Gerald Marchal joined the Navy right out of high school. On the USS Bataan LHD-5 he found himself truly amazed with aviation and the operations of a helicopter. He had been deployed for both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Then he pursued a career as a helicopter pilot. While attending training to become a rotorcraft pilot he worked part time as an A&P apprentice at HAI (now Bristow Academy). "I had found myself truly loving the environment and culture that is associated with aviation. I had started to desire to know and understand both sides of aviation, how to fly them, and how they work. From there I have continued to want to push for the next thing in this industry and wish to keep doing so."
When he first came to HAI, Todd Smith was the director of maintenance and he brought Marchal on as an apprentice while he pursued flying. He set the tone for such a high standard and safety, that it drove Marchal to develop his career with the same outlook. Smith is now the director of Bristow Academy.
Since 2012 Marchal has been a Bristow Academy maintenance representative. He is responsible for three Bell 206B3 that are used in the military training program for mountain training and night vision goggle training. He has just modified one of the ships for external load operation to provide firefighting training with a Bambi Bucket. His role is to oversee the maintenance side of this operation. He schedules all maintenance with a third party, managing this around the flight schedule to minimize downtime. In between the scheduled maintenance he maintains all the squawks. He communicates with the correct department heads so the correct decisions are getting made.
Marchal earned his private, instrument and commercial pilot license at HAI (Bristow Academy), in Titusville, FL; his CFI at Quantum in Chandler, AZ; and his A&P at Bristow Academy, Titusville, FL. He has received Bristow Academy’s Safety Appreciation Award for extinguishing an engine fire and a Certificate of Appreciation from a major with the United Arab Emirates for the work he did during an operation with them.
Matt Pettenger, maintenance manager at El Aero Services, LLC, says, "Gerald is the maintenance representative for Bristow Academy's Nevada Base. I have worked closely with Gerald over the past few years and he sets a very high standard of safety for the three Bell 206's he maintains with a fleet availability of approximately 95 percent with no maintenance-related incidents. If Gerald touched it I know it is safe and done by the book. Gerald is a certificated A&P mechanic, commercial rotorcraft pilot with an instrument rating, and a CFI. Gerald does most of the maintenance flights for the 206's in Nevada and I always feel safe flying with him. He is always positive and willing to help anyone. Gerald also tries to involve himself with local businesses, schools, etc. to be a polite neighbor describing his operations and why they do the things they do or to just put the helicopters on display at events to let the community know who they are and what they do. He is the perfect example of what aviation needs and should be."
Marchal likes to share any knowledge he has as a pilot with other mechanics. He feels having a good understanding of the operations helps in a large way to aid in the maintenance of the aircraft. "I have also gained a lot over the years with Bristow as far as learning how to use the resources around me and different contacts to best maintain the aircraft. When others have the opportunity to come out to Nevada and work with me they really like to learn how to use some of these resources to give them the confidence to work more independently, but still utilize knowledge from others to make the best decisions. I feel this is good for both a new mechanic and myself for learning and applying good resource management in day-to-day operations."
His future goal is to keep pushing himself as a pilot and as a mechanic and one day run his own branch of a company. He plans to start taking business classes to help grow in this area. He is also studying to get his IA very soon.
