Rotary Wing Show - Interviews From The Helicopter Industry

As a private pilot Paddy Wills wanted to find new and interesting places to fly to and explore. This involved asking around, researching locations, trawling forums and poking around on Google Earth. He thought there must be a better way so he went and created one. Helipaddy is a mobile app for helicopter pilots that … Continue reading "RWS 33 – Helipaddy with Paddy Wills" The post RWS 33 – Helipaddy with Paddy Wills appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Bernie Walker is a Flight paramedic working with STARS – which is the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service – an EMS organisation that covers most of Western Canada. Bernie has been with STARS as a flight paramedic for over 16 years now and these days plays a big part in their educational programs. So he … Continue reading "RWS 32 – Helicopter Flight Paramedics with Bernie Walker" The post RWS 32 – Helicopter Flight Paramedics with Bernie Walker appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is the largest general aviation body in the United States. Hover Power is the association’s helicopter themed blog covering a mix of news, stories and advice. In today’s episode we cover a heap of ground as we talk about the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in the US, … Continue reading "RWS 31 – AOPA Hover Power Blog with Ian Twombly and Markus Lavenson" The post RWS 31 – AOPA Hover Power Blog with Ian Twombly and Markus Lavenson appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

With the ink still drying on his A&P licence Jerry landed a job at Robinson Helicopters and went flying on his first day on the job with Frank Robinson in R22 serial number 2. We cover several of the experiences from Jerry’s career in this episode. Jerry Trimble is today’s guest and is the owner … Continue reading "RWS 30 – Touchdown Autorotation Competition and more with Jerry Trimble" The post RWS 30 – Touchdown Autorotation Competition and more with Jerry Trimble appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

As a Royal Navy SAR pilot Jerry Grayson was involved in a number of high profile rescue missions along with the crews of the Wessex helicopters he piloted. He has written a book – Rescue Pilot – that captures many of the stories of this part of his career. Jerry decided early on in life … Continue reading "RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson" The post RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

From the outback of northern Australia, to the jungles of Vietnam and the mountains of Papua New Guinea and Nepal – plus much of the US, time in the Philippines, Columbia and Russia, David Earley is one well travelled helicopter pilot. Along the way he has held almost every position from line pilot to a … Continue reading "RWS 28 – Vietnam, Culture and Helicopter Company Management with David Earley" The post RWS 28 – Vietnam, Culture and Helicopter Company Management with David Earley appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Helicopters are uniquely suited to the demands of the US Forest Service. John Harris is one of the Service’s inspector pilots and in this episode talks about his career and his current role. Based in Missoula, Montana, John is responsible for checking and qualifying contractor pilots for the US Inter-agency Helicopter Pilot Qualification Card. This … Continue reading "RWS 26 – US Forest Service Helicopter Ops with John Harris" The post RWS 26 – US Forest Service Helicopter Ops with John Harris appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Dr Warren De Haan has been an Aviation vision specialist for 48 years and is considered the world’s leading expert in the field. In this episode we will be talking about vision science, tips on looking after your eyesight, better habits to help you detect obstacles, the effects of aging on sight and considerations for … Continue reading "RWS 25 – Aviation Vision Science with Warren de Haan" The post RWS 25 – Aviation Vision Science with Warren de Haan appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Today’s episode is about a single seat helicopter design being developed in Australia that makes use of a coaxial rotor system. And who better to talk us through the design than Airbus A380 captain Richard Woodward. That’s right, Richard is not only Manager of Flying Operations and Chief Test Pilot at CoaX Helicopters but also … Continue reading "RWS 24 – CoaX Helicopters with Richard Woodward" The post RWS 24 – CoaX Helicopters with Richard Woodward appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

To take us through everything you ever wanted to know about helicopter aircrew helmets we are joined today by Mark Jones of Gentex Aircrew Systems. The modern helmet does much more than just provide head protection as you are about to find out. Should you get one? What should you look for in a helmet? … Continue reading "RWS 23 – Helicopter Helmets with Mark Jones" The post RWS 23 – Helicopter Helmets with Mark Jones appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Blackdeath 23 was Robert Mill’s callsign in an Air Cavalry Unit operating the Kiowa Warrior in Iraq. Robert has published his journal as a book of the same name covering his two tours in Iraq and the daily challenges of operating a scout helicopter in that environment. The Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a light … Continue reading "RWS 22 – Kiowa Warrior in Iraq with Robert Mills" The post RWS 22 – Kiowa Warrior in Iraq with Robert Mills appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

  A battle truck that cruises at 240kts and can land in your supermarket car park – the V-22 Osprey is one of the more unique aircraft kicking around. Ok, technically its a tiltrotor design but we’ll adopt it as more rotary wing than fixed wing. The Osprey was developed from earlier tilt rotor aircraft … Continue reading "RWS 21 – V-22 Osprey with Mike McKinney" The post RWS 21 – V-22 Osprey with Mike McKinney appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

  A great example of the utility of helicopters is their use in firefighting support. There is more to it than meets the eye though. [Warning: This is a longer episode, approx 85mins, so you might want to download the file and play locally] Using underslung buckets or bellytanks helicopters are able to provide water … Continue reading "RWS 20 – Aerial Firefighting with Gordy Cox" The post RWS 20 – Aerial Firefighting with Gordy Cox appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Whether you walk away from a landing after an helicopter engine failure or not depends on many things but one good predictor is the Height Velocity(H/V) diagram. The H/V diagram (also known as H/V curve and dead man’s curve) represents combinations of airspeeds and altitudes that have been determined for that helicopter type where it … Continue reading "RWS 19 – Height Velocity Diagram with Shawn Coyle" The post RWS 19 – Height Velocity Diagram with Shawn Coyle appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

A box full of maps, a sat phone, a support crew of 1 in a British hangar, full tanks and off you hop for an around the world record flight in an MD500 helicopter – that’s what Simon Oliphant-Hope did. Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download 00:45 Thanks for your feedback … Continue reading "RWS 18 – Around the world solo in 17 days with Simon Oliphant-Hope" The post RWS 18 – Around the world solo in 17 days with Simon Oliphant-Hope appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Its time to dust off your CV and step behind the scenes of a helicopter aircrew recruiting office so you can be better prepared for your next job application. Several times in our flying careers we’ll need to go through the process of applying for a position and mostly likely interviewing against other candidates. As … Continue reading "RWS 17 – Helicopter Aircrew Recruiting with Mark Weeden" The post RWS 17 – Helicopter Aircrew Recruiting with Mark Weeden appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Educating or instructing can be it’s own skill set regardless of the actual content taught. Philip Greenspun is a MIT lecturer and a flight instructor and shares his own approach to flying training. If you are a helicopter instructor or in a check & training role then brush up your thought processes as we chat … Continue reading "RWS 16 – Helicopter Instructing Tips with Philip Greenspun" The post RWS 16 – Helicopter Instructing Tips with Philip Greenspun appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

This is part 2 of the interview with British helicopter display pilot Dennis Kenyon. For part 1, listen to Episode 14 In this episode we delve deeper into the preparation, setup and mindset needed to be a display pilot. Dennis is a CAA appointed Display Authority Examiner and does train and approve other pilots but … Continue reading "RWS 15 – Display Flying with Dennis Kenyon – Part 2" The post RWS 15 – Display Flying with Dennis Kenyon – Part 2 appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Display flying has captured the imagination of the public ever since the very first flights. One the longest performing and well respected helicopter display pilots in the world is UK pilot Dennis Kenyon Note: This is part 1 of the interview. Look for part 2 in Episode 15 Dennis ‘the maestro’ Kenyon got his flying … Continue reading "RWS 14 – Display Flying with Dennis Kenyon – Part 1" The post RWS 14 – Display Flying with Dennis Kenyon – Part 1 appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Do you remember how humbling it felt first learning to hover? If you ever want to experience that feeling again then give longlining a go. The ability for helicopters to move equipment and loads to remote or hard to reach locations makes them incredibly useful machines. Helicopter longlining notches that capability up several levels of … Continue reading "RWS 13 – Helicopter Longlining with Andre Hutchings" The post RWS 13 – Helicopter Longlining with Andre Hutchings appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.