New Englands ONLY Helicopter Simulator is here ! TRY IT FREE !

The Simulator finally arrived from its 2600 mile journey from Boise ID. The 19 foot enclosed trailer was specially transported by an RV transport company. Such  a large unit required a tow vehicle that was able to apply trailer brakes and an 'anti sway' system .The Toyota tacoma will be fine for moving the Simulator locally in the area to events and training days.

We were amazed at the condition of the unit after such a long journey , 2600 miles of road dirt soon came off with a hose and some aircraft soap !

We wanted to try it out right away but that was for Monday morning when everybody would be around  !

Monday morning could not come quick enough and we all headed into the sim to look over Adrian's shoulder as he fired up the computer systems at the control desk.... all kinds of lights cam on and the simulator was ready for use ! We will be heading out to  'FLY-IT' for training on every aspect of the unit in September but for now we can use the less complex modes. One local law enforcement agency will be using the simulator several days a month and wish to have some specially programmed scenarios in the simulator . This particular unit has the NVG upgrade so that it can be flown whilst wearing NVG goggles, a must in the real world for EMS and Law enforcement , our NVG training course will come in early 2012.

Two of our full time students Darren and Johann will be taking Instrument rides this week or next so they were first up to try it out . We used the jet ranger model first to show them how to start a turbine helicopter ... very funny to see them ' Hot Start'.  Jenn quickly stepped in and with her Jet Ranger experience showed them how it was done ! again the girls show up the guys !

We are working now to get the sim on the regular schedule and start saving students money along with giving them experience that they could never get in a helicopter. Keep reading for more information on the simulator and some Instrument check rides next week !

Thanks for reading the Blue Hill Helicopters Blog, come and train with us and fly with the school that is doing something different !!

BHH

What is your flight school doing for YOU on this rainy day ?

Sure, its raining outside and it will be tomorrow and it was yesterday ! So you call up your flight school and say-"I guess we are not flying today"  The instructor grumbles and replies -"No but we can do ground !"  Grrrrrr  Of course you need to complete some ground school, you need to work towards that oral section of the check ride and even the written test (Blue Hill Helicopters is  a CATS testing center). Ground school is just as important as flying the helicopter , even more important in some cases BUT who likes doing it ! we want to fly !

What if you could fly on that day when its overcast at 200 feet ? What if you could fly in a thunderstorm ? what about a snowstorm ? what if you could land at Logan airport ?.......... At Blue Hill Helicopters you can! In the next week we will be taking delivery of our FAA approved FLY-IT simulator, the only FAA approved helicopter Simulator in the northeast. You will be able to fly on those 'no fly' days and even log the flight time in your logbook ! Log up to 7.5 hours towards your private license and even more towards instrument and commercial ratings, even your ATP check ride  That alone will save thousands of dollars on any flight school hourly rate . You can also experience real instrument conditions without wearing a view limiting device !

Tired with flying around in an old R22 ? maybe you cant even fly it because you are too tall or too heavy? Thats ok, our FAA approved FLY-IT simulator has both Robinson controls and conventional controls, we will even set the panel up to something that you are used to.

Any potential new student receives 1 hour free in our simulator, when you take a demo flight in our helicopter.

The Industry is changing, we need to find new ways to save students money and its not with old outdated part 141 training programs they just dont work. Fly the simulator at only $70 per hour + Instructor . Are you a qualified Helicopter CFII ? We will train you for free on the use of the simulator and you can teach in it for free ! just bring your student and they pay $70 per hour.

We have so much to talk about with this new simulator, we will talk more in the next blog when it arrives.

Have a great rainy day ...........We will !

Did we mention that you can do a turbine transition in the FLY-IT simulator ?

Open House success and Skydiving !

Blue Hill Helicopters is the longest established Schweizer school in New England with the newest most up to date helicopters. We exclusively use the Schweizer 300 C and 300CBi for flight training although we do have a 2008 R44 Clipper 2 that we use for transition training and tours, complete with air conditioning.

Last Saturday was  the first open house in quite a while and it was great to see so many people with an interest in helicopter flying. Several people have since began flight training with Blue Hill and two of them will be making a career from it ! Great news for the helicopter industry that has seen a down turn in flight training schools in recent years. Good luck Jarrett and Scott.

The next few months will see the arrival of our FLY-IT simulator, this will save thousands of dollars for those of you that will be part of our pro pilot program. After dropping our little used part 141 program we will be working towards part 142 approval with the arrival of the simulator in the fall. Those of you flying the R22 helicopter can jump right in to the simulator equipped with Both Schweizer and Robinson controls. Perhaps you would even like to try flying the Bell 206 in the sim and learning how to start a turbine ? More on the sim in future blogs but I am sure you will agree that it will be an asset to the helicopter industry in the northeast, its time somebody did something to save students money !


SKYDIVING !

Every year we get asked to head up to Pepperell for the first of two skydive "Boogies" !, skydivers jump out of the helicopter at 5000 feet and pull at 3000 feet , they say that jumping out of the helicopter is like 'base jumping' with 0 airspeed when they exit the helicopter !
It takes the R44 about 12 to 15 minutes to get to 5000 feet with the doors off and the skydivers on board. Its really important that they exit together to help with the weight and balance of the helicopter. Every single person that jumped loved the experience and we will be heading back up to Pepperell for the next 'Boogie' what a great bunch of people ! see you on the 24th !