Episodes
Nov. 25, 2016
RWS 51 – Australian Navy, Vietnam and EMS with Ken Vote
Landing in the urban jungle of inner Sydney is a far cry from dropping off SAS troops in the jungles of Vietnam – Ken Vote has done both in his career as a Navy and EMS helicopter pilot. Ken started his helicopter career with the Australian Navy,
Oct. 25, 2016
RWS 50 – The God Machine with James Chiles (Helicopter History)
The God Machine: From Boomerangs to Blackhawks, The Story of the Helicopter by James R. Chiles delves into the origins of the helicopter and the people that made them into the machines they are today. It has been another long break between episodes but...
June 12, 2016
RWS 49 – Toronto Traffic Helicopter with Dini Petty
Dini Petty forged her mother’s signature on a permission form for skydiving lessons when she was 17. By age 22, Dini Petty was flying above Toronto, Canada as the first female traffic helicopter pilot who was also giving traffic reports while flying.
May 29, 2016
Extra – Impromptu Session at Rotortech 2016 About AHIA and Regulation Progress
This is a recording from a session at the Rotortech 2016 expo on the Sunshine Coast. Vice President of the Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA), Ray Cronin leads a discussion about regulation change and recent progress.
May 26, 2016
RWS 48 – The Case For Full Down Autos with Glen White
Glen White has been providing recurrency and initial training to helicopter pilots around the world through his company Eurosafety since 2004. He is a strong proponent of the benefit of full touchdown autorotations in training.
May 21, 2016
RWS 47 – First Around the World Solo and Australian Regulations with Dick Smith
This is Episode 47 of The Rotary Wing Show and our main interview today is Dick Smith, the first person to fly a helicopter solo around the world plus a bunch of other aviation first and records. For Australians,
May 7, 2016
Vietnam Huey Combat Pilot Robert Mason on Flying and Writing Chickenhawk
The Vietnam war has been called the helicopter war. They were used as troop carriers, gunships, medevac, heavy lift, observation and aerial trucks. Chickenhawk author Robert Mason shares some of his memories of flying the Hue...
April 6, 2016
RWS 45 – Rosemary Arnold – First Australian Female Helicopter Pilot – Part 2
In 1965 Rosemary Arnold became the first Australian female helicopter pilot, the first female helicopter pilot in the southern hemisphere and Whirly Girl No.99 In this episode listen in as Rosemary tells the story of her 50yr+ career in aviation.
March 30, 2016
RWS 44 – Rosemary Arnold – First Australian Female Helicopter Pilot – Part 1
In 1965 Rosemary Arnold became the first Australian female helicopter pilot, the first female helicopter pilot in the southern hemisphere and Whirly Girl No.99 In this episode listen in as Rosemary tells the story of her 50yr+ career in aviation.
March 2, 2016
RWS 43 – Bell 525 Relentless with Larry Thimmesch
Our guest today is Larry Thimmesch, Vice President Bell 525 Relentless Sales. Larry has been involved with the 525 for the last 5 years from the program’s very earliest days. The 525 is Bell Helicopter’s largest helicopter to date and weighs in at 20,
Feb. 28, 2016
RWS 42 – Spidertracks Real-Time Tracking with Dave Blackwell
Spidertracks is a New Zealand company that produces a real time tracking solution for general aviation allowing owners and operators to know exactly where their aircraft are and to greatly increase the speed of rescue if something should go wrong.
Feb. 21, 2016
Autorotation Entry Technique: When to Use ‘Cyclic Back’ with Pete Gillies
The difference between an expensive falling brick and a helicopter is rotor RPM. Pete Gillies talks about the importance of aft cyclic in autorotation entry to conserve rotor RPM in this episode. Depending on where you did yo...
Feb. 15, 2016
RWS 40 – Cabri G2 Introduction with Joey Arena
The Guimbal Cabri G2 helicopter has a lot going for it. One of the type’s biggest fans is Joey Arena of Texas Rotorwing Academy. Joey operates two Cabris with another two on order. The Guimbal Cabri G2 is a two-seat light piston-engined helicopter desi...
Feb. 7, 2016
RWS 39 – Pete Gillies Talks About Learning to Fly Helicopters
Imagine the flying experience, tips and tricks that you would pick up in a helicopter career spanning 5 decades. Pete Gillies has just retired from full time work in the industry and in this episode he talks about his first experiences of learning to f...
Feb. 1, 2016
RWS 38 – Rotors ‘n Ribs Fly-In with Randy Sharkey
Billed as the largest Helicopter Airshow in the US (possibly the world?), Rotors ‘n Ribs is in its 5th year running at Goshen Airport, Indiana. In this episode we chat with event president Randy Sharkey about what he and his team of directors have in s...
Dec. 19, 2015
RWS 37 – Tuna Helicopter Flying with Francis ‘Moggy’ Meyrick
Look online for information about helicopter operations in the tuna industry and it won’t be long before you see mention of Moggy’s Tuna Manual. Author of the manual Francis ‘Moggy’ Meyrick is our guest in this episode of the Rotary Wing Show.
Sept. 25, 2015
RWS 36 – Survival and Rescue with John Hudson
John is the UK military’s chief instructor in Land, Sea and Extreme Environment Survival. In this episode he talks about the priorities of survival should you find yourself forced to land in a remote location.
Aug. 29, 2015
RWS 35 – Superyacht Helicopter Operations with Gareth Ross
In terms of wealth probably nothing says you’ve made it more than owning a superyacht – unless of course its owning a superyacht with helicopter landing facilities. In this episode we find out about the section of the helicopter industry that operates ...
Aug. 11, 2015
Black Hawk Down Pilot Mike Durant on Special Ops Flying and Survival
Flying long range assault missions at extremely low altitudes on NVGs with a cabin full of special forces soldiers is all in a days work for the men and women of the 160th Special Operations Regiment. Mike Durant was a Blackh...
July 27, 2015
RWS 33 – Helipaddy with Paddy Wills
As a private pilot Paddy Wills wanted to find new and interesting places to fly to and explore. This involved asking around, researching locations, trawling forums and poking around on Google Earth. He thought there must be a better way so he went and ...
June 28, 2015
RWS 32 – Helicopter Flight Paramedics with Bernie Walker
Bernie Walker is a Flight paramedic working with STARS – which is the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service – an EMS organisation that covers most of Western Canada. Bernie has been with STARS as a flight paramedic for over 16 years now and these days plays ...
June 7, 2015
RWS 31 – AOPA Hover Power Blog with Ian Twombly and Markus Lavenson
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is the largest general aviation body in the United States. Hover Power is the association’s helicopter themed blog covering a mix of news, stories and advice.
May 25, 2015
RWS 30 – Touchdown Autorotation Competition and more with Jerry Trimble
With the ink still drying on his A&P licence Jerry landed a job at Robinson Helicopters and went flying on his first day on the job with Frank Robinson in R22 serial number 2. We cover several of the experiences from Jerry’s career in this episode.
May 14, 2015
RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson
As a Royal Navy SAR pilot Jerry Grayson was involved in a number of high profile rescue missions along with the crews of the Wessex helicopters he piloted. He has written a book – Rescue Pilot – that captures many of the stories of this part of his car...