January 29th, 2010
It’s been a long road, but we finally received approval to issue non-immigrant vocational M Visas! What this means is we can work with the Department of State and the Department of Immigration and Customs to enroll foreign students into our Part 141 helicopter flight training program under an M Visa. Foreign students may move to the US to train with us once we approve the issuance of their Visa. While here in the US, they will train full time at North Andover Flight Academy at the Lawrence Airport. They will be assigned a student liason who will be in contact with them from the first phone call, through the application process, through their training until the time they leave. We even have housing and student transportation to and from our flight facilities! Please see our International Helicopter Students page for more information. The Press Release is below for more (or less) interesting reading. We are the ONLY Schweizer or Robinson helicopter school in Massachusetts , New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine that is a qualified Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) helicopter flight school! Come train with THE premier Part 141 helicopter flight school in the Boston Massachusetts area!
N. Andover, Ma., Jan 29, 2010 – North Andover Flight Academy, New York and New England’s premier 141 helicopter training facility, received approval to accept nonimmigrant students under the SEVP M Visa program. North Andover Flight Academy is one of the few helicopter flight schools in the US which is a Student and Exchange Visitor Program M Visa certified school.
According to Curt Peredina, Chief Instructor at North Andover Flight Academy, “NAFA has worked extremely hard to surpass the requirements needed to become SEVP certified. We have worked closely with representatives from the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Immigration and Customs (ICE) throughout the qualification and training process. Goals accomplished included an extensive evaluation and inspection while training for the tasks required of an SEVP certified flight school. We feel the M Visa approval is the perfect addition to our Part 141 helicopter training program”.
North Andover Flight Academy, based in North Andover, MA at the Lawrence Airport (KLWM) is a full service helicopter company specializing in Robinson helicopter training, maintenance and overhaul . North Andover Flight Academy has an additional base in Alexandria, NY and will be opening bases in New Hampshire in the Spring of 2010. In addition to the helicopter 141 program, North Andover Flight Academy has developed one of the first helicopter Commercial FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) syllabus which will be Part 141 approved.
For additional information contact Curt Peredina or Laura McIlrath at 978-689-7600, or email info@northandoverflightacademy.com.
Tags: boston, helicopter, part 141
Posted in Boston Helicopter Instruction | 1 Comment »
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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August 24th, 2009
Boston, Massachusetts to Maxson, New York. Over 230 miles of cross country flying in one evening. Mountains, forests, restricted areas, army bases, and the St. Lawrence River. Could you do this in a Schweizer in one evening? If you want to learn how to fly across the Northeast, learn at our school. This wasn’t the first time we made this trip, and it won’t be the last. Since we’re opening the school at Maxson (89N) we now have a real destination for our students that want some different training - something that the other local flight schools don’t offer.
Kris and I left Lawrence (KLWM) on Friday evening and returned Saturday evening in the R-44. It was an amazing trip and at times our groundspeed was 120kts. That was at reduced power. We covered over 500 miles that weekend, and I could go on and on, but check out the video we put together. Why train in anything but a Robinson Helicopter - train at our Boston helicopter flight school - North Andover Flight Academy. Part 141 training Boston, Mass.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/KrisRM70/videos/1/
Tags: boston, helicopter flight school, maxson
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July 14th, 2009
With our upcoming camera work filming the feature film “The Clear”, we were ready to utilize the production company to assist us with marketing our helicopter school to the Boston and Southern New Hampshire area. The director had a vision of what the helicopter school short video should entail, and we all agreed that the shoot seemed to be headed in the right direction. We also agreed that doing the commercial shoot for our school would be a good experience for one of our students, Andy. Two helicopters, two cameraman, and 3 pilots would be the crew for filming our helicopters.
Utilizing two of our helicopters - R-22 722PG and R-44 7185P, we discussed our route, formation plans, and headed out to the ramp.
 R-22 722PG ready for filming  Our R-44 Chris, Andy and I led Seng and Justin of SEEntertainment out to the ramp to watch us service the helicopters.
 Chris, Curt, Andy fueling the R-44 Our first run for filming our ships would be into the Class B Boston airspace. As a filght of two, the coordination was much easier.
 Chris and Andy over the harbor Around the financial district and the Pru, and back to Lawrence to discuss the next phase.
 Prudential Boston Our next stop would be the coastline of Northern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. Seng switched places with Justin and would ride with me in the R-22 to get video of the 44, and Justin would be taking stills from the 44.
 NAFA Crew  Helicopter over Newburyport Our flight continued east with the Merrimack River toward Newburyport and the Southern New Hampshire coastline. A brief turn to the South toward the Boston coastline, then return to Lawrence.
Overall the shoot went well. Lots of formation flying, some experience for one of our students, and a great shoot with the guys from SEEntertainment. Thanks to Justin and Seng for their help.
We’re all looking forward to the North Andover Flight Academy Commercial, I will post it as soon as it is finished.
I will also talk about our movie shoot with the SEE production company on the upcoming movie “The Clear”. Looks like that will be a fun day of helicopter flying.
Tags: boston, flight school, helicopter, helicopter photography, new hampshire
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