Archived News
KTIX ranking number 25 of US General Aviation operations
According to statistics published by GAMA, TIX Space Coast Regional Airport is ranked as the 25th busiest airport in the US, by General Aviation operations. The busiest airport is Phoenix Deer Valley, AZ and with Van Nuys, CA ranked as second.
General aviation refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline flights. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large and non-scheduled cargo jet flights. At TIX, the main operation of Bristow Academy, helicopter flights accounts for a large portion of general aviation traffic. The majority of the world's air traffic falls under this catagory and most of the world's airports serve general aviation exclusively.
TIX had a total of 183,967 General Aviation operations for the year 2006, mainly contributed by our busy flight school. Every time a Bristow Academy helicopter makes an autorotation to spot 5, together with every single takeoff and landing, it is registered with the FAA as a General Aviation activity. Placing our airport among the 25th busiest in the US, by General Aviation Operations.
Consider what the ranking would be if all of our local flight operations were included in the count! Bristow Academy helicopters preform hundreds of takeoffs and landings every day at the stage fields that we use in the close proximity to the airport. Adding these numbers would probably bring KTIX into the top10 General Aviation Airports in the country.
General Aviation operations is defined by the FAA based on traffic operations counted in Air Traffic Activity Data System (ATADS).
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Bristow Academy in Concord receives 2 CBi’s.
Bristow Academy’s oldest aircraft, in service since 1996, has been sold and will be delivered to its new owner before the 10th of May. The sale leaves our Concord school one helicopter short. To fill the gap two of the newer Schweizer 300CBi helicopters N1824J (2005) and N20866 (2004) from the Bristow Academy in Florida will be sent to California. Enabling further development of our Mountain course and the day to day training that is provided for the people in the local area of the San Francisco Bay area.
Historic week for Helicopter Adventures Inc February 23rd saw more than 200 students, staff and friends of Helicopter Adventures Inc attend the 20th Anniversary ceremony in the company hanger. The ceremony included a narrative of Helicopter Adventures ’s history by Patrick Corr, the unveiling of three plaques commemorating the flight instructors hired over the past 20 years and an announcement of the sale of HAI to Bristow Group Inc.
William E. Chiles, CEO of Bristow Group Inc, also in attendance, took questions from staff and students as well as provided information on Bristow’s history and future plans for HAI. A ceremonial signing of the Stock Purchase Agreement by Patrick Corr, Nancy Schofield-Corr and William E. Chiles completed the event. As of April 1st 2007 Helicopter Adventures Inc will become Bristow Academy.
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20 years and 300 flight instructors A discovery made during preparation for the anniversary ceremony showed over the past 20 years HAI has hired exactly 300 flight instructors, beginning with Patrick Corr and finishing with Geoff Bell. Three plaques made in their honor have been hung in Flight Operations.
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6000th Schweizer aircraft built sold to Helicopter Adventures Inc HAI lent the newest helicopter, N1706P, to Schweizer’s static display at the Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo in Orlando, FL. The helicopter marked the 6000th aircraft built by Scheweizer since production began in 1937 in Elmira, NY. To find out more about Schweizer history visit www.sacusa.com/history.asp
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Helicopter Adventures Inc at Heli-Expo Heli-Expo proved very successful and busy for HAI. A press conference held on the first day of the Expo announcing the sale of HAI to Bristow gathered quite a crowd around the booth and gained a very positive reaction from the general public.
HAI enjoyed a great turnout of current students at the Expo helped by the closeness to the school and a generous student ticket discount offered by Helicopter Association International . Many former students and instructors, now employed by some of the companies present at Heli-Expo, also attended the event.
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20 Year Celebration Party in Orlando Saturday March 3rd, Helicopter Adventures Inc hosted a 20th Anniversary Party at the Glo lounge in Orlando. The party was a great success enjoyed not only by current and former flight instructors, staff members and students, but special guests Frank Robinson, HAI Chairman Ed Newton, HAI President Matt Zuccaro, HAI Directors Mark Gibson, Steve Sabree and Art Ashton.
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Patrick Corr Re-elected to Helicopter Association International Board During Heli-Expo the Helicopter Association International held annual elections. There are 664 voting members of the Helicopter Association, all of whom are commercial operators, public service operators or corporate helicopter operators. Patrick Corr was elected to fill the open Regular Member-Commercial seat. The Board then elected new Officers for 2007-08 with Patrick Corr appointed as Vice Chairman of the Association and Mike Suldo of Bristow Group Inc as Chairman. The new term will begin in July.
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Helicopter Adventures, Inc. Announces Proposed Sale to the Bristow Group. Inc.
Orlando, March 1, 2007. Helicopter Adventures, Inc. one of the world’s leading helicopter flight training providers announced today that it has entered into an agreement that will lead to the sale of 100% of its stock to the Bristow Group, Inc. one of the largest operators of commercial helicopters in the world. The sale is expected to be completed on or before March 31 and at that point the company will be renamed as Bristow Academy, Inc.
Patrick Corr, President of Helicopter Adventures, Inc., described the sale as, “a wonderful opportunity for the flight school, its employees, its customers, and the local community.” He went on to say that, “the acquisition will enable the school to achieve its full potential on a much faster timetable than would have been possible alone. We expect to make significant investment in new infrastructure.”
Bristow Group, Inc. (NYSE:BRS) is a leading provider of helicopter services and production management services to the offshore energy industry. With over 4,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 helicopter pilots, the company has operations on every continent. William E. Chiles, Bristow’s President, expressed his satisfaction at the acquisition: “Bristow Academy will play a key role in the growth of our operations, as well as providing a service of unparalleled quality to the helicopter industry.”
Helicopter Adventures, Inc. is a 20 year-old company specializing in career-oriented helicopter flight training. With bases in Titusville, Florida and Concord, California the training school employs a staff of 115, including 45 flight instructors. The company’s 51 helicopters fly 40,000 flight hours per year and its graduates are working in nearly every major helicopter company around the world.
Contact: Helicopter Adventures, Inc. Business Development Manager, Samantha Willenbacher. Phone (321) 567-0382; FAX (321) 567-0408; Email sam@heli.com
Source: Helicopter Adventures, Inc.
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HAI Launches New Website
January 2007
Returning visitors to the HAI website will notice a very different look.Over the past few months HAI staff have worked hard to update the content and increase the available information so that interested individuals can get as many questions answered at the click of a button.A newly designed Frequency Asked Questions (FAQ) section will allow visitors to register for email alerts when information is changed. An expanded Prospective Student section provides useful information on non-training subjects such as housing, financing, requirements for international students, and a new student checklist.HAI has even included a Flight School Guide to help potential helicopter pilots make the right decision when choosing a flight school.
One exciting new feature of the website is the Pre-Flight video.In conjunction with A Moment in Time Productions HAI has produced an hour long video showing everything you need to know to conduct a thorough and safe pre-flight of the Schweizer 300CBi helicopter.
The website has been designed using a program that will make it possible for HAI staff to make immediate changes.This will allow the information to remain as up to date as possible.News articles will be posted as events unfold so that potential students, current students, and alumni can be kept up to the minute.
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3 Robbies Return From Overhaul
January 2007
At the time of writing 3 of the school’s Robinson R-22 instrument trainer helicopters are en-route to Florida having gone through major overhaul at the Robinson factory.These aircraft will return to the fleet in Florida bringing the total number of R-22’s to 12 and the total fleet in Titusville to 46.Flown by HAI pilots Jay Wyatt, Felix Schmidhalter, and Mike Sayler, the ferry flight has been a challenging one so far due to very unusual weather conditions in the Southern United States.Having been grounded in Ft. Stockton, Texas by freezing rain for the last 2 days the group continued today and is currently en-route from San Antonio to their next fuel stop.
Last year HAI decided to have all of its Robinson helicopters overhauled at the Robinson factory from now on.Although field overhauls have now become more routine and are considerably less expensive HAI has decided to pay the extra cost for the high quality service that the factory provides.The factory overhauled helicopters are almost indistinguishable from brand new aircraft, unlike most field overhauled helicopters on which only the time limited components have been replaced.
