September 27th, 2009
Thanks to all the pilots and prospective pilots that came to our open house and Boston helicopter safety seminar. The weather was perfect for flying, perfect for a barbeque at the flight school, and also perfect for talking about helicopters. Many guests flew in with their Robinson helicopters (and airplanes too).
Helicopters on the ramp at North Andover Flight Academy
Our main speaker - Joe Brigham - flew in to talk about helicopter accidents and statistics and how we, as pilots, can learn from these incidents. The discussion started with some noteworthy helicopter incidents, and went on to show the results and outcomes and what we can do to avoid similar situations. Joe later opened the discussion as the crowd talked about their own experiences.
Joe Brigham discussing helicopter safety
Some of the scenarios discussed included ice, bird strikes, wire strikes, night VFR in mountainous terrain, and bad landings. After Joe was finished, there was a seminar on helicopter insurance which was also open for feedback. Many had questions about different types of insurance coverage with commercial and private operations.
Helicopter Safety Seminar Fly-In
After the seminar, the gang at North Andover Flight Academy had a Fall barbeque for all attendees. Good food, good discussion, and helicopters. The day went very well, and again thank you to all who attended. And remember - this is good toward the Wings program for all that registered.
We will be posting the next Safety seminar shortly. Look forward to seeing you soon.
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September 23rd, 2009
When students come to our school from overseas to train at our Boston helicopter school, their experience and training backgrounds vary greatly. Tijl came to us with a goal - to get his solo hours for his PPL add-on in the Robinson R-44 helicopter. Tijl had about 30 hours training in the R-44, and also had a few hundred hours in a Cirrus SR-22, representing a good background in aviation. He arrived and immediately immersed himself in the training regimen here at the school. The day began with the usual activities for a new student. Registration, TSA paperwork, logbook entries, SFAR endorsement, some ground instruction, and away we went. The best way for him to start would be to learn the area. It was off to Plum Island, then back across to Fitchburg, and off to Nashua for a good cross country experience in the 44. It was clearly evident that he had a great foundation and was picking up the navigation and the 44 Raven I nuances quickly.
The next day would be all maneuvers - pre solo maneuvers and emergency procedure training. Within 2 days, Tijl had soloed the R-44 and quickly began his cross country work.
After all his solo work was completed, we all agreed that it would be best for him to take his checkride while he was here - so after scheduling with the DPE, we began brushing up all maneuvers for his checkride. Not to forget the night experience requirements - we did the cross country around Boston (the Red Sox were in town), and down to Norwood for some pattern work. After completing the required night training in Norwood, we piloted the helicopter out to Fitchburg for more night patterns and a return to Lawrence. We did leave one night mission for the Boston routes. Tijl really wanted to navigate through downtown Boston at night, so we went into the city using Hamps and Quarry routes. He was amazed at the view - it’s absolutely beautiful even for someone that’s been in there hundreds of times. As part of the training, we navigated using the helicopter route charts and I was sure to fill him in on all the details of the city.
The next day brought the checkride - more maneuvers and up to Concord New Hampshire to take the checkride. The checkride went without a hitch and Tijl was able to leave early the next morning with a newly minted Private Pilot Helicopter ticket in his pocket. We’re all proud of you Tijl - you came here with a goal and exceeded it by a large margin. The fact that you traveled thousands of miles and attained that goal speaks volumes about your character.
We miss you already, and look forward to seeing you on your next trip to the states.
Another great student passed his checkride with assistance from the team here at North Andover Flight Academy.
If you are in the market for quality helicopter training, including Boston Class B training, please check out our helicopter flight school in the Boston area - http://www.northandoverflightacademy.com.
Tags: boston, helicopter training, norwood, r44, robinson
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September 14th, 2009
One of our students needed to fulfill his requirements for his Commercial certificate. The night cross country was planned for LWM to PYM to FIT and back to LWM using the Boston helicopter routes to get to PYM. To make it a bit more interesting, Boston was landing on the “4’s” - meaning landing on Runway 4. Not much of a concern unless you are planning on the Quarry route - which we were. As the student found out, running the Quarry route at night requires positive landmark identification. No time to look at the chart - best plan is to know this route ahead of time. I tell most pilots that it’s a good idea to go through with an instructor a few times to learn all the details before trying it alone. The Quarry route with runway 4 in use requires a descent to 300 feet at Andrew’s Square until the Milton outer marker. Then, depending on the controller, you can ascend to 1000′, or as in our case, we were allowed 500 until the antenna. The route went well, with some good examples of night training using the city as well as the sparsely lit area around Fitchburg, MA. This night cross country also throws a couple of twists - both PYM and FIT are on the list of those airports that use separate frequencies for their lights…better do your planning. Anyway - check out the video if you’ve never been through Boston at night at 300 feet.
Boston Helicopter Training Night Flight
Boston Helicopter Sunset
Tags: boston, boston helicopter training, part 141 helicopter
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