The HSAC meeting was held in New Orleans, LA, Jan 11-12. Attendees from offshore operators and petroleum companies discussed best practices and safety initiatives in operations, training, maintenance and technology. Harold Summers, HAI’s director of Flight Operations and Technical Services, provided updates on HELI-EXPO 2012 and HAI Accreditation. The Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference (HSAC...

Nicole Jackson has been named HAI’s Advertising & Exhibit Sales assistant. Prior to joining HAI, Nicole was an intern with the Water Environment Federation in their Exhibition and Conference department. Reporting to HAI’s manager of Advertising & Exhibit Sales, Nicole will be assisting with the marketing of HELI-EXPO®, selling exhibit space and sponsorships for HELI-EXPO, and assisting in...

Helicopter Association International (HAI) announces the winners of the Association’s 2012 Salute to Excellence Awards, honoring those who maintain the highest traditions of the helicopter industry. “The Salute to Excellence awards couldn’t be better named,” says HAI President Matt Zuccaro. “In an industry for which safety is so important, everyone strives to do their very best – and these awards...

Will Barks | Contributing Author Today’s helicopter engines are marvels of technology and power. These engines have heavy demands placed on them for performance and reliability. In order to sustain these demands, knowing your helicopter’s operating environment and how it impacts maintenance is paramount to managing and operating a safe, efficient and cost-effective helicopter operation...

R. Fred Polak | Editor A flight management system (FMS) is often mistakenly called a long-range navigation system. I say mistakenly because the FMS does more than just long-range navigation. The FMS acts as a navigation manager, and in doing so, reduces the number of system controllers on the flight deck and helps reduce the pilot’s workload. By workload I am talking about the amount of data...

Bob Peterson – Contributing Author I have seen the word helicopter defined as “too many moving parts moving in too many different directions all at the same time” — not too far off from reality, in that there are a great many moving parts all moving to accomplish flight. There are mechanical systems, electrical systems, pneumatic systems and hydraulic systems all working together to “fly” the...

Jon Robbins – Contributing Author Before I say anything else, I want to point out that there is a lot of information on the Internet that will clearly explain the physics of helicopter blade track and balance. All of the companies that make balancing equipment have excellent information available. Bear in mind, I’m an old guy and when I started working on helicopters, although there was software...

We found this article on the Duncan Aviation Web Site Blog and thought it was perfect to go along with our main aircraft battery article. It is reproduced here with permission from the Duncan Download blog ( http://blog.duncanaviation.aero /) Today’s aircraft are a mix and match of different levels of electronic technology. With the proliferation of electronic programmable modules in the 1980s...

Dr. Nigel Thomas – Contributing Author Like car batteries, one of an aircraft battery’s functions is to start the engines (or the APU). But the comparison stops there as, on board an aircraft, batteries are required to do much more. In-flight electrical generation failure is an emergency that calls on the batteries to power the essential loads until landing and evacuation. They have even been...