Safety Check: Tweaking the Rotor RPM
Last week, I conducted five check rides over a four-day period. We flew in a Huges 269C, Guimball Cabri G-2, Enstrom 280FX, and an older Enstrom model F28A. While each aircraft operated flawlessly, I noticed many applicants struggled to maintain the rotor RPM in their respective helicopters. The Guimball Cabri G-2 is equipped with a […]
Safety Check – What is a true formation flight?
Recently we had a client request an aerial tour of a property in central Indiana. The flight request involved multiple helicopters. During the pilot safety briefing, it was discussed having one pilot who would make the radio calls on behalf of the other aircraft. Knowing this would be a revenue flight we could not be […]
How special is Special VFR?
Heli-Expo 2023 is being held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA March 6 – 9. As always it is a great event. I would encourage you to attend one or more of the many educational events sponsored by HAI. This year I will be presenting “DPE’s Pet Peeves” on Wednesday, March 8th […]
Bad Habits are self-induced risks
As many of you will attest, Enstrom builds one of the safest helicopters in the world. And if Chuck Surack has his way that long-standing reputation will only be exacerbated with an improved product line that is second to none. However, Enstrom can only do so much to protect us. Once the airworthiness certificate is […]
Keeping the nose straight
Earlier this month our Director of Operations and fellow DPE of Sweet Helicopters, Jeff Schorsch, conducted a recurrent training course for our pilot staff. One of his topics was a review of Loss of Tail Rotor Effectiveness (LTE). So, this month I selected a past accident report, onboard the helicopter was a pilot and passenger. […]
Know When to Say “No”
On a recent flight to Menominee, MI to visit the factory, Chuck Surack, Steve Yaggy, Roger Sharkey and myself were talking about helicopters, as we often do. We started talking about helicopter safety, and while we know that flying in helicopters is safe, how can it be even safer? The statistics of helicopter safety reflect […]
My Top 10 Pet Peeves as a DPE
Last year I did a 10-part video series titled, “My Top 10 Pet Peeves as a DPE”. I created the series to help pilots pass their practical test or what is more commonly known as the dreaded “check ride.” Check rides can be very stressful, especially for private applicants. Please keep in mind the comments […]
Safety Check – July
The More We Look, the Less We See This month’s Safety Check we are talking about preflight inspections and how complacency can become a flight risk. When I searched “inadequate preflight inspections” I was shocked with how many reports came up on helicopters alone. So, I decided to focus on Enstrom’s specifically. Fortunately, that reduced […]