duty station changes, I not only became the unit standards instructor but also the battalion standard Instructor before my enlisted duty was over in the Army. That was the pinnacle of my military career.
Post-military, I would easily have to say the answer is founding Night Flight Concepts Inc. with three of my military comrades, which I still co-own today with one of the original founders, Adam Aldous. It allowed us to bring our experience to the civil industry and help us grow a night vision community to where it is today. I created and manage the first NVG-specific repair station in the civil sector, #N5ZR113B, which has grown significantly in the last 12+ years. We went from me driving around Florida to local law enforcement offices hoping to acquire new customers, to completing over 2,000 NVG service inspections per year at our new facility in Waco, Texas.
RPMN: Have you ever had an “Oh, crap!” moment in a helicopter? Can you summarize what happened?
I’ve logged over 2,000 hours of NVG operations alone, so I have had a few that come to mind, especially during combat deployments in Iraq, but one in particular related to my job as an aircraft maintainer on a CH-47. We were flying cross country for a training exercise from Ft. Campbell,
Kentucky, to the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California. We had stopped to spend the night after refueling in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We completed a quick post-flight, checked the fluid levels, and headed to the hotel expecting to do an in-depth preventive maintenance daily inspection the next morning. Early in the morning, we were notified a bad weather front was coming in and the commander wanted to head to the aircraft, pre-flight, jump in and go, especially since we could have continued on with the flight after refueling the night prior. We all arrived at the aircraft together and the commander jumped up on the aircraft and started opening and closing access panels, and moments later came back down and said, “OK, tops ready, let me know when you have completed down below as we crawl in the cockpit.” Understand there are a lot of things to look at on a Ch-47. I said, “OK, that’s nice, but no offense. I’m going back up top and doing the checks I’m supposed to do as well.” We have tunnel covers that allow access to view multiple drive shafts that run along the fuselage connecting the forward rotor head to the combining transmission (that’s kind of important). Upon opening one of the covers, I found one driveshaft had severe scouring almost completely through the driveshaft. We were not going anywhere. I found that a Zerk fitting (a lubrication point for the drive shaft bearings) was missing and had lodged itself between the skin of the aircraft
and the driveshaft, causing
this scouring. We had to replace the driveshaft, and later our quality control department measured the scouring and determined it had worn 85% of the way through
the
RPMN: If you could give only one piece of advice to a new helicopter pilot or mechanic, what would it be?
Ok, I have possibly more than one. It can be overwhelming with all the helicopter moving parts, maintenance procedures, and the pressures of mission or operation readiness, but you have to remain focused on completing proper services, follow approved procedures, take the time to go back and triple-check your work, and not be afraid to ask questions.
RPMN: In your view, what is the greatest challenge for the helicopter industry at this moment in time?
I think the greatest challenge from the maintainer’s perspective in the industry today is how quickly the industry has grown, even within the last decade. Yet I do not believe maintenance personnel numbers are growing at the same rate. I often see and know helicopter maintainers who are managing more aircraft than there is time in the day to properly service.
driveshaft. We probably
would not be here today if we had flown five minutes longer the day prior or took off without properly completing that preventive maintenance daily check. I do not care what the mission/operation is or who says everything is fine, regardless of their position or experience. You have a job to do, so do it to your best ability under any and all circumstances. Do not cut any corners, as your life or someone’s life depends on it.
Do you know someone who would be a good subject for Meet a Rotorcraft Pro? Email your suggestion to the editor-in-chief:
lyn.burks@rotorcraftpro.com
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