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...

Michael Broderick – Contributing Author When was the last time you thought about your aircraft’s main battery? If you are like me, you most likely thought about it when you had to remove it either because it failed or due to required normal maintenance. In either case, you sent it to that mysterious place called the “battery shop.” Ever wonder what happens to the battery in the “battery shop?”...

Batteries come in all shapes and sizes. We use a multitude of battery-powered devices in our homes and at work. We take their capabilities and usefulness so much for granted that we really don’t think much about them — until we notice that something that runs on a battery has stopped and we have to replace the battery. The first practical battery was invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800. His...