At a whopping 168 pages, our 2012 Heli-Expo edition is the largest issue of Vertical ever produced! We also think it's one of our best, with incredible features and photography you won't find anywhere else.
In our cover story, contributing editor and test pilot Rob Erdos provides a comprehensive flight test evaluation of the Sikorsky S-76D (p.68). As Rob reports, the D — the latest in the S-76 series — represents a fine balance between evolution and revolution. In a different kind of pilot report, contributing editor and retired CV-22 instructor pilot Mike McKinney offers a first-hand glimpse into flying the V-22 (p.108) — an aspect that has been largely overlooked in previous coverage of this controversial aircraft.
In a Vertical exclusive, Robin Elledge visits with Brain Farm Cinema (p.96), the boutique production company that has recently been the talk of the town for its helicopter-heavy snowboarding film The Art of Flight. Editor-in-Chief visits TEMSCO Helicopters in southeastern Alaska to report on "The TEMSCO Effect" (p.54), then travels to Texas to learn about the newly re-branded United Rotorcraft (p.120). And contributing editor Dan Megna revisits the issues associated with nighttime aerial firefighting in "The Burning Question" (p.84).
Later in the magazine, Guy Maher looks at what the industry is doing to help low-time flight instructors in "From the Bottom Up" (p.126). Shawn Coyle recounts a puzzling accident scenario in "The Mystery of the Moved Levers" (p.136). Bob Petite looks back at the history of heli-skiing (p.164) and, in There I Was, Mike Reid describes a tour flight to remember (p.168).
Our February-March issue also includes all of our regular columns and news features, in addition to introducing a new maintenance column by John Carinha (p.20). We hope you enjoyed this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Don't forget, if you're attending Heli-Expo this year, come say hello and pick up a free print copy at the Vertical booth, No. 1605!
In our annual air medical issue (published to coincide with the 2011 Air Medical Transport Conference, Oct. 17 to 19 in St. Louis, Mo.), we shine a spotlight on the helicopter emergency medical services industry. In our cover story (p.46), Skip Robinson profiles Hall Critical Care Transport, which contracts with Air Methods Corp. to operate a single Bell 407 out of Bakersfield, Calif. Meanwhile, editor-in-chief Elan Head checks in with the Air Medical Operators Association (p.8), while EMS pilot Markus Huettner shares his thoughts on the good, bad and best practices of "helicopter shopping" (p.62). And, in a story applicable to all helicopter operators, but of particular interest to air medical programs, Jen Boyer rounds up 12 common heliport planning mistakes in "The Dirty Dozen" (p.68).
In another feature, Skip Robinson reports on how the MH-60R is changing the way U.S. Navy aircrews do business (p.26). Ted Carlson visits with the Chicago Fire Department's rescue helicopters in "Great Lake Saviors" (p.36), and David Krussow discusses the new Helicopter Rescue and Response Association in "Coming to the Rescue" (p.56). Finally, columnist Tony Kern makes his first appearance in Vertical 911 with thoughts on "Uncommon Sense" (p.6) and U.S. Coast Guard pilot Brent Bergan closes things out with an account of a mountain rescue "In the Line of Duty" (p.80).
