of rigorous testing before receiving Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approvals in 2012. Since then, in a careful rollout, Rotorcraft has made DSX available to a select group of customers.

“We needed to let it go out and fly. We didn’t want to tell a lot of people about it until we knew it could last many, many hours,” Hardage said.

And in this extended field test, DSX has exceeded his expectations.

“We’ve seen more than 3,000 hours of hard flying on a helicopter, and while DSX does wear, it wears so evenly that it always keeps a perfect airfoil. It’s very rare to have a coated blade come back. We’ve only seen them return with some type of damage elsewhere on the blade,” Hardage said. “We’ve had a couple of customers where the blade is flown out of its life limit, and I’ve bought the blade back so I could see how the coating did over all that time.”

According to Hardage, DSX can be easily applied during the time that a blade is in his shop for overhaul.

“There are a few extra steps we have to take, but not anything major.”

Decades of experience

Rotorcraft overhauls or repairs an average of 350 blades per year, ranging from the vintage wooden blades on a classic Bell 47 to the massive rotors from a Boeing Chinook.

With a mix of work — 60 percent on metal blades and 40 percent on composite ones — Rotorcraft’s bread-and-butter is rotors from Airbus and Bell light and medium helicopters.

When a blade comes in the door, Hardage and his team get to work, first with an extensive preliminary inspection.

“I’m very eager to get the paint and finish removed because it can hide a lot of problems. I spend a lot of time looking at the blade’s structure, a lot of time trying to understand what the blade is going through, and I keep in mind what this blade is doing for a living, what they’re doing with this aircraft,” Hardage said. “I know what to look for.”

As part of its repair process, the company can perform a full range of non-destructive blade inspections, including x-ray, borescope and eddy current testing.

If required, Rotorcraft draws on its in-house engineering team to develop repair processes and procedures to submit for FAA approval.

But it’s the company’s institutional knowledge that gives it an advantage in its operations, going back to the original owners — the Propst brothers.

Having operated Bell 47s for crop dusting and forestry work, the three brothers realized a huge time savings by doing their own blade work, rather than having to ship the blades out for repair.

“If they had to pull the blades off, then their helicopter was down, and it could take months and months to get the blades done. So, in 1992, they opened their own blade repair station in Black Rock, Arkansas.”

Drawing on relationships with original engineers from Bell — including William Underhill and Herb Waldrup, the men who developed Bell main rotor blades — Rotorcraft gained much of its knowledge and experience.

That benefited Hardage when he began working with the Propst brothers in 2018, which led to his purchase of Rotorcraft in 2020, and a move in 2021 to a 40,000-square-foot (3,716-square-meter) building in Pocohontas, where he and his family have their roots.

A personal connection

Rotorcraft’s success has been driven by its relationships with its customers, and word-of-mouth recommendations continue to bring new business to the company.

“When someone calls, I want to get to know them. They’re putting a lot of trust in me. I’m going to be working on something where lives are on the line,” he said.

It’s important for Hardage to maintain those strong relationships, which he does with visits to his clients.

“I understand we’ve got these new technologies, but face-to-face and a good old handshake goes so much further.”

The post Rotorcraft Repair and Manufacturing: Maintaining the leading edge appeared first on Vertical Mag.

This sponsored article was created by Insight magazine, the sponsored content division of MHM Publishing, on behalf of Rotorcraft Repair and Manufacturing.

The rotor blades on a brand-new helicopter are clean and pristine, with an optimized lift-generating airfoil that perfectly slices through the air.

Put that aircraft into service on agricultural, firefighting, or military missions, and the blades will quickly show the effects of flying in a harsh environment.

“The leading edge of the blade becomes beat up and eroded, and then you no longer have a nice, beautiful airfoil,” explained Seth Hardage, owner of Rotorcraft Repair and Manufacturing in Pocohontas, Arkansas. “It affects how the helicopter will fly — it will no longer fly nice and smooth. It makes the blades not track as well, and over time, it’s putting extra stress on the engine so you’re also using more fuel.”

With decades of experience in overhaul and repair of rotor blades, to address the problem, Rotorcraft has quietly developed an advanced blade erosion and corrosion protection coating.

Rotorcraft’s proprietary Dragon Skin Xtreme — DSX — underwent six years of rigorous testing before receiving Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approvals in 2012. Since then, in a careful rollout, Rotorcraft has made DSX available to a select group of customers.

“We needed to let it go out and fly. We didn’t want to tell a lot of people about it until we knew it could last many, many hours,” Hardage said.

And in this extended field test, DSX has exceeded his expectations.

“We’ve seen more than 3,000 hours of hard flying on a helicopter, and while DSX does wear, it wears so evenly that it always keeps a perfect airfoil. It’s very rare to have a coated blade come back. We’ve only seen them return with some type of damage elsewhere on the blade,” Hardage said. “We’ve had a couple of customers where the blade is flown out of its life limit, and I’ve bought the blade back so I could see how the coating did over all that time.”

According to Hardage, DSX can be easily applied during the time that a blade is in his shop for overhaul.

“There are a few extra steps we have to take, but not anything major.”

Decades of experience

Rotorcraft overhauls or repairs an average of 350 blades per year, ranging from the vintage wooden blades on a classic Bell 47 to the massive rotors from a Boeing Chinook.

With a mix of work — 60 percent on metal blades and 40 percent on composite ones — Rotorcraft’s bread-and-butter is rotors from Airbus and Bell light and medium helicopters.

When a blade comes in the door, Hardage and his team get to work, first with an extensive preliminary inspection.

“I’m very eager to get the paint and finish removed because it can hide a lot of problems. I spend a lot of time looking at the blade’s structure, a lot of time trying to understand what the blade is going through, and I keep in mind what this blade is doing for a living, what they’re doing with this aircraft,” Hardage said. “I know what to look for.”

As part of its repair process, the company can perform a full range of non-destructive blade inspections, including x-ray, borescope and eddy current testing.

If required, Rotorcraft draws on its in-house engineering team to develop repair processes and procedures to submit for FAA approval.

But it’s the company’s institutional knowledge that gives it an advantage in its operations, going back to the original owners — the Propst brothers.

Having operated Bell 47s for crop dusting and forestry work, the three brothers realized a huge time savings by doing their own blade work, rather than having to ship the blades out for repair.

“If they had to pull the blades off, then their helicopter was down, and it could take months and months to get the blades done. So, in 1992, they opened their own blade repair station in Black Rock, Arkansas.”

Drawing on relationships with original engineers from Bell — including William Underhill and Herb Waldrup, the men who developed Bell main rotor blades — Rotorcraft gained much of its knowledge and experience.

That benefited Hardage when he began working with the Propst brothers in 2018, which led to his purchase of Rotorcraft in 2020, and a move in 2021 to a 40,000-square-foot (3,716-square-meter) building in Pocohontas, where he and his family have their roots.

A personal connection

Rotorcraft’s success has been driven by its relationships with its customers, and word-of-mouth recommendations continue to bring new business to the company.

“When someone calls, I want to get to know them. They’re putting a lot of trust in me. I’m going to be working on something where lives are on the line,” he said.

It’s important for Hardage to maintain those strong relationships, which he does with visits to his clients.

“I understand we’ve got these new technologies, but face-to-face and a good old handshake goes so much further.” 

The post Rotorcraft Repair and Manufacturing: Maintaining the leading edge appeared first on Vertical Mag.

It all started in 1980 with one helicopter and one instructor and has since grown into an internationally renowned helicopter school.

Hillsboro Heli Academy’s success comes from a simple recipe — an extreme focus on teaching the fundamentals.

“That’s what I drive home to our instructors, that there’s a foundation that needs to be built,” said Jared Friend, Hillsboro’s director of helicopter operations and chief instructor. “Our reputation with employers and the success of our graduates is built around getting the foundation right and not getting distracted, while recognizing that every student is a little bit different. Every student has a different motivation.”

Hillsboro is considered one of the larger helicopter flight schools in the U.S. But even with that scale, Friend points to the culture of his operation as a key enabler of his students’ performance and success in their careers.

“We foster a family environment and encourage our groups of new students to become a close-knit team,” he said. “It starts from day one at their first orientation. We talk to them about how the people sitting next to them, they’re probably going to know each other for the rest of their careers.”

In addition to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval as a Part 141 and Part 61 flight school, Hillsboro is nationally recognized by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges as one of only two non-degree helicopter schools accredited in the U.S. 

Over more than four decades, the school has graduated thousands of pilots from over 75 countries, welcoming international students under the F-1 visa program.

The well-established flight training facility is based at Troutdale Airport on the shore of the Columbia River, just east of Portland — Oregon’s international airport.

“We’re in a helicopter pilot’s playground,” Friend said.

Within an hour’s flight time, Hillsboro’s students can be practicing operations in the Cascade Range, the Columbia River Gorge, the state’s high desert to the east, or to the west on Oregon’s spectacular Pacific Coast.

From day one, Hillsboro has operated Robinson helicopters.

“Our history is also Robinson’s history. The first production R22 was certified in 1979. We got ours in 1980 and we’ve been flying them ever since,” Friend said. “We have a lot of history with the Robinsons, a lot of lessons learned.”

Hillsboro has a fleet of R22s and R44s, is a certified Robinson Service Center, and operates an FAA Part 145 repair station at its Troutdale base.

When a student graduates as a 200-hour certified flight instructor with an instrument rating, they have the depth of experience that comes from flying in the diverse terrain and weather in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

“A lot of our pilots end up in the Gulf, or flying utility work in the mountains, and pilots who learn to fly with us are sought after by employers for the variety of experience they have gained at Hillsboro,” Friend said. “Sure, it’s great to fly on a sunny, blue sky day, but to be a truly well-rounded helicopter pilot, you need to be comfortable flying in all types of weather. One of the greatest skills our graduates gain is working through the decision-making process for a flight — interpreting weather reports, knowing their own limitations, and making good decisions. That’s what professional pilot training is all about.”

Developing that level of judgement is a key element of Hillsboro’s cohesive strategy, which includes training continuity for instructors and students, to ensure a successful outcome for the students.

“We try to have students fly with their instructor every single day the instructor is available,” he said. “We feel it’s a strong building block to be flying every day, so that a student can build on the previous day’s lessons. If a student has gaps in their flight training, they’ll have to fill those gaps somehow, and that ends up costing more money.”

For graduates, the next career step is invariably an instructor position to build time. Some are hired at Hillsboro, and with their hours in the ubiquitous Robinsons, others are well-prepared to work at just about any school.

But for some, opportunities come from Hillsboro’s relationships with companies, including German helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operator ADAC Luftrettung, Bristow Norway, and Babcock Spain.

“Right now, there’s a huge helicopter pilot shortage,” Friend said. “We work to connect our graduates with operators around the world, and help them get to know people in the industry. We’ve been doing this for over four decades — and we’re good at it.”

The post Hillsboro: A focus on fundamentals appeared first on Vertical Mag.

It’s been more than 30 years since Alpine Aerotech opened the doors of its helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Now, home to its team of more than 140 employees, the company boasts one of the largest MRO and parts distribution facilities in North America.

Aerotech continues to build on its industry-wide reputation as the “go-to” shop for work on Bell’s venerable medium machines — the workhorse 212 and 412 series of helicopters.

Leveraging its engineering, design and manufacturing expertise, the company has developed a slate of supplemental type certificates (STCs) that can enhance its clients’ helicopter operations.

“Many of our STC products have been derived from our own internal maintenance experience,” said Taylor Wilson, Aerotech’s manufacturing manager. “We rely on the analytics and knowledge from our MRO side when developing a product or approved repair.”

Simon Konte, a design engineer with two decades of experience at Aerotech, expanded on the company’s STC process and said, “If we see a part constantly coming through the door for repair, or if the guys on the floor are seeing ongoing maintenance issues, then that’s a red flag for us.

“That can give us an idea for an STC, which will go to market research and cost benefit analysis,” Konte continued. “We then determine the ease of manufacturing and maintenance to make sure it would be an improvement for the operator. We don’t want to design something that’s a maintenance burden or too expensive for the operator to implement.”

Aerotech’s first STC was a redesign of the Bell 212 exhaust system, an outer heat shield jacket mounted on the outside of the exhaust ejector. Held in place with “hundreds of rivets,” the part had become a maintenance headache.

“Our STC replaced that with a floating jacket held on by just a few screws and a series of band clamps,” Konte said. “It makes inspections and maintenance really quick and easy. We also developed the exhaust deflector that directs hot exhaust away from the tailboom, reducing the temperature on critical components.”

That update led to Aerotech’s most successful STC, an improved configuration for the Bell 212’s exhaust ejector/deflector.

Meeting the goal of increasing the durability and repairability of the exhaust system, the STC not only became popular as a retrofit, but original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Bell asked Aerotech to supply the components of the design for its new production aircraft.

“Our part number is in the Bell IPB [illustrated parts breakdown] and is on every 412 that comes out of Bell and Subaru,” Wilson said.

Aerotech has dozens of operational STCs covering everything from the 212/412 exhaust system to Bell and Airbus panel protection, deep snow bear paw kits, and 3D printed ducting and headset hangers. Recently, the company has focused on advanced avionics and glass cockpit upgrades.

“We’re seeing a shift toward those kinds of projects,” Wilson said. “There are new requirements driven by regulators, and if that capability is required by an operator’s contract, they’re going to need to source and install these STCs.”

Aerotech works hard to maintain its relationship with the regulatory community, while recognizing that level of scrutiny of the aviation sector has increased.

“Transport Canada sets a high standard in terms of the worldwide certification requirements. And the regulators have a lot of faith and trust in what we have been able to produce in the past,” Wilson said.

Depending on the complexity of a design, Aerotech’s timeline from STC idea to regulatory approval has ranged from a few months to a year.

Most recently, a Bell 212/412 STC was approved by Transport Canada for the installation of Astronautics RoadRunner Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) — with approvals in the works from other global regulators.

This system adds instrument flight rules (IFR) capabilities to Aerotech’s extensive avionics upgrades for the Bell mediums that replaces the original electro-mechanical flight instruments with a fully electronic suite of sensors and displays. It also integrates with existing ADS-B, TAS/TCAS I, and radar altimeter STCs.

Over the years, Aerotech has delivered thousands of STC kits, all including detailed documentation and installation instructions.

“The STC part of the business has really grown organically. A lot of what goes into the pipeline is based on our own experience and what we’ve experienced out in the field working on the helicopters,” said Alfonso Garcia, vice president of sales. “And we see it continuing to grow as we begin working with new aircraft types from OEMs, including Leonardo and Airbus. It’s clear that it will grow side-by-side with the maintenance part of our business.”

As a small but important part of Aerotech, the STC and product development division prides itself on having a direct line of communication with its customers.

“We’re very familiar with every product that comes out the door, so if someone picks up the phone and calls asking for maintenance help, assistance to install an STC kit, or general technical information about a product, we can typically answer those questions right then and there,” Taylor said. “That’s what our customers have come to expect.”

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“It is the nature of helicopter flight that rotor blades will always be abused,” said Randy Stevens.

And he should know. Stevens is president of International Aviation Composites — known as IAC — a company that has specialized in repairing helicopter rotor blades for three decades.

IAC has a team of close to 30 people working at the company’s 53,450-square-foot Fort Worth, Texas, facility that includes a composite material cutting room, a controlled environment cleanroom, a static balance room, an engineering lab, an integrated machine shop, and extensive testing capabilities.

As one of the few independent rotor blade repair stations worldwide since 1992, IAC has honed its skills and processes to ensure the efficient and safe inspection and repair of both metal and composite blades.

IAC is a part 145 repair station certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It also holds an AS9110 certification from the International Aerospace Quality Group. As part of the Fort Worth aviation cluster — with helicopter manufacturers including Sikorsky, Bell, Schweizer, and Airbus — IAC can draw from a pool of experienced technicians, but the company is always looking to expand its staff with new talent, to strengthen its capabilities.

“We like to utilize skills from other industries as well, including our military veterans,” said Kenny Murray, IAC’s production manager. “It makes it easier to train our technicians, and it does take a couple of years to properly train someone to perform blade repairs.”

When a blade comes to IAC for repair, the inspection department can draw on its extensive data history and determine if it has an approved repair process on file.

Stevens said that IAC’s in-house engineering capability gives the company the ability to develop new repair processes, which are sent to the FAA for approval before the work is done.

“There are two types of FAA approval for repair data. One is a serial number specific repair, which is tied to a blade with a specific serial number or a series of serial numbers. There are also repair specifications, which are tied only to a blade part number, so the specification is available for repetitive use,” Stevens said. “We do not have to depend on OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] for repair data. We have the ability to develop our own through reverse engineering and materials testing, as required.”

As rotor blade design and manufacturing technology have advanced and evolved, IAC’s repair processes have stayed in step.

Blade repairs were once done with discrete tools, with a specific tool required for each blade or each type of repair.

To improve the process, IAC developed a universal autoclave tool that enables its technicians to make large repairs on virtually any kind of rotor blade. To properly cure the repair of a composite blade, it needs time in an autoclave under pressure and high temperature.

The interior of IAC’s autoclave is equipped with a bank of electrical outlets, so while the unit is pressurized, the interior air isn’t heated — instead, the rotor blades get a direct heat treatment.

“We use electric heat blankets. You get the pressure of an autoclave, but it gives you the localized heating capability of a heat blanket. The repairs are more even, with improved pressure uniformity,” Stevens said.

Overall, the average repair interval on composite blades is much longer than on metal blades, and the development of composite blades has led to a significant reduction in the need for rotor blade maintenance, along with improved repair techniques.

“It’s not too often that we can’t repair a blade,” Murray said. “It really has to be in quite bad shape before we determine that it is scrap.”

And if a blade can’t be repaired, he said that IAC is maintaining its policy of not charging its customers for the cost of the inspection.

“We’ll have to give them the bad news, but not a bill. That itself is good for a customer,” he said.

With IAC’s success rate in repairs, Stevens points to that overall benefit to his customers.

“It’s the innovations that we’ve been able to make in blade repair, and the blades we’ve been able to save for customers, especially for the smaller operators. If they have to go buy a new rotor blade, it just crushes their budget,” he said.

Along with its solid reputation for quality work, it’s the helicopter industry’s personal network on which IAC relies to reach new customers.

“Many of our new customers come to us primarily word-of-mouth. That has been very successful for us over the last 30 years,” Stevens said.

“IAC is big enough to handle all repair needs, but small enough to provide personal service to our customers,” Murray added. “We answer our phone, respond to customer emails, and treat each customer the same, whether they need just one blade inspected or a set of blades repaired. Our company-wide commitment to providing quality service at a reasonable cost and quick turnaround time is paramount for IAC’s continued growth and success.”

The post IAC: At the leading edge of rotor blade repairs appeared first on Vertical Mag.

USA Borescopes might be a small company in a niche sector, but with smart adjustments to its sales and marketing tactics it has weathered the past year’s Covid-induced storm.

Established in 2009, the Clarksville, Tennessee-based company banked on its reputation for on-time delivery and solid after-sales support for its product line of borescopes and fiberscopes.

“We maintained what we had, and we did grow. That’s not to say there weren’t challenges, but we did it,” said Bill French, USA Borescopes sales manager.

Like many technical product suppliers, attendance at trade shows had been a critical way for USA Borescopes to connect with current and potential customers in aviation, and in its other target sectors. But that all changed with pandemic restrictions.

“If we go to a trade show, we get to demonstrate our product to 25 different prospects at one location at our booth. Now, we have to go to 25 different customers, or ship product for onsite demos,” said French.

In the absence of trade shows, French and his team reallocated the budget for travel, sponsorships and show costs to other forms of marketing, along with an increased inventory of demo units.

“If people aren’t going to the trade shows, we’ve had to figure out where they’re looking for these products and services and try and get in front of them.”

In addition to a “very aggressive hard mail campaign,” French explained that USA Borescopes increased its digital footprint with online ads and YouTube videos.

This pivot in marketing tactics was essential to the April 2020 launch of its latest product, the 2000 series videoscope.

With a seven-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi capabilities and 360-degree joystick control of the articulated camera head, the new videoscope features an integrated temperature sensor.

“One of the biggest mistakes a technician can make is to stick the camera into a hot engine. The 2000 series will flash a warning on the screen before there’s damage to the camera,” said French.

And while managing a product launch during a pandemic was challenging, French is very optimistic about USA Borescopes’ future, as he contemplates the events of the past year.

“When it comes to change in business, it’s either evolutionary or revolutionary, and Covid brought about revolutionary change. On the other hand, I think the recovery is going to be evolutionary, and we’re going to slowly get back to what the customer demands.

“Regardless of how things change with marketing and trade shows for the aviation industry, some things will stay the same. Planning, effort and execution will not change,” he said. 

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