Rotor & Wing Magazine :: Public Service :: Other Government Agencies
Displaying 541 - 560 of 688 stories.
August 1, 2007
IN THIS WORLD OF ULTRA-POLITICAL correctness, it is amazing to me how many educated people in aviation circles insist on referring to rotary-wing aircraft as "airplanes." Many aviators in today's U.S. military, from admirals to ensigns and from generals to second lieutenants, regularly refer to helicopters as airplanes. I have seen countless aviators use this incorrect usage on a daily basis. The...August 1, 2007
INTERNATIONAL HELICOPTER manufacturers and operators remain hopeful that upcoming events in China will serve to loosen the Communist government’s stranglehold on general aviation operations there. Industry representatives have been building relationships with officials in Beijing and major Chinese cities for several years. They are seizing the opportunity created by the need to provide security and...August 1, 2007
TRADITIONALLY, WE TELL YOU WHAT we’ve placed on the monthly issue’s cover in a sentence or two on our Table of Contents page. That would have been a challenge this month, since our cover is made up of a selection of 49 covers that have appeared on Rotor & Wing since it went into business with the January 1967 issue. Why not 40 covers for 40 years? That was the initial plan. But in reviewing...August 1, 2007
FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO thank Rotor & Wing for giving me the opportunity to write this column. Since I recently retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Dept., this column will allow me to stay connected to the helicopter industry I truly love. I’m sure my college freshman English teacher is now spinning from laughter in her grave faster than the N1 section in a C20 turbine. That woman...July 1, 2007
GOVERNMENT/INVESTIGATION The "inadequate design" of a key PMA engine part caused the June 2003 crash of an air tour McDonnell Douglas 369D in Hawaii that killed four, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has concluded. The Tropical Tour Helicopter aircraft crashed June 15, 2003 onto a rugged, hardened lava flow following a power loss during cruise. According to the safety board, other...June 1, 2007
PUBLIC SERVICE/SAFETY The Commissioner of Irish Lights, the keeper of more than 70 lighthouses along the coast of Ireland, has decided buying is better than leasing. For the past 25 years, the agency has leased a B0105 from Irish Helicopters. The Eurocopter aircraft flies 600-800 hr a...June 1, 2007
EDUCATION The United Kingdom’s Helicopter Museum at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset has been awarded a £290,500 ($494,700) grant from that nation’s Heritage Lottery Fund towards new education...June 1, 2007
June 6 — Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame 34th Annual Induction Dinner and Ceremony, The Canada Aviation Museum, Ottawa, Ontario. Phone: 613-993-2010; E-mail: aviation@technomuses.ca; Web: www.aviation.technomuses.ca June 18-24 — Salon Internationale de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace/47th International Paris Air Show, Le Bourget, France. Web: www.paris-air-show.com Aug. 29-31 —...June 1, 2007
At the world’s premier air show, helicopters are taking their place this year. Although the Paris Air Show’s main focus is on fixed-wing aircraft, this year things may be different. Organizers of the biennial event, members of the French aerospace industries association GIFAS, are using the opportunity of the show to celebrate the centennial of the first powered, free (or untethered) flight of...June 1, 2007
With the support of manufacturers, helicopter operators are gaining influence in regulatory debates in Europe. IN EUROPE, CIVIL AND MILITARY SALES OF HELICOPTERS are jumping. New technology and procedures are coming. There’s a pilot shortage (always a good sign). Perhaps most startling though, the authorities are listening to the rotorcraft point of view. The civil market in Europe has great...June 1, 2007
WHETHER YOU’RE A PILOT, a tactical flight officer, crew chief or medical professional, your first day of training included how to conduct a preflight. The Pilot Operating Handbook tells you what to push, pull, jiggle, and look over, while the Mission Equipment Checklist gives reminders on how to inspect the forward-looking infrared camera, medical oxygen system, and hoist. Then there’s the...June 1, 2007
In Eurocopter’s AS350, operators find an aircraft that can perform a great variety of missions, carry a multitude of equipment for them, and provide significant power in the process, even during hot and high conditions. Like many helicopters today, it holds its value well on the used market. As with all things, the family of aircraft known as the Ecureuil, Squirrel, and, perhaps, most commonly, the...June 1, 2007
»Bringing the LTS101 Back to the AStar Exasperation among AS350 operators with Turbomeca’s support of the aircraft’s powerplants drove Honeywell Aerospace and Soloy LLC to partner in bringing the LTS101 back to the AStar. Soloy got into the AS350 power business in 1990, when it bought the AS350 AllStar supplemental type certificate developed by Rocky Mountain Helicopters to retrofit the...June 1, 2007
Turbomeca’s customer support of AS350 engines is the stuff that legends are made of. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the legends are often attached to customers going to extraordinary lengths to get the parts and other help they need to keep their aircraft flying. A top official of an operator of more than 10 AS350s has such a legendary tale. After his organization began operating the AStars...May 1, 2007
TWO MONTHS AGO, WE EXTENDED an invitation to all of you, our readers. Suspecting that some of you enjoyed the sight of your aircraft (and you in and around them) captured on film or digitally, we asked for your favorites. You confirmed our suspicions and responded enthusiastically. We heard from readers in Germany and Iraq, the Sinai and the U.S. Southwest, Chile and Canada. You e-mailed and snail-mailed...May 1, 2007
OKAY. HERE’S THE SCENARIO: YOUR outfit has authorized the purchase of a new aircraft. Everyone either officially or unofficially starts looking at helicopter brochures, sketching interior designs, and talking about what the "other guys" are flying. Next, the various sales representatives drop by with a sample for you to fly, along with a dizzying list of options. Once you’ve chosen an...April 1, 2007
THINGS ARE REALLY COOKING FOR a good portion of the world’s helicopter industry. Of course, if you are among the fortunate, you may already know this. But then, maybe you’ve been too busy working to realize it. Institutionally, Rotor & Wing has covered the world’s helicopter industry a long time. This is our 40th year. I’m a comparative babe at it, with just four years on the...April 1, 2007
Delivering Fire In response to Ernie Stephens’ recent column on firing from a helicopter, if you don’t meet force with force, the bad guys will escalate ("Delivering Fire", February 2007, page 66). My reasoning is the increase in "failure to yield" incidents as a result of politically driven, conservative pursuit policies. Another factor to consider is when a brother officer...April 1, 2007
Frank Robinson still isn’t showing all his cards. The creator of what are the best-selling civilian helicopters in the world today revealed plans for the next aircraft in his product line at Heli-Expo 2007, after years of teasing. But he didn’t reveal much. If those displaying at Heli-Expo felt the exhibit hall crowd got a bit light around 2 pm on March 1, the show’s first day...April 1, 2007
HELI-EXPO 2007 Saying they couldn’t deliver the aircraft at a price customers wanted, Bell Helicopter officials canceled its long-awaited Model 407 follow-on just a year after the company launched it. The 417 "was not going to be a big differentiator in the marketplace," said Bob Fitzpatrick, Bell’s senior vice president of business development, at the annual trade...
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