RP: What is your greatest career accomplishment to date?
Being a husband and a father in spite of my career.
RP: Have you ever had an “oh, crap” moment in helicopters? Can you summarize what happened?
One night around 1 a.m. at Fort Hood, Texas, while conducting nap of the earth (NOE) flight training under night vision goggles (NVGs) with two of my aerial observe colleagues, I managed to fly my OH-58C scout helicopter through a set of power lines at about 50 feet AGL with around 20 knots of forward airspeed. By the grace of God, I managed to keep the helicopter right side up while the wire strike protection system (WSPS) cut the wires before they had a chance to go through the rotor system. Amazingly, the only damage was a scratched windshield and a broken free air temperature gauge along with a bruised ego. The lesson learned: no matter how well you thought you planned your flight, there is always something else. Always expect the unexpected and plan for the “what if.”
RP: If you could give only one piece of advice to new pilots, mechanics, or support personnel, what would it be?
As far as advice to anyone looking to make a career in the aviation industry, I would offer up the following: 1) Have an opinion, don’t be one of the sheeple. 2) Be able
to support your opinion: do the research, learn and fully understand the information and data. 3) Be prepared to defend your opinion. You will get scars for standing up for what you believe in; wear them with pride. 4) Be willing to change your opinion. When presented with better information and data, be prepared to change course when and if necessary.
RP: In your view, what is the greatest challenge for the helicopter industry at this moment in time?
With the increased popularity and use of drones in our industry, many of the jobs
that pilots traditionally would take to build flight time are becoming fewer and farther between. Building the time needed to land your dream job has always been one of the challenges that young new pilots face. My fear is that if it continues to get harder to build flight time, many individuals may no longer consider aviation as a potential career path.
Do you know someone who would be a good subject for Meet a Rotor Pro? Email your suggestion to the editor-in-chief:
lyn.burks@rotorpro.com
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