Pro Rex Alexander RP: What is your current position?
I am the owner and president of Five-Alpha LLC. I also serve as the infrastructure advisor to the Vertical Flight Society, and am the technical committee chair to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 418 Standard for Heliports and Vertiports. Some of the other volunteer hats I have worn during my career include board member and president of the National EMS Pilots Association (NEMSPA), board member and president of the Indiana Association of Air Medical Services (INAAMS), and co- chair of the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team Infrastructure Working Group, just to name a few.
RP: Tell me about your first experience with helicopters.
It was when I began studying for my airframe & powerplant (A&P) certificate at Parks College. They had some old Bell 47 equipment in the lab that I found absolutely fascinating. Most people were all about airplanes and big iron at the time, but I found helicopters spoke a special language that resonated with me.
RP: How did you get your start in the helicopter industry?
In 1985, shortly after getting my bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance and management, and while working in St. Louis, Missouri, for McDonnell Douglas Corp., I tagged along with a friend to speak with an Army recruiter about flight school. I then took the U.S. Army’s flight aptitude test and scored high enough that they offered me a flight slot shortly thereafter.
RP: When and how did you choose the helicopter industry? Or did it choose you?
Ever since my father took me up for my first flight in an airplane at age 3, I knew aviation was where I wanted to be. However, while I may have chosen aviation as my career path, the helicopter industry picked which on-ramp I was to take.
10 Mar/Apr 2024
When I was in high school, I was enthralled with the film industry. My interest lay more in understanding how things were created, i.e. cameras, lighting, sound, editing. That’s probably why I am a bit of a techno geek and have my own home recording study with so much editing, lighting, sound, and video equipment laying around the house. My good friends at Aero-News Network let me pretend that I am an aviation journalist at airshows like EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and provide me with the opportunity to do a lot of my own production work as well. I have been very fortunate to be able to merge two passions, if you will.
RP: What do you enjoy doing on your days off?
I have always been interested in history, and purely by accident happened to literally stumble into a beginner’s class on genealogy at the local library over 30 years ago. Ever since then I have been doing genealogical research and digging through historical records around the world. Solving other people’s family-history mysteries and doing historical research has also proven to be a great learning platform for the work I do in accident investigation with the Transportation Safety Institute, as well as the research my company now participates in with NASA and the FAA.
RP: Where did you get your start flying or maintaining professionally?
My first A&P job was of course working for McDonnell Douglas while I was still finishing up my college degree. My helicopter flying career then began in the Army, followed by my first civilian pilot job in the Gulf of Mexico flying in the offshore oil and gas market for Crescent Helicopters. It was while flying in the Gulf that I got the opportunity to work in the Helicopter Air Ambulance industry, where I spent the better part of 20 years.
RP: If you were not in the helicopter industry, what else would you see yourself doing?
Meet a otor
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