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Northwest Helicopters, LLC Uni ight, LLC © 2012 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. 1-800-FLY-BELL | bellhelicopter.com | 2 ROTOR & WING MAGAZINE | MARCH 2012 Conference & Exhibition EDITORIAL Andrew Parker Editor-in-Chief, [email protected] 21-22 March 2012 Chris Sheppard M.O.C. Event Centre Associate Editor, [email protected] Munich, Germany Ernie Stephens Editor-at-Large, [email protected] www.avionics-event.com Andrew Drwiega Military Editor, [email protected] Claudio Agostini Latin America Bureau Chief Joe West United Kingdom Correspondent Contributing Writers: Chris Baur; Lee Benson; Shannon Bower; Igor Bozinovski; Tony Capozzi; Keith Cianfrani; Steve Colby; Frank Colucci; Dan Deutermann; Pat Gray; Frank Lombardi; Vicki McConnell; Robert Moorman; Douglas Nelms; Mark Robins; Dale Smith; Terry Terrell; Todd Vorenkamp; Richard Whittle. ADVERTISING/BUSINESS Joe Rosone VP & Group Publisher, [email protected] Randy Jones Publisher, 1-972-713-9612, [email protected] Eastern United States & Canada DRIVING SES & NEXT-GEN Carol Mata , 1-512-607-6361, [email protected] INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE International Sales, Europe/Pac Rim/Asia James McAuley +34 952 118 018, [email protected] Common Sky: Operating in One Air Space Be up-to-date on: DESIGN/PRODUCTION t'VUVSF"WJPOJDT t/FX%JNFOTJPOT Gretchen Saval Graphic Designer t4JUVBUJPOBM"XBSFOFTT t$FSUJýDBUJPO Tony Campana Production Manager, 1-301-354-1689 [email protected] The Avionics Europe 2012 conference and exhibition will highlight and explore the Tesha Blett Web Production Manager technological, policy, and design issues faced by designers and operators of commercial and civil helicopters, aircraft, military aircraft and UAVs as global aviation moves into the AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT new frontier of air trafc management exemplied by SESAR and NextGen. Jill Braun Audience Development Director, [email protected] George Severine Fulfillment Manager, [email protected] EVENT HIGHLIGHTS: Customer Service/Back Issues 1-847-559-7314 [email protected] 0QFOJOH,FZOPUF4FTTJPO - with leading commercial and defence industry representatives )FMJDPQUFS$POGFSFODF4FTTJPO Helicopter Safety Management Systems LIST SALES 5XP5SBDL$POGFSFODF1SPHSBNNF - with 12 conference sessions and over 35 Statlistics presentations from industry leading professionals and speakers Jen Felling ,1-203-778-8700, [email protected] 'PSVNTBOE5FDIOJDBM8PSLTIPQT /FUXPSLJOH3FDFQUJPO REPRINTS -FBEJOH&YIJCJUJPO showcasing the latest products, technologies and avionics solutions Wright’s Media, 1-877-652-5295 &YIJCJUPS1SFTFOUBUJPOT FREE to attend presentations on the exhibition oor [email protected] For further details, a full conference programme, workshops and forums visit ACCESS INTELLIGENCE, LLC www.avionicsevent.com Donald A. Pazour Chief Executive Officer Ed Pinedo Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Join us in Munich, Germany for the annual gathering of the avionics industry to Macy L. Fecto Executive Vice President, Human Resources & learn and discover the latest in helicopter avionics. 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People Drive Recovery, Not Just Products [email protected] By Andrew Parker riting this while on a duced 265 helicopters during 2011. the business jet market was really a plane back from Dallas Russian Helicopters employs around sustainable long-term business due to Wafter a busy and event- 40,000 people in total. its cyclical nature. ful Heli-Expo, I’m finally “This year we will produce more “We went back and looked at the getting the chance to finish a thought than 300,” he explained, “so our sales helicopter business at the same time that struck me early on during the and output will experience a steady and realized that of the four major non-stop four-day event. level of growth of about 20 percent OEMs, only one had a financing com- Let’s be honest—the world’s largest annually, in terms of both units and pany under its belt. The other three rotorcraft event is about people. As revenue.” didn’t,” he said. “When we studied much as “the blitz” of new helicopters, Petrov predicts that Russian Heli- the oil and gas business, and EMS, we equipment, upgrades, technology copters will “maintain the same pace realized that there’s a leasing demand, developments, STC programs and the in the coming years. Why I can be especially globally.” spectrum of unveilings is important confident in saying this is we have an Back to the point: The helicopter to the helicopter industry, people are extensive and diversified firm order community resembles a family— what drive the economy, and the slow backlog,” including, on the military albeit more of a large, extended fam- but steady recovery that many are side, with the Russian Ministry of ily with lots of squabbling, internal predicting. Defence through 2020. rifts over viewpoints and discussions It was the first Heli-Expo in a long “We’ve also experienced great sales about how to best improve safety— time where industry legend Frank in the domestic market—civil heli- but a family no less. Robinson didn’t make an appear- copters both for exports and for large The people in this industry are ance, with CEO Kurt Robinson— commercial operators inside Russia.” what makes it so dynamic, and what resembling his dad—talking about a As a result, the company’s sales are drives much of the dedication that doubling of production and a positive expected to reach approximately U.S. goes into making helicopters as safe response to the R66 turbine. $5 billion, Petrov added. and reliable as possible. The Interna- “Businesses are just people,” said People are a big part of NetJets tional Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) Good news for all law enforcement operators. Whatever Lynn Tilton, owner of MD Helicop- founder and former CEO Richard continues to push forward with efforts platforms you use for your search and rescue, Goodrich ters, during her annual press confer- Santulli’s success. All of his senior to reduce the accident rate by 80 per- has a hoist that’s ready and available. ence (see story on page 16). management team “came with me” to cent, adding a new partner, Russia and “In the end, across 76 companies, I his latest venture, Milestone Aviation the CIS, to the global effort to increase Whether you operate AS350s, EC145s or A109s, can tell you, our success is determined Group, a helicopter leasing company safety. (See story on page 26.) there’s a Goodrich hoist you can rely on to provide by the people who stand together to that was founded in 2010 after raising Of course, helicopters and equip- the perfect solution. move [the company] forward into the $500 million in private equity. San- ment—the “nuts and bolts,” if you future.” tulli is chairman of the Dublin-based will—are major drivers of the econ- Goodrich is unique in providing the translating drum Bell CEO John Garrison empha- company. omy. While each year’s new product technology, which has the highest reliability in the sized the importance of people in During Heli-Expo, Milestone releases and updates are very impor- industry and no fleet angle restrictions. And Goodrich www.goodrich.com the development of the 525 Relent- announced orders for 16 Eurocopter tant, as simple as it sounds and as has the lowest life cycle costs. less, with hundreds of the company’s EC225s and three Sikorsky S-92s, in many times as it’s been said, it all boils employees in attendance wearing addition to establishing a global sup- down to people. So whichever platforms fly your missions, depend on black shirts with a red