Friday, September 23, 2011

Helicopter business aims for high flying with simulator training

By James M. Connolly

It’s not unusual for technology to give a business a lift. For Norwood’s Blue Hill Helicopters, the lift meant not needing a lift.

Based at Norwood Memorial Airport, the five-year-old company has seen a boost in its pilot training business by use of a computerized simulator, based on Microsoft Corp. Flight Simulator, that lets student pilots log a portion of their flight training by never leaving the ground.

The simulator, housed in an 18-foot trailer on the tarmac, features a mocked up cockpit, a six-by-six-foot rear-projection display screen, all the relevant dials, and the basic stick controls found in a helicopter, including vibrations that give students a tactile feel as the helicopter responds to their commands. A separate control panel allows an instructor to challenge students with elements such as rain and changing wind directions.

According to owner and chief pilot Stephen Boatwright, technology enables the company to trim some prices and attract new students, as well as iron out safety issues and the scheduling challenges presented by weather that grounds his two helicopters.

“The reason we chose to get it is that the industry is really changing. Everyone who is doing training wants to reduce risk. The simulator allows us to reduce risk and speed up pilots’ ability to get their license. Also, people who want to stay current on their licenses get to jump into the simulator for about one third the price,” said Boatwright, who emigrated from England, where he was an electrician, to Florida, where he learned to fly helicopters, and then to Massachusetts to train pilots.

Taxiing across the runway at a simulated Norwood Airport, Boatwright explained how the Federal Aviation Administration allows pilots seeking the various levels of helicopter licenses — private license, instrument rating, commercial rating and instructor —  to log varying numbers of hours in a simulator rather than in live flight.

A training session in Blue Hill’s two-seat Schweizer training helicopter costs $340 per hour, compared with $125 per hour for simulator time. On the safety side, new students become familiar with the feel of controls and the response of the helicopter in the simulator before putting air between them and the very hard ground. In addition, if a student shows up for a lesson when bad weather has grounded the Schweizer, Boatwright can steer them into the simulator rather than cancelling the lesson. He said the simulator is the only one in the area.

Blue Hills Helicopter, which also operates a four-seat Robinson R44 for business such as charters and aerial photography, bought the previously owned simulator a month ago from FLYIT Simulators Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. FLYIT, which charges $139,000 for a new simulator, also sells airplane simulators.

“Simulators for helicopters have only come on the market in the last few years. We wanted to offer something different to people. They can save quite a lot of aircraft time,” said Boatwright, citing the example of the entry-level helicopter license — a private license — for which the FAA allows students to log 7.5 hours of simulator time as part of their minimum of 40 hours of flighttime training. Blue Hills trains about 25 students per year, although he sees business growing given the number of flight schools that folded during the recession.