LifePort, Inc. announces it has been awarded a commercial Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to equip the Bell 407 helicopter with lightweight Ballistic Protection System (BPS). This is LifePort’s first STC approval for a BPS in a civil utility helicopter. LifePort is a Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS) company — the aftermarket division of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United...

SkyTrac Systems announces a combined integration with EuroAvionics and the Rescue Track monitoring and dispatch software produced by Convexis GmbH of Germany. This management solution is being used by German air rescue DRF Luftrettung, in its fleet of approximately 50 helicopters that operate in Europe, and has most recently been implemented for the Polish Medical Air Rescue (SP ZOZ Lotnicze...

Professional Aviation Associates, a Greenwich AeroGroup Company, announces that it has formed an alliance with MASCO Service Corporation of Southlake, TX. Through this new alliance, Professional Aviation Associates (PAA) and MASCO can offer operators worldwide support for component exchange and overhaul services. PAA will represent MASCO through their worldwide sales team and offer international...

Decisions, decisions, decisions! We make them every day, usually without giving them too much thought. However, every once in a while we need to make what we would call an important decision. You know, where a fairly decent amount of money is going to be spent on something, and it would be nice to have some help and guidance along the way to make a good sound informed decision. I recently wanted...

R. Fred Polak | Editor West-MEC is a public school district within Arizona’s Marciopa county. It has its own superintendent, support staff and seven-member governing board. The district covers 4,254 square miles and serves more than 26,000 students from 40 high schools. According to Gregory J. Donovan, superintendent of West-MEC, “West-MEC focuses solely on Career and Technical Education (CTE)...

Helicopter maintenance professionals — be they engine, transmission and rotor blade or avionics specialists — have gone through a series of educational classes that have helped bring them to their current level of expertise. As they continue to become involved with the latest and greatest advancements and products in their field of expertise, they will undoubtedly attend more classes and their...

Daniel Mattingly and Lowell W. Berentsen | Contributing Authors Graduates of the Helicopter Maintenance Specialization Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU) are equipped with the maintenance knowledge and skills needed to “hit the ground running,” and are ready for the specialized on-the-job training offered by the industry’s helicopter companies. The department of aviation...

Bill Stepp | Contributing Authors Williamsport, Pennsylvania may ring a familiar note in your mind, as it is the yearly home of baseball’s Little League World Series. It is also the home of the Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) and is affiliated with Pennsylvania State University (PSU). Established in 1989 as an applied technology college, the school offers certificate, associate and...

Knowledge and training are two interesting words to say the least, especially in the field of helicopter maintenance expertise. How do these words apply to what we do as helicopter maintenance professionals? I have often said, “if you think training is expensive, see what ignorance will cost you.” In our highly-specialized field of work, knowledge and training go hand in hand, but they are...