Some days we just have fun !

Saturday 10/23/2010 was a great day, too windy for some students but good for instrument training and some traffic pattern work for more experienced students. We decided to take the Jet Rangers to Martha's Vineyard for lunch !

We pulled out the 2 Bell 206 BIII on to the north ramp and got them fueled and ready to Launch, We decided to go as a flight of 2 and the first Jetranger with Larry and Chris would make the calls.

I fired up the turbine with no issues and we did our checks , hydraulics , fuel pumps Etc Etc .

We picked up from the dolly and made our departure directly from the north ramp out to the east turning into the strong wind. Our climb took us up to 1700 ft for the trip and over to Boston approach . We chose flight following as a flight of 2 because there was a lot of traffic heading in and out of the vineyard on such a nice day , we would also be crossing over several un-controlled airports.

Great Visibility soon allowed us to see the cape and beyond to the vineyard. Before we had time to enjoy the amazing views we were landing at the vineyard ! We parked the helicopters on the ramp and headed down to Edgartown for a great lunch at the navigator.

So as you can see , we have a lot of fun here at Blue Hill Helicopters ! Come and train with us and you could be in the Jet rangers on the next trip to the vineyard !

Have a great week

BHH

Mark and Rachel's Wedding 10/16/2010

Ok ,so you may think this blog is a little strange but read on !

Mark and I met about 5 years ago when we worked at another flight school together as Instructors , I moved on and started my own business 'Blue Hill Helicopters' and Mark quickly followed to come and work for me .
Back then Mark and I were very new instructors and we had a great time working together, we even one day convinced Mark that somebody had seen rockets shooting from the skids of his helicopter whilst he was out on a training flight !
Mark is a true success story of the helicopter Industry, after gaining 1200 hours he moved to New York city and flew the Eurocopter AS350. He was laid off when the economy went bad and found himself out of work and back in MA with his then girlfriend Rachel.

Remember to always keep in touch with old pilot friends and never upset anybody ! This paid off for Mark when an old work Buddy told him about a position coming with up with 'Air Methods'. Mark and Rachel moved to Ohio and Mark worked as an EMS pilot flying an Astar again. After a year Mark moved on to flying the EC135 twin engined machine and then a new EC145 in West Virginia, so from instructor to EC145 captain in less than 3 years , a true success story ! 

Mark married Rachel on 10/16/2010 and 2 weeks before the wedding a position became available with Umass Worcester , Mark got the job and will be starting at his new base in worcester soon flying an EC145 . So remember if you work hard you can make it in this industry , Mark still maintains  that his ability to fly the larger machines was helped by his time flying the Schweizer 300, he said that the conventional controls that the schweizer uses made the transition easy.
Thanks again to Mark and Rachel for letting me be the best man at the wedding .

I hope everyone will stop by and see him hanging out at the school on his days off, He will be happy to share his experiences of the helicopter industry and give you some great advice, Not many schools have success story's like this !

Rainy days and Mondays

Ok, Its Monday and its raining with winds of 17k Gusting 25k... Not a great flying day !

Well its better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground ! Ground school is the only option but it can be fun , nobody likes ground school on a beautiful sunny day so it always seems better on a day when we cant fly.

We have a range of different students right now at all different levels, Joel is a commercial pilot working in law enforcement gaining his CFI and CFII and john is a private fixed wing pilot completing a helicopter Add-On. Today was the perfect day for Joel to try out some lesson plans on his fellow student John !

Its very obvious that Joel loves teaching and being in front of the whiteboard and will soon gain his CFI just as soon as he forgets about flying the Blackhawk ! John is a very competent fixed wing pilot and is adjusting to the helicopter well with the aid of his instructors Adrian and Salustiano.

Here at Blue Hill Helicopters we have a wide variety of students at different levels and you can always find a 'study buddy' many students come in and hang out just to study in the relaxed atmosphere here .

We are the only flight school in New England to have a 'smart board' to quickly show videos and internet links during power-point presentations. We are very pleased to have modern training facilities, stop by anytime and take a look !