July 14th, 2010
Usually I’m the one writing in the blog, but for this entry one of our new private helicopter pilots, Mike Holland, has an experience to share. Mike, along with one of our other new private helicopter pilots, Steven Reel, recently had the opportunity to ferry one of our overhauled Robinson R22 helicopters to our location in Alexandria Bay, New York at the Maxson airfield. Mike and Steven had an opportunity to do this 250 mile flight - one which many helicopter pilots wait years to fly - and they jumped at the chance. Here’s what Mike had to say about it.
It all started as usual, hanging around the flight school talking about helicopters. Dave Beach asked if I had plans for the 3rd of July and wondered if I was interested in flying one of the helicopters to Maxson Airfield in Alexandria bay NY. I thought to myself, “go to another cookout or fly a helicopter 230 Nautical miles to the Canadian border?” Who would want to go with me? As it turns out, our first part 141 student, Steven Reel, just received his pilots license and wanted to take the flight. We had two new private pilots, a helicopter, a destination, and a mission.
 New England By Helicopter Steve and I met at North Andover Flight Academy (NAFA) at noon to go over a flight plan, weather, and airports for fuel. Curt also stopped by to give us a hand with flight planning and the coolest portable GPS ever. After debating if we should go the short route, which would take us over the Adirondack Mountains, or go around the mountains, we decided it was best to go around since the helicopter was newly overhauled. Also it was the 3rd of July and many airports were closed for fuel.
 Boston Helicopter School
Helicopter fueled, preflight taken care of, bags packed, weather was good. It was an awesome day to do a little cross-country flying. The first leg of our flight was to head west to Morse state Airport “Bennington”, 95 nautical miles on the Vermont side of the Vermont/New York border.
 Boston Helicopter School
One of the best parts of flying in a helicopter is that you are not flying too high and too fast. You really have an opportunity to see a lot on the ground. We happened to fly by a drive-thru, having not seen one of those since I was a kid. We watched people enjoying the lakes and riding dirt bikes and 4 wheelers in gravel pits. They were having fun but not as much as us from above.
 Boston Helicopter School
We landed at Bennington to fuel up, take a little rest, and talk to some of the guys at the airport. Leaving the airport I tried to fly from the left seat. It is going to take some time to feel comfortable. Our next stop was 112 Nautical miles to Griffiss International. Looking at the landscape makes you appreciate how unbelievable this country is from the sky. We had to stop at Griffiss for our final fuel stop.
 Boston Helicopter School
Right as we shut down the helicopter, my phone rings. It’s Curt making sure we are ok. I swear this guy is a Jedi knight, every time we landed our phones rang with Curt checking in on us. There were two Military C5s at the airport. I asked if I could get a closer look, but had to settle for some far away snap shots.
 Boston Helicopter School
After resting for a few minutes and eating some complementary chocolate chip cookies, we were off again. Flying northwest towards Watertown at 4500 feet, we could see Lake Ontario from the distance. We also saw some really cool wind farms. This was the first time I ever flown in a military operation area. Now I see why it’s used for the military, there is nothing there. Steve and I are still mystified there were some houses down there with no roads for miles. You really do get a different perspective form the air.
 Boston Helicopter School
Maxson was only a short distance from Watertown and our journey was almost over. Maxson was in sight but we decided to fly around a castle in the middle of Alexandria Bay to extend our flight time as much as possible. Steve and I were sad it was almost over. I was flying at the time from the left seat and performed a really nice steep approach to the numbers at Maxson.
 Boston Helicopter School
I was in a hover getting ready to taxi over to the hanger and Steve decided that he did not want the fun to end. Up we went, around the airport, and Steve performed a really nice steep approach, landing the helicopter in a cross wind like a champ. Dave greeted us and asked how the flight was and how the helicopter handled. Steve and I had grins from one ear to the other. The fun was over, and we had to stay the night to drive home with Dave and Linda the following afternoon.
Every Sunday, Maxson has a steak and egg breakfast. A good amount of people came to the breakfast and the topic of the conversation, “yep you guessed it helicopters”. We enjoyed everyones company and drove home once everyone left.
Thanks to everybody at NAFA for an unbelievable experience.
Great job guys and thanks for pitching in to bring the helicopter to it’s new home! Mike and Steven will be in our first instrument ground school in August, and are also enrolled in the Part 141 instrument helicopter training course here at North Andover Flight Academy.
Tags: boston helicopter, boston helicopter school
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July 1st, 2010
Congratulations to Steven Reel - the newest Part 141 graduate here at our Boston area helicopter school. You may have read about Steven in our blogs when he first started as a Part 141 helicopter student. That was on March 25th - 12 weeks later and Steven successfully completed the Part 141 helicopter training and passes his checkride with Joe Brigham. The Private pilot checkride covered everything as outlined in the PTS - basically every maneuver in the PTS was demonstrated successfully - all items covered within the Part 141 curriculum. In the Part 141 curriculum are 3 written stage exams and 3 checkrides in the helicopter with our instructors. All of this preparation led Steven to the big day - and lots of smiles afterward.
 Fueling the helicopter for the checkride
Under the Montana Vocational Rehab program, Steven will continue in the Part 141 instrument program using our Robinson R-22 and Robinson R-44 instrument trainers. One of the largest accomplishments is that Steven is completing his training all while working a full-time job!
 Prepping the helicopter for the PPL check ride Steven has participated in many other events here at the school, including a few ferry flights, and our operations at the apple orchard flying helicopter frost prevention.
 Another check ride passed! Steven is already looking forward to his next checkride!
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June 16th, 2010
As you may already know, North Andover Flight Academy has developed what may be the first ever helicopter FITS syllabus which will be Part 141 approved. This syllabus is an attempt to raise the standards of helicopter flight training by incorporating the FITS principles developed by the FAA. You can view the article in the June edition of Rotor & Wing, or digitally here:
http://accessintelligence.imirus.com/Mpowered/imirus.jsp?volume=rw10&issue=2&page=31
 Scenario Based Training
A reprint of the article text here:
Scenario-based Training: As Real as it Gets
“While maneuver-based training is critical in learning the basics of controlling the aircraft, specific scenarios appropriate for the type of operation are more effective in learning actual operation.” —International Helicopter Safety Team Toolkit
By Dale Smith
Commercial airplane pilots have it easy. They take off from a paved runway. They fly along prescribed airways (under the watchful eye of ATC). They land on a paved runway. Those airplane pilots who never land off-airport are in the vast minority.
It’s just the opposite for a commercial helicopter pilot—especially those who fly EMS, ENG, heli-logging, heli-skiing, SAR—pretty much everything, for that matter. The take-off may occur from a paved helipad, but from that point on, all bets are off. Operators fly in all kinds of weather, close to the ground and are often under some high-level of external stress or pressure to accomplish the mission. In fact, for most helicopter pilots the only “routine” flying they do is when they’re training. Helicopter industry experts and insiders think the predictable routines of helicopter training may be part of the overall safety problem.
Within the boundaries of commercial helicopter training everything is pretty much structured. The student is expecting certain things to happen at certain times—definitely not the way it occurs in real life.
“At CAE, we were very intrigued about the combination of our training capabilities and the track record of helicopter safety,” said Claude Lauzon, vice president of Civil Aviation Services. “We started to participate with the ICAO on an international working group that is redefining the standards for training devices and tasks.”
Lauzon explained that CAE “created a helicopter advisory board consisting of a cross-section of our industry—insurance companies, OEMs and large and small operators from different segments of the industry,” he said. “We started with the fundamental training, gaps and requirements and one of the things they stressed most was the desire to do scenario-based training mission rehearsals.”
But what is scenario-based training, exactly? The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) defines it this way: “Scenario-based training provides an opportunity to experience the situations that may occur during a routine flight and teaches systematic risk reduction and critical thinking skills.”
Curt Peredina, chief pilot for North Andover Flight Academy, the first helicopter flight school in the world to offer a FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) curriculum, explained how scenario-based training was shaping his school’s training curriculum. “Where accepted helicopter training has fundamentally provided instruction in maneuvers, our FITS syllabus enhances the commercial helicopter training experience by placing the student within scenarios that will build their flight skills as well as their judgment and risk assessment skills,” he said.
“It basically wraps up all of the elements within the commercial training program into distinct scenarios rather than just going up with an instructor and flying around and doing repetitions,” Peredina said. “Plus, it puts decision-making and resource management into each lesson.”
And when you get right down to it, learning good decision-making skills is really at the heart of what scenario-based training is all about, whether you’re a newly minted commercial helicopter pilot or a grizzled old veteran with a logbook as thick as a phonebook.
“I’ve seen a lot of Part 135 check rides where the check airman sits down and goes over the normal oral regulations, systems, general knowledge questions then they go off and fly,” said Randy Sharp, manager of the flight training department for California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR). “They do the same maneuvers again and again—maybe simulate this or that. One through five on the 814-10 checklist to make sure they’re covering all the items.”
He added that is fine “for just going out and making sure the pilot can perform the maneuvers to commercial standards. But it seemed to me there had to be more to it than that—especially in the EMS pilot’s world. It just wasn’t a representation of [whether] this pilot is ready to handle the kinds of issues he or she will face doing their job, but is he or she having any problems with these issues? Regular training just wasn’t created to do that.”
Well, in the minds of Sharp, Peredina, CAE and other leading helicopter industry safety advocates the answer is a resounding: No!
Scenario-based training is nothing new. The U.S. military has been using it for years. “I flew in the Air Force for 22 years and they concentrated heavily scenario-based training,” Sharp said.
Nevertheless, he added, “being able to demonstrate a maneuver is one thing, but it’s not about the maneuvers, it’s about the whole package during an exercise, training event or check-ride.” Sharp explained that CALSTAR wants to train to an elevated standard. The company has strived to improve overall effectiveness in the judgment and decision-making processes for its pilots.
Welcome to Our World
Whether you are planning training for green commercial helicopter students or highly experienced EMS pilots, the goal of scenario-based training is the same: creating situations where the pilot is put in a position that will challenge the ability to “think outside of the box” and make solid, rational, safe decisions.
“We are setting the student up for the particular situation without them even knowing about it,” Peredina said. “They learn from what happens rather than from being told what will happen … just like real life.”
Peredina explained the one of the first lessons a North Andover student will experience is a simulated photo flight—something a lot of new commercial helicopter pilots will probably have to do. “The instructor acts as the ‘client’ and sets the student up for certain things to happen within the scenario,” he said. “Things like out of ground effect hover, settling with power—things like that.”
“I had one student take me up to ‘take pictures of my house.’ I asked him to hover at a certain altitude over an island right in front of us. He didn’t realize it was a tail wind situation—he was not thinking about it,” Peredina said. “What happened with this student was as he set me up for an OGE hover he got into the onset of settling with power and lost tail rotor effectiveness.”
The helicopter swung to the right, he continued. “He couldn’t control it. I had to take over to get out of it. Then we went back up to that altitude and I explained what happened. It was a lot more effective than just going up and doing a planned maneuver.”
Because CALSTAR’s 49 pilots are highly experienced and fly in their own real world 24/7, Sharp’s scenarios need to be even more realistic on a variety of levels. “I have multiple scenarios, but one of my favorites is a call for an ATV (all terrain vehicle) rollover in a confined area on the side of a steep hill. There’s 45-year old male with multiple injuries,” Sharp said. “I play the crewmember flight nurse. Sometimes I’m a good nurse, sometimes I’m a bad nurse—not ‘bad’ in evil, but ‘bad’ in lack of knowledge and helpfulness to the pilot—that’s what the pilot faces in real life.”
Three crewmembers are on each flight, the pilot and two flight nurses. “The nurse is an important crewmember and often can be a valuable asset for the pilot,” he said. “I give the pilot the input as the nurse would. I don’t tell them I want to see a particular maneuver but I put them in a particular situation to demonstrate it to me without them knowing about it. No two sessions are the same.”
“There’s a big scenario game that makes the pilot think—really analyze the problem. I can beat down the throttle and it may look like an engine failure but it’s just in ground idle,” Sharp explained. “He or she has a set of parameters to deal with. Is it an engine failure or something else?”
Sharp continued: “Say the engine drops to ground idle power. They now ask the flight nurse what the engine is doing—what are the instruments saying? Okay, it’s at ground idle and they decide to leave it there. That’s a good answer,” he said. “It could come back online. It could just be a low side failure. Rather than immediately shutting the engine down, what are the options? The best solution for this situation?”
Sharp said that the goal of his training scenarios is to not just check off boxes on a form. “I want to see if they have a real life understanding of what they are supposed to do. Say they do an engine shutdown and forget to turn off the fuel valve. Guess what comes up next; an engine fire. That’s what happens in a actual flight when they don’t shut the engine down properly.”
Safety First
Of course actually shutting down an engine in flight isn’t something anyone suggests, or the actual completion of many helicopter maneuvers including auto-rotations. It’s all just simulated to the best level of realism possible. But, you have to ask: is that good enough?
“One of the key insights is when you train in a helicopter, you never actually train to the end of the scenario. The instructor pilot will judge that you have actually [demonstrated the skill], generated enough risk or are operating at a risk level that is the limit,” Lauzon said. “For example, if you want to train for auto-rotation, you will practice at a certain height and then below 100 feet you will stop the auto-rotation. Very rarely will you actually perform the training to the end.” Operators comment that “if you don’t see a scenario through to the end, you can actually have some negative training for that situation,” he noted. “You will not have rehearsed a complete story. It’s the same with inadvertent IMC. They will not want an inexperienced pilot in a real helicopter to fly into IFR conditions and then let him sort himself out.”
Before going out on a flight, Sharp tells the pilot there are two switches that cannot physically be turned off—the fuel valve and the throttle from ground idle to full off—unless there’s a real emergency. Other than that we make each flight as realistic as we can while still being safe.”
Simple Scenarios
While using scenarios for platform landings, EMS operations, heli-logging, or whatever application, this type of training is also proving to be extremely helpful in reinforcing even the most basic piloting skills.
One skill that both North Andover Flight Academy and CALSTAR stress is good fuel management and both operations blend it seamlessly into specific scenario situations. “Instead of building their night solo time flying around the pattern, we give students places to go and things to do,” Peredina said. One is a simulated police search over the city. “They go out and perform a set series of searches. When they come back they get dispatched right back out again. I want to see a few planning skills, but the biggest is whether they’ve checked to see if they have enough fuel to complete the mission. It’s an easy thing to overlook in the heat of the moment.”
Sharp said that one skill he tries to get all of his flight crews to develop—and it can be the hardest of them all—is to just say no. “I go to remote locations and try to get the pilot to land on a steep slope or in other difficult areas. He can just say no. Sometimes that’s the best answer. All of our pilots want to accomplish their mission,” he said. “Yes there are lives on the line, but at what price?”
That’s what scenario-based training is all about. As Peredina put it scenario training “is based on much more than the maneuvers. It’s based on all the decisions and all the planning that has to be done to safely complete any and every flight.”
Thank you to Dale and everyone at Rotor & Wing!
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June 1st, 2010
When someone once told me that the helicopter community was tiny, I did not fully grasp the scope of that statement. Especially in New England, it seems that everyone who pilots a helicopter knows just about everyone else. Some better than others, but occasionally there is someone that has had an influence on your daily operations as a pilot. That someone is Mike Wheeler.
I first met Mike 2 years ago when we decided to pursue our Part 141 certification. At that time, I had heard from many flight schools that pursuing Part 141 was a mistake, a paperwork nightmare, a task that would reveal the true nature of the regulatory beast called the FAA. I was warned multiple times not to do it, but I did it anyway. I went ahead and scheduled that first meeting at the Lexington FSDO to talk about our Part 141 certification.
Up until this time, my exposure to the FAA was limited to checkrides with DPE’s and the occasional trip to the FSDO to renew my CFI certificate. I had never attempted something of this magnitude. Certainly this was going to be a disaster, an exercise in futility…..
That’s when I met Mike Wheeler. He was part of the initial inspection team and would later become our school PIO for the Part 141 certification. From that day forward, Mike would be “the man” for everything related to our Part 141 certification. From the initial meeting, right up to our CFI syllabus and FITS certification, Mike was instrumental in everything we accomplished. Without him, none of this would have been possible.
One of Mike’s great attributes, of the many he possessed, was his infinite patience. On more than one occasion, I can recall his explanation of “Log of Revisions” and “List of Effective Pages”, to me. Each time I thought I understood the explanation, but sure enough, the TCO revisions were back in my email INBOX, with repeated explanation of the correct use of these concepts. Within due time, we had worked through the TCO’s and other paperwork for the 141 and it was time to do the checkrides for each TCO. It wasn’t enough that I had to teach lessons from each TCO, but literally 8 FAA employees were on hand for the initial Part 141 inspection. I was a bit sleep deprived from the anticipation, but the day was here to finally fly with Mike. I had heard great things about Mike from other pilots, but was nervous just the same.
Mike had made the expectations clear about this checkride process, and it would be necessary to perform ground and flight lessons for each TCO. I sure was nervous, but Mike was the type of guy that would put most people at ease soon after the checkride started.
After almost 2 hours of ground work it was time to fly each aircraft for each TCO requirement. A few flights later, and our 141 was complete! Flying with Mike was a great experience, he had so much to offer in the way of knowledge gained through years of operating helicopters. Each flight was a checkride and a learning experience. The way Mike conducted himself put me right at ease. It was obvious he was a mentor as well as an seasoned check pilot.
I have had the opportunity to fly with Mike after the checkride and each time was a better experience than the last. Mike continued to assist the school with 141 and FITS operations, sometimes answering email questions within a few minutes. Mike was also instrumental in developing the FITS syllabus - he was a true proponent of advancing training in all areas of aviation.
Mike, you were an inspiration for us all, and you will always be a part of this helicopter school. You will be missed, and I personally thank you for everything you have done.
For more history and pictures of Mike, please go to Mike Wheeler’s Memorial Site.
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May 25th, 2010
The Riveredge Resort in Alexandria Bay NY hosted a “kick off the season” event for local businesses in preparation for the Memorial Day kick off of the Tourist Season here in upstate New York. It provided a great opportunity to do a test flight for the helicopter portion of the wedding package they will be offering out of NAFA’s New York location.
Tags: helicopter flight training New York upstate part 141 school
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May 25th, 2010
The day started like most others here at the school. 7AM and it’s time to get the helicopters out of the hangar. Mitch arrived early and the day began. Within 4 hours there would be about 12 helicopters on the ramp for the next Helicopter Safety Seminar at North Andover Flight Academy.
Since the autorotations with Mitch were going well, it was time to move on to the next student.
 Mitch Setting up for an Autorotation Robinson R-44  Mitch after practicing autorotations in the R-44 Ken Wilson is our A+P in Maxson New York, and was down for the week overhauling a Robinson R-22. He wanted to get a flight in along the coast in our instrument trainer which was rebuilt by Dave Beach. We grabbed the instrument trainer and went for a flight along the Massachusetts and New Hampshire seacoast. The helicopter performed well, and it was a great flight.
 Helicopter along Massachusetts and New Hampshire seacoast By the time we arrived back at the Lawrence Airport, the helicopters were already beginning to arrive. Our Assistant Chief Instructor in Maxson, David Cole, arrived with our 44 and 2 students getting cross country helicopter time. Soon after the ramp was loaded with helicopters, just in time for the arrival of a vintage Bell 47.
 Bell 47 at our Boston Helicopter School  Bell 47 at North Andover Flight Academy Other than the Bell 47, the ramp was crowded with Robinson R22’s and R44’s with the school helicopters buzzing in and out for the rest of the day.
 Boston Helicopter School Robinson Helicopters  Helicopters on the Ramp at a Boston Helicopter Flight School  Helicopter Flight School Boston  Helicopters arriving outside Boston Mass  North Andover Flight Academy Departing Ramp But on to the seminar - Joe Brigham arrived, and as always, drew quite a crowd. I counted around 60 people, which is an amazing turnout for this type of event - especially on such a nice summer day! With what goes into these events, it really helps when the weather cooperates.
Joe started out with a few stories from the past as he prepped the crowd for a first-of-it’s-kind presentation using data from the Robinson R-44 RFM. The presentation would follow a group of people departing Lawrence in their R-44 and heading up into the mountains on a hot windy day. Joe chose 4 audience members to be the “R-44 crew”, and put them in the 4 seats in the front of the crowd.
 Boston Helicopter Safety Seminar  Joe Brigham speaking at North Andover Flight Academy Boston The discussion continued with performance charts, weight and balance, and a cross country discussion of thing to look for and consider when heading up into the mountains.
 Joe Brigham speaking at North Andover Flight Academy Boston As you can see from the pictures, it was a full house, standing room only event - that’s Darryl Abbey from Salem Five Insurance on the left. Darryl is always around to answer helicopter insurance related questions.
 Cookout after the Boston Helicopter Safety Seminar Next up after the seminar was the cookout - as always food was provided by the catering division of North Andover Flight Academy with help from Anderson Timber Company - Mitch brought a huge tenderloin which lasted about 10 minutes.
 Cookout after the Boston Helicopter Safety Seminar There were static displays all around the hangar for viewing, including the tailcone from 22HF, which many people had flown when it was at a helicopter school in Norwood Mass near the Blue Hill outside Boston, Massachusetts.
 Static Displays at the Helicopter Safety Seminar The FAA was on hand to answer questions and this seminar was also good for Wings credit. The FAASTeam was present to distribute safety material and to promote faasafety.gov and the WINGS Pilot Porficiency Program.
Shortly after the seminar ended it was business as usual. Time to get the helicopters out and flying!
 Servicing a Robinson R22 Boston Mass This was the largest helicopter safety seminar in the Boston area, and is a good indication that the seminars are useful and engaging for area helicopter pilots. Our next seminar will be in September and will be an even more involved learning experience for all who attend.
Thank you everyone for your help and attendance - look forward to seeing you in the Fall!
Special thanks to Steve Grota from the FAASafety Team, Joe Brigham, and Steve Brosseau for bringing the Bell 47!
Tags: helicopter flight school boston, helicopter safety seminar
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May 21st, 2010
Every time a student solos a helicopter, it should be a time for celebration. The solo is a culmination of hard work, studying, flight training and proving oneself to the instructor, check instructor, and the most important person in the world - yourself.
When Omer arrived at our helicopter school, he had the same immediate goal that all students have - the first solo. But his first solo was on a bit tighter schedule than most. He would be leaving to go home for the Summer and this would be a really important milestone before getting on that flight back home. Between studies at the university and flight training, there would not be much free time, but it was important to reach the solo milestone before the middle of May.
There are quite a few things to cover before one is deemed fit to solo. First there is the basic handling of the helicopter. Can the student pick up, set down, hover, depart, approach, and land without assistance? How do they react to emergencies or situations that might arise during the flight? Loss of governor, recovery from low rotor RPM, engine failure, stuck pedals, limited power situations, electrical failure, and high winds to name a few.
Students must also demonstrate their competency through written examinations and quizzes, oral examination, and a check flight before they are allowed to fly the helicopter solo. This is all happening as they are building their hours to get to the point of solo.
Well, Omer did all of this, and had to pass the final test - the pre-solo Stage check. This is the time to demonstrate to the check pilot that you are safe to solo and can handle everything that could happen on your first solo - in 23 hours of flight time.
It goes without saying he did a great job and here are the solo pictures to prove it!
 Omer Hovering in From First Solo  First Solo at Lawrence Airport We were all watching as he picked up for the first time without an instructor. After demonstrating this a few times, he continued on into the traffic pattern at the Lawrence Airport. It was such a beautiful day that Boston was visible in the distance as he made a few circuits around the pattern.
 Omer and Instructor Laura But wait! The story doesn’t end there. After solo in the Robinson R22, it was time to head out in the R-44 for a celebration tour of Boston! Omer piloted the R-44 from Lawrence and into Boston one last time before heading home for the Summer.
And, true to our word, we took him up in the airplane for a flight out to the coast (we had promised him a flight in the airplane after his first solo).
 Piloting the Grumman New Hampshire Seacoast We took the Cheetah out to the coast of New Hampshire following the Merrimack River. Having never piloted an airplane he did a great job - we both agreed it was a little more stable in cruise than a Robinson R-22.
 A Great Day at the Flight School It was a pretty cool day for all of us at the school Omer, have a great Summer and see you in the Fall!
From all the gang at North Andover Flight Academy.
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May 21st, 2010
There are lots of helicopter pilots, and there are lots of airplane pilots, but every once in a while, there’s someone that has the desire to do both. Many times fixed wing pilots choose to become helicopter pilots. Occasionally it’s the other way around. There’s even less of a chance that this will happen at a helicopter school. But when one of our friends and long time customer, Dave McSorley, decided he wanted to learn to fly airplanes, he really decided he wanted to fly airplanes. We had taken a few lessons in the flight school Cessna, and it had been constantly on his mind since. Around the same time I was giving Dave a few lessons in the Cessna 172, I had noticed a Grumman that had been tied down near our hangars - a nice Grumman Cheetah. Some months later, that same Cheetah was in the hangar at Four Star Aviation going through an annual and getting a new coat of paint.
 Grumman Cheetah on the Ramp Lawrence Mass Well sure enough, that sleek looking Cheetah caught Dave’s eye almost immediately. As it was going through it’s annual and new paint job, Dave could be seen walking around the hangar, peeking in the cockpit and asking questions - quite a few questions. His questions were often directed in my direction - asking about the Grumman line, handling, and what I thought about the aircraft. I had instructed in the AA-1 trainers back in the 90’s out of the old Tew-Mac airport, and didn’t have many negative things to say about them. They have the same castering nosewheel as the Cirrus aircraft, and they can be a little hot on landing and takeoff, but they are quick for the amount of power available. And the sliding canopy is a really nice feature on the hot summer days.
 An Airplane at a Helicopter School A few weeks later, Dave and I were test flying the Cheetah. Sure enough, it was an honest handling airplane - 115-120 knots at 75% power. Around 7GPH and approximately 700-900 fpm climb about 10% under gross weight. With 50 gallons fuel, this little airplane has quite a range. Dave was excited, and soon after, the Grumman was his! A first time airplane owner is a great sight.
 Taxiing the Grumman at Fitchburg Our first trip was to Boire Field in Nashua, New Hampshire. Within minutes Dave has mastered the taxi using the brakes and rudder. Within hours, Dave had a grasp on the takeoff and pattern procedures. We’re now working on the landings - always the toughest part of the training. This little Grumman is no Cherokee - it requires deft feet throughout the landing, and it’s sensitive pitch and roll makes for an interesting time. All in good fun when you’re at the best helicopter - umm - occasionally airplane - school in the Boston, New Hampshire, and New York area.
 Stay Away from Our Customers Dave!! Stop by the helicopter school at the Lawrence Airport sometime and check out our fleet of helicopters and Dave’s Grumman Cheetah parked just outside our door! We are located just outside Boston Massachusetts and are the premier helicopter training and Boston Helicopter Tour company in New England.
And please Dave - try not to convert too many of our customers!
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May 12th, 2010
After an unusually warm Spring, a clear, cool night with no wind is an apple orchard owner’s nightmare. This past week became the perfect setup to lose an entire crop of apples to Jack Frost. The forecast was for temperatures in the 20’s with no wind and no cloud cover. When you live in upstate New York and own hundreds of acres of crops, you have a good reason to call in as many helicopters as you can. It could mean the difference between a banner year with your apples, or an entire crop lost to a late freeze. It goes by many names - frost patrol and frost prevention to name a couple, but it takes a tremendous amount of logistics, coordination, and good old fashioned helicopter piloting to make it work.
Monday 7AM - The phone rings with our client on the other end of the line. There’s a freeze warning throughout the Hudson River Valley area, and he needs all the helicopters we can get from our Massachusetts and New York helicopter schools up in his area as soon as possible this afternoon! I’m not even out the door this morning and I’m dialing all of our pilots to get them moving as quickly as possible. Because we are a large flight school and helicopter tour provider, we have a list of pilots from all over New England and New York - and I’m on the phone with every one of them.
Monday 11AM - I’ve already been in the office a few hours, and I’m talking with maintenance and checking the schedule for all the helicopters in our New York and Massachusetts offices. We’re on the phone moving reservations for today and tomorrow in order to get the most helicopters together and up to New York as soon as possible. I’ve already committed most of the pilots needed - at this point we have more machines than committed pilots, and that’s not good.
Monday 1PM - Some of the pilots can’t make it, but most of the pilots can, we now have enough helicopters and pilots with a few pilots to spare. As usual with these operations, we call up a few of our students and other pilots that have trained at our school to go along and assist with the operations. This gives us a chance to allow students and commercial pilots in training to see what is involved with commercial operations and the decisions that need to be made quickly to make sure the entire operation goes smoothly.
 Planning the helicopter frost Patrol
Monday 3PM - We have our final plan on the board to coordinate helicopter from 2 locations arriving at our airport in upstate New York to check in and refuel before flying to the heliport staging area 15 miles from the fueling point. We have the coordinates to the helicopter near the orchards, and our pilots from New York are on the phone with us as we brief the schedule.
 Briefing for the Frost Patrol and Ferry Flight Mike, Laura, Steve, Steven, Dave, and me (Curt), are on the phone with Tseko and Ken from our New York flight school. Everyone is set to meet at the staging airport by 6:30 PM. Bags are packed, as we are not sure where we will be staying for the night, and the helicopters are serviced and ready to go!
 Bags packed and servicing one of the helicopters
 Preflighting helicopter for frost patrol ferry flight Monday 4PM - Winds are still gusting in the high 20’s at Lawrence, and just as high in New York, but we can’t wait any longer to launch. Steve and I depart in the R44 ahead of the 2 R22’s in order to get to the refueling point and get things ready for the 4 helicopters following. The 2 hour trip was amazing - even with the winds the trip across Massachusetts and into the beautiful Hudson River Valley was great.
 Quabbin Reservoir by Helicopter
 Robinson Helicopters Arriving at the refueling point Monday 6:15PM - We arrived at the airport 20 minutes ago, and our first 2 helicopters arrive for fuel. We are waiting at the pumps ready to go. We’ve made the entire trip out in constant contact on 122.95, so we we knew to the minute when they would arrive.
 Refueling the helicopters Shortly after the first 2 arrive, our 2 helicopters from New York arrive to be refueled. I double check they have the correct coordinates of the next meeting point, top off their tanks, and send them on their way.
Monday 7PM - After the first 2 flights arrive, we arrive in the 44 at the heliport for the final briefing. We meet with the orchard owners and discuss what we will be flying, where we will be flying, and the specifics of the orchards. We’re going to split up now, and all of us will be on 123.45 if we need assistance. We have 6 pilots and mechanics ready to go, so we launch to our orchards for the night.
 Staging for the frost patrol at the heliport We depart with our Robinson R44’s to our orchard and get ready for the frost to settle. Our LZ is in a small, but known area, and we fit the 44’s into their resting spots for the night. A quick tour of the orchard to check out the hazards, and it’s off to dinner. See the video here.
 Surveying one of the orchards  Getting ready for Dinner at Bob and Linda's house After a wonderful dinner cooked by Bob’s wife Linda, it was time to make a decision - should we leave the helicopters with their current fuel load (approximately 45 minutes down), or should we get what fuel we could from the heliport? We decided that the extra hour of flying for our helicopters would be the best bet, so off we went to top off all the machines.
Monday 11:30 PM - Finally we’re down to rest and wait for the frost to come (hopefully not). Bob has explained the situation. If the wind dies off, and the temperatures drop, he will get the coffee on and wake us up. Right now the temps are holding steady in the low 40’s, but the wind has diminished. Bob is a bit worried, if the temps continue to drop, we will need to get going. he also explains that if we launch to early, we may use up the warm air and run the risk of frosting over once the sun comes up over the horizon. Most people don’t know that the coldest part of the day can be the minutes AFTER sunrise, when evaporation begins and the air starts to lose latent heat. The temps can dip as much as 4 degrees during this period in some areas of the orchards, so this is the critical time for preventing the damaging frost from forming. Bob has a lot to think about in these coming hours. His entire crop could be hanging in the balance. I don’t believe any of us will sleep well - we’ve all come to empathize with Bob over his dilemma. This orchard has been in his family for a hundred years, and we don’t want to let him down. Even though we’re all here to fly, we make no secret of the fact that we are hoping we’re NOT needed. We all like Bob and Linda, and their hospitality has been absolutely amazing - they have been so nice to a bunch of strangers from hundreds of miles away.
Tuesday 3AM - I awake to the sound of the coffee pot brewing. I can hear Bob talking on the phone. He hasn’t slept much this morning, he’s on the phone with his brother. They’re talking quietly, but I know what it’s about. Bob comes over and turns on the light, though I’m already awake and ready to go. The temperature in the orchards have dropped rapidly to 29 degrees in some places, and it’s time to grab some coffee and go. We wake the other pilots, and get to the helicopters. It’s pitch dark, and the dew is just starting to frost on the helicopters. We need to move quickly.
 Preflighting at 4AM for the frost patrol We fire up the helicopters and lift off into the darkness, doing our best to recall the orchards boundaries from the night before. Over the row of trees and into the orchard we go. The temp on the surface is about 28 degrees, but the temp at 30 feet is a balmy 43 degrees! We’ve hit the inversion layer and it’s time to get to work. For the next 2.5 hours we fly up and down the orchard at 10-30 feet, doing our best to circulate this warmer layer of air down into the trees to prevent the formation of a deadly frost. Sunrise comes quickly on this clear, cold morning and the view is amazing. The unimpeded sunrise to the East, and the mountains to the West frame us in an unbelievable morning. It’s easy to forget why we’re here, but we must keep flying and circulating the air. We can hear the other helicopters operating their orchards, and we belt out the occasional wise remark to some of our other pilots to keep it lively.
 Flying Low Over the Orchard to Prevent Frost
 North Andover Flying Frost Patrol See what it’s like to fly the frost patrol here.
As the sun comes up the temperature is dipping lower and lower. We’re now at 36 degrees, and holding steady. We can’t find any other warmer layer. We fly lower over the irrigation ponds to no avail - it’s still holding steady as the sun comes up over the horizon. Bob is on the radio below keeping us informed of the situation down there. 34 degrees! We’re keeping the orchard above freezing, and we’re almost through the critical time after sunrise.
Tuesday 6:30 AM - We’re watching the OAT in our Robinson helicopter, and it’s now starting to rise. 38……39…40…41…the warmer air is now returning!!!! A few minutes later and Bob calls us in. We kept the temps way above freezing. Bob’s careful planning and execution and our flying kept his orchards alive!! Hundreds of acres have been saved from a nasty frost. More than likely he would have lost a large crop without the helicopters!!
A quick stop and a pickup of our supplies and it’s back to the helicopter. We all say goodbye to Bob and his orchard and head back up to meet at the airport for the final fueling. I have a meeting back at the helicopter school in Massachusetts, and it’s a long flight from here to the Boston Mass area.
We couldn’t help ourselves as we waved goodbye to Bob and lifted away from the orchard. We had to fly over his house one more time in the daylight and take a last look at all the young apples we saved from an almost certain destruction. Thousands of these little fruits were below us for the last several hours, and it was sort of comforting to look down at the farm one last time as we headed off into the sunrise. It wasn’t as glamorous as heading off into the sunset, as the early morning flight had drained all glamor from this activity, but we all had a sense of satisfaction from what we did that night. And the possibility that we may meet up with these little fruits again gave a sense of pride which was most certainly earned.
 The Orchard Saved from Frost To pull together 5 helicopters from hundreds of miles away in a few hours takes more than one person. Thanks to Dave, John, Steve, Laura, Tseko, Ken, Mike and Steven the frost prevention went almost perfectly. We are much more than a helicopter school here at North Andover Flight Academy. I’m sure you’ve probably already learned that from reading this post.
Enjoy your apple pie this fall.
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April 15th, 2010
What’s better than getting your helicopter instrument rating? Getting your helicopter instrument rating and saving thousands of dollars! The latest addition to our helicopter fleet here at the school is a Robinson R-22 instrument trainer. A rare bird indeed, there were a few of these instrument trainers produced in the early years, and our newest helicopter is fresh out of a complete overhaul from our Robinson Helicopter overhaul facility here outside Boston Massachusetts. As our instrument candidates will tell you, this is one beautiful helicopter! It’s rarity makes it that much more enjoyable. The large instrument panel places everything within easy reach of the pilot, and the HSI/Garmin 430 combination (newly installed), make this an updated version of the venerable Robinson R-22 instrument trainer.
 Robinson R22 Instrument Trainer In Flight Over Massachusetts Coastline  Boston Helicopter Instrument Training Part 141 Since it’s newly overhauled, it truly flies like a new helicopter! New avionics, new gyros, basically everything is new! One of the best things about training for your instrument rating in the Robinson R-22 instrument trainer is the price! Only $250/hr. solo, or $290 with a certified instrument instructor. Because we are a fully certified Part 141 helicopter school, you can also choose our Part 141 instrument training program and complete your helicopter instrument rating under Part 141.
 Robinson R22 Instrument Trainer Panel  Robinson R22 Instrument Trainer Panel  Robinson R-22 Instrument Trainer Of course, if you want to do your helicopter instrument rating in our larger, instrument equipped Robinson R-44, well, we can accommodate that request as well! You can train in the Robinson R-44 for not much more than a Schweizer, and train in the Robinson R-22 for thousands less than an instrument rating anywhere else!
 Robinson R22's On the Ramp Boston Massachusetts North Andover Flight Academy offers helicopter instrument ratings with several of our instrument qualified instructors. Stop in and see us, email, or give us a call anytime. We are Part 141 approved, and Part 61 students can also benefit from our Part 141 helicopter instrument rating curriculum.
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