Rotary Wing Show - Interviews from the Helicopter Industry

Helicopters are amazing assets to have working in a bush firefighting role. Every year around the world they contribute to lives saved and property damage avoided. Now for the first time in Australia we are starting to see the move into night time firebombing operations. Richard Butterworth is head of training at Kestrel Aviation based … Continue reading "RWS 65 – Night Aerial Firefighting with Richard Butterworth"

Imagine you are sitting in an apache cockpit during a refueling operation. Suddenly the world outside, in every direction you look, is one giant fireball. You can feel the heat cooking through through the windshield. What do you do next? That is the situation that today’s guest Boyd ‘Skip’ Tackett found himself in. He received … Continue reading "RWS 64 – Lessons from an AH-64 Apache Refuel Fire with Skip Tackett"

“On 9th and 10th of January 2011, heavy rainfall caused flash flooding to occur across parts of Queensland resulting in widespread damage to property and 35 fatalities. Grantham, Lockyer Valley and Toowoomba were severely impacted. Due to landslides caused by flooding, and water blocking the Warrego highway, the Lockyer Valley became isolated; police and emergency … Continue reading "RWS 63 – 2011 Brisbane Floods & Lifesaving Helicopter Rescues"

Nestled in the north west corner of the US, just north of Seattle is Snohomish County and the operating base of their Helicopter Rescue Team. The HRT conducts approximately 80 rescues a year, predominantly mountain rescues of hikers. Two of their team, Chris Moriarty and Bill Quistorf, took the time out for a chat about … Continue reading "RWS 62 – Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team"

Virtual reality hardware and software have crossed a threshold where their use in supporting helicopter training and currency/recency provides an amazing experience. In this episode we break down what you can expect and what you will need to get started. Hopefully you will never look at computer helicopter flight simulators the same after listening to … Continue reading "RWS 61 – Virtual Reality Helicopter Sims with Sérgio Costa"

As helicopter systems, engineering and processes continue to get safer, the human component becomes the focus to further improvements in accident rates. Randy Mains shares his 20 CRM Diamonds in this interview. Randy Mains was 22 years old when he deployed to Vietnam to fly UH-1H Hueys. On return to the US with over 1000 … Continue reading "RWS 60 – 20 Crew Resource Management Diamonds with Randy Mains"

The elevation of the Himalayan mountains puts them at the extreme of human and helicopter performance. For climbers it can be a 2 week trek out or a 30 min helicopter flight to safety if they find themselves in trouble. Andrew Gutsell is part of the Alpine Rescue Service run by Air Dynasty that services … Continue reading "RWS 59 – Himalayan Rescue Ops with Andrew Gutsell"

Aaron Kenworthy started The Helicopter Page as a way to learn more about the helicopter industry and to provide a place to share information from around the globe. Today we go behind the scenes of the largest helicopter focused Facebook page and perhaps the largest helicopter online platform in the world. With a following of … Continue reading "RWS 58 – The Helicopter Page with Aaron Kenworthy"

Peter Wilson is currently making and around the world flight and talks to us about some of the planning and lead up to the trip. More information and photos to follow shortly. Getting this out the door so you listen and follow Peter using his tracker. See links below.   Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | … Continue reading "RWS 57 – Three Journeys Round with Peter Wilson"

During 30 years of flying with the Australian Army Matt Barker has got to try his hand at a wide range of roles. He has picked up some tales of close calls and funny incidents along the way. Episode 55 contains the first half of this interview which is also well worth listening too In … Continue reading "RWS 56 – The Chickenbone Story with Matthew Barker"

During 30 years of flying with the Australian Army Matt Barker has got to try his hand at a wide range of roles. He has picked up some tales of close calls and funny incidents along the way. In the 1980’s the RAAF was directed to transfer its helicopters to the Australian Army. This brought … Continue reading "RWS 55 – Close Calls and Funny Stories with Matthew Barker"

Jack Lynch was a ‘Bushranger’ pilot in Vietnam for the Royal Australian Air Force. These were Iroquois UH-1H helicopters fitted out as aerial gunships which provided close air support to Australian troops. Listen to Part 1 of the interview here A pair of low flying Sabre jets over Jack Lynch’s childhood property was the seed … Continue reading "RWS 54 – Huey Gunships with Jack Lynch Part 2"

Jack Lynch was a ‘Bushranger’ pilot in Vietnam for the Royal Australian Air Force. These were Iroquois UH-1H helicopters fitted out as aerial gunships which provided close air support to Australian troops. A pair of low flying Sabre jets over Jack Lynch’s childhood property was the seed for a 50+ year career in and around … Continue reading "RWS 53 – Huey Gunships with Jack Lynch"

Landing in the urban jungle of inner Sydney is a far cry from dropping off SAS troops in the jungles of Vietnam – Ken Vote has done both in his career as a Navy and EMS helicopter pilot.   >> Listen to Part 1 of this interview here

Landing in the urban jungle of inner Sydney is a far cry from dropping off SAS troops in the jungles of Vietnam – Ken Vote has done both in his career as a Navy and EMS helicopter pilot. Ken started his helicopter career with the Australian Navy, spent time in Vietnam, instructed in the military … Continue reading "RWS 51 – Australian Navy, Vietnam and EMS with Ken Vote"