Heli-Expo 2011

March 10, 2011
Staff from AMT magazine attended the Helicopter Association International’s Heli-Expo 2011 this week. Early estimates from HAI indicate numbers close to 20,000 with 625 exhibitors. Many of the helicopter manufacturers displayed new models and there have also been reports that the helicopter manufacturers in attendance came away with orders for new helicopters. Exhibitors overwhelmingly had positive comments and a feeling that this segment of aviation is experiencing some upward movement. During Monday’s Annual General Membership Meeting, Phil Randall, the FAASTeam assistant national manager, presented the Charles Taylor “Master Mechanic†Award to HAI’s Harold Lee Summers. We’ll have more on Mr. Summers in an upcoming issue of AMT. I attended the General Aviation Association CEO Forum where Craig Fuller with AOPA, Pete Bunce with GAMA, Randall Burdette with NASCO, Steve Brown with NBAA, along with Matt Zuccaro with HAI spoke on current challenges and issues facing the General Aviation community. One issue that I took from this meeting related to a concern by Pete Bunce that further budget cuts at the FAA may eventually result in a negative impact to GA manufacturing. Bunce stated that a reduction in FAA budgets could impact FAA engineering and certification services necessary for the manufacturing industry. Also highlighted was the need for the FAA and EASA to be at the same table and aviation authorities need to share safety resources where supported by bilateral safety agreements, in order for the FAA to focus energies on areas of the world that do not have robust safety and regulatory systems. One final reminder, March 31st is the due date for this cycle of Inspection Authorization renewal. Don’t forget to provide your renewal package to your local FAA for renewal. Thanks for reading, Ron