CHARLIE ROWLES PHOTO
returned to Aircoastal Helicopters. Over the next several years, he worked as a line pilot, check pilot, and chief pilot while also starting the company’s flight school. “I was not only a pilot, but I learned to manage an aviation business,” says Randy.
Taking It to the Limit While Randy’s ambition soared, his stamina was tested. Because of his experience flying Robinson helicopters, he was approached by the FAA to become a designated pilot examiner (DPE). In that role, he met instructors who trained pilots for the nearby sheriff’s department. One instructor flew a vintage Sikorsky helicopter that Randy learned to fly. Next, Randy became an S-76 instructor at FlightSafety
International. He was also a freelance pilot for businesses and air medical operations, including flying a Trauma Hawk for the Health Care District of Palm Beach County as well as flying for the South Florida Water Management District—all while employed by Aircoastal. “Samantha used to bring me my flight suit between jobs.
I was probably filing seven or eight W-2s a year,” he says. In 2001, Randy started his own helicopter school, Palm
Beach Helicopters, using with permission the name of his former employer, which had since closed its doors. Next, he added turbine training to the school’s curriculum.
Randy credits his
wife, Samantha, for providing that all-important ingredient in a
successful aviation career: family support.
Te doors kept opening. He was approached by Bell
Textron because the company’s retiring chief flight instructor recommended Randy for an instructor position at the Bell Training Academy. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse, even though it meant relocating to Texas, walking away from his business and other jobs. At Bell, in addition to his role as a flight instructor, he was
selected for the company’s High Potential Employee Program. Tat involved reporting to executive leadership, including the CEO, to provide guidance on how the company could improve its customer service and pilot training programs. One day, while meeting with the vice president of com-
mercial programs, Randy noticed the executive’s Harvard T-shirt and asked if he had attended the school. Te vice president said he had only been at Harvard for a leadership class and then asked where Randy had gone to college. When Randy replied that he had quit school in the ninth
grade and only had a GED, “he looked at me like I had a third eye and asked how I was able to get hired at Bell,” says Randy. “I told him I was already hired for my flying background, and I completed an application afterward. He told me I had just hit a glass ceiling and that I needed an MBA.” Going from a GED to an MBA is a staggering leap, but
Randy had always found ways to clear major hurdles. Tis was no different.
26 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2021
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