Heliair
 

When SB took over Heliair his goal was to make it a market leader in the industry run to professional standards. Clearly with the industry in its current state, he has had to make some tough decisions. People do not like 'change' & those who resist change are not going to be employed in the current climate especially if it affects the revenue of the company.

It is easy for TTB & Finals 06 to criticise but so far my experiences are that Heliair is a truly professional company with dedicated employees who all recognise the customer is King.

There are many in the industry would have had different experiences with this company.

But I guess that's the same with all UK helicopter companies.

Some of us have been around long enough to know that Heliair was already 'a market leader in the industry run to professional standards' when SB took over.
Like the dedicated and long-serving people who built it up - and have left since the new regime took over?

Just like it's easy for you to post praising SB.

HandsOn123 - Are you aware that Heliair has some pipeline contracts - three I think?

G-MADY - yes, Sean flew it

I've no axe to grind here...'no harm no foul' and all that but as one of the throng standing in very close proximity to those blades I was surprised, to say the least, that this was allowed to happen given all the H & S directives these days :confused:

why all the pruning?
 

i thought the removed posts were pretty spot on and the youtube video did certainly NOT display a

Imagine if the donk had quit and it has crashed onto the pad. Not the kind of launch the R66 needs!

cjbiz :D Well said that man!

All this talk about professional airmanship and all i ever see is the opposite!

MADY

FYI but all the posts concerning the youtube vid have been moved to the R66 thread:

http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/266...hreads-11.html

Why all the pruning?

Because this thread is about the curious goings on at HeliAir. Why long-serving people have left - including the CFI. Whether the rumours that others are about to leave are true. etc etc.

As B73 says, see http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/266...hreads-11.html

my own experience of heli air is that there could be a lack of consistency of standards depending on who a pilot had trained with, and certain individuals seemed to just throw away the checklist and showboat there "wonderful skills".

some students would be impressed by this "exciting" flying, and others would see it as non standard and be alarmed.

I once asked a recently heliair trained PPL before a dual check to do "your normal checks" as the aircraft had been flown before that day, so they just got in and was about to start it when i suggested that possibly that was not enough :eek:

personally i am pleased that things are moving on, as i am all for standardisation and predictability without getting nerdy about it.

Wow! I'm going to all my takeoffs like that in future because it's really cool.

Do I look cool?

video

1helicopterppl
Please note I haven't criticised Heli Air, I just asked what was going on!

I've been a regular at Heli Air (Wycombe, Denham and Wellesbourne) for over 10 years. I dealt with Time Aviation and Flightworks at Wycombe before that. There are certainly some interesting characters there, as there are at all companies, but if I compare what has been achieved at, say, Wycombe with the standards set by the former tenants, there is no comparison! Heli Air is probably the most professional helicopter sales/maintenance/training organisation in the country and has (had) some of the best instructors/CPLs in the market. I can understand terminating freelancers' contracts first if the business just isn't there, but we're talking about directors resigning after many years building up Heli Air; I the think there's more to the recent changes than just the economic downturn.

BTW regarding the interesting flying by SB at the 66 launch, there must have been at least two demo flights; the first with the proud new owners. This was flown by SB and he diligently and professionally went through his checklist with new owners/pax alongside. The lift however, was slightly less professional, with one skid at least 40cm in the air before wobbling into a high hover and then a very aggressive transition.

I wasn't around for the second demo, but a towering t/o with a few hundred onlookers just yards away was not a smart move :ugh:. SB could have amazed the crowd with his massive talent by pulling the same stunt from the adjacent training area, not directly over the pad - and the crowd :}

Exactly!

Like toptobottom says the same effect could easily be achieved with a bit of common sense!
As the event was well publicised I can only imagine there were 1 or 2 from the CAA in attendance...

MADY

I do hate to be a bore..I love a bit of cool like the next man....but I was in the crowd with a 3 of my spawn....an engine or t/r failure at 50 - 60ft above us (and these freak things do happen) would've required a lot of cleaning up and hosing down....not smart :=

Some light from across the pond.
According to a friend who’s been in a senior position with Robinson at Torrance for a long time ----

Frank and his son Kurt who now runs the company both have a very high respect for Cue Smith who stayed on when his father Mike sold Heliair. Problem is the new MD is an ex airline pilot so he doesn’t have Cue’s experience or standing in the helicopter world and he resents the respect people have got for Cue so excludes him whenever he can. One time Frank went out for dinner with the MD and Kurt went with Cue. F and K thought it was childish but they had to go along with it because Heliair is their customer.

Several long time personnel have left in the past year with no other job to go to because things were made so bad for them they just gave up and left. The CFI left recently and he ain't got another job lined up.

Some of them were allegedly threatened with being fired for some alleged misconduct or other if they didn’t resign.

Folk at Robinson suspect Cue has now served his purpose for the new company in the transition years and they’ll probably force him out one way or another very soon. They think its bad but there’s nothing they can do about it.

Seems to fit with what some posters here have been saying.

B.

I was at the R66 launch and agree with the negative comments about the take off. I left shortly afterwards as I felt uncomfortable watching and being so close. For a pilot with an ATPL (H) to act in such a way so close to a mixed crowd, which included prospective clients seemed a little silly. The day was about proving how well the R66 performs rather than how well (or badly) a pilot can "showboat". Hopefully the CAA will have a word and at least educate the pilot into the error of his ways. The take off could have been demonstrated at a safe distance from the crowd, with no risk to the onlookers.

In the pub later in the evening the "display" was much talked about, it was sad that everone said positive things about the R66 but failed to be so positive about the pilot and his airmanship, especially when someone mentioned he is an instructor, as well as the owner of heliair. There were also talks about previous impromtu displays by SB and the question of display authorisation....

I dont mean to turn this post into a SB bash but surely ego should be put behind safety.

Goldeneaglepilot

I am sure SB obtained permission for the planned air display.

You're sure how exactly?