Bristow Academy (formerly Helicopter Adventures, Inc. - HAI) was established in Concord, California on February 23rd 1987 by Patrick Corr. An immigrant to the United States from Ireland, Corr had a background of 6 years in the Irish army and three years in management in Saudi Arabia. On arrival in California he trained as a helicopter pilot and subsequently worked as a flight instructor before setting up HAI. He hoped to create a charter company that specialized in adventure trips around Northern California and named the company with that goal in mind. The company’s tours were only moderately successful but there was steady demand for training. In due course Corr realized that the flight training market had been neglected by the established helicopter companies and a great opportunity existed for a professionally organized and operated school.
This required a major adjustment in thinking – the company had to be first and foremost an educational institution and secondly a helicopter operator. Corr told his staff that they must concentrate their efforts on improving the quality of the education provided by the school as opposed to finding ways to increase the hours flown on the helicopters. If the school raised its standards the flight hours would increase accordingly, whereas if the emphasis was on increasing flight hours the quality would suffer and the business would not grow.
This emphasis on education led to FAA certification as an approved (Part 141) flight school. In 1994 the company went through the demanding process of accreditation by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)*. This is an agency that is authorized by the US Department of Education to set standards for third level educational institutions. HAI was the first dedicated helicopter school to seek accreditation and it was approved at the first attempt. Since then only three other helicopter schools have risen to the challenge.
Throughout the ‘90s HAI grew steadily in size and reputation. Larger numbers of students provided the economic viability to further enhance the program through the addition of full-time academic instructors, new training aids, new helicopters and more administrative staff. Similarly the school’s maintenance capabilities were greatly improved and spare parts inventories increased, bringing an end to the days when a helicopter had to be grounded while it’s engine was overhauled or it’s radio was repaired.
In 1995 HAI President Patrick Corr became aware that Contra Costa County (in which the city of Concord is located) was interested in adding a helicopter unit to its Sheriff’s office capabilities. Working with Sheriff Warren Rupf (then Under-Sheriff) and Sgt. (now Commander) Scott Daly, HAI developed a highly innovative solution to this need. In 1997 the first helicopter, a Bell 407, began operating over the County. It was flown and maintained by HAI and carried a tactical officer from the Sheriff’s Department. Since then another helicopter has been added (a Bell 206BIII), and the program has enjoyed great success. The Public/Private approach to operating the Air Support Unit has saved the County approximately a million dollars over the past ten years when compared to the more conventional approach of using law enforcement officers as pilots. HAI’s experienced pilots have enabled the Unit to operate at a sophisticated level from day one and they have kept an unblemished safety record since then during thousands of flight hours and many challenging missions.
In the mid 1990s the European nations began a process of harmonizing their aviation regulations, including the creation of a standard licensing system for pilots. At the time the general labor laws had been liberalized, making it easy for any European Union citizen to work in another member country, but pilots still faced a daunting process to obtain a new license in each country. The new rules would in theory allow a pilot who held a license issued in accordance with the European Joint Aviation Administration (JAA) to work in any member country without additional testing or licensing. An attempt was made to include very restrictive language in the new regulations that would have made it much harder for a pilot who had trained outside the EU to obtain a JAA license. While this pleased European flight schools it was a potential disaster for US schools which have always used the lower cost structure, better weather, and less bureaucratic regulatory environment to encourage European students to train in the US.
HAI saw these changes as a potential threat to its European market and responded by applying for JAA certification. No other helicopter school outside Europe had previously attempted this and in the fixed-wing world only two companies, Flight Safety International and The University of Western Michigan, took similar action. The approval process was complex and there were many uncertainties about the long term viability of the concept. Flight Safety quickly abandoned their JAA program and in the wake of 9/11 Western Michigan suspended their program too. This leaves HAI as the only JAA approved flight school operating an integrated training program to Commercial or ATPL(H) level outside the borders of Europe. Despite many predictions that the program would not succeed it now enjoys full classes with waiting lists for places as much as a year in advance. Incidentally the European nations soon realized that flight training in the US would have to continue to be the norm since many of the large airlines (such as Lufthansas and Sabena) were almost totally dependant on this option.
HAI made another important decision in 1995 – to switch to a predominantly Schweizer 300CB training fleet. Prior to then HAI had conducted all its training in the R-22, operating 19 Robinsons prior to the switch. With the certification of the 300CB in 1995 HAI felt that the school had an obligation to provide its students with the best training helicopter on the market. The Schweizer offered a more stable platform and other significant benefits to the student since it was specifically designed to be a trainer. The R-22, while having the advantage of being cheap to operate, was never intended to be a primary training aircraft. The school has enjoyed great success with the Schweizer fleet, which has grown to over 40 aircraft, but still retains a number of R-22s so that the students can be qualified in both types of helicopter.
By the end of the 1990s HAI had grown dramatically from the one helicopter company that opened its doors in 1987. The intensive training had become unpopular with the immediate neighbors of the Concord airport and maintaining a good relationship with the local community had become a challenge. Further growth seemed likely to make things even worse. Concord airport is a very sophisticated facility but like so many other similar airports it had not protected its borders from residential development. Hundreds of homes (including many poorly insulated mobile homes) had been built right up to the airport security fence. 1950s photos of the community show the airport way out on the outskirts of town, surrounded by fruit farms. Today it looks like a tiny oasis in the middle of dense urban development.
Faced with the prospect of restrictions on growth the school began a search for a new home. After careful analysis a decision was made to relocate the majority of the training to Space Coast regional Airport in Titusville, Florida. This location offered everything the school needed – a tower controlled airport, a good buffer between the airport and housing, no airline traffic, a moderate cost of living, available student housing at reasonable cost, proximity to recreational attractions, and a nearby international airport. The only element that was missing was a mountain range but the school determined that the mountain courses could still be run in California and the many benefits of the Florida location far outweighed this inconvenience.
In November 2000 the school sent a small advance party to Titusville to prepare for the move and in January 2001 the school began full operation at the new location. The change of location has been an enormous success and the school now has much better facilities. For the Concord location the move has also been beneficial because the big reduction in activity has enabled the school to restore good good relations with the local community and eliminated the pressure for practice areas.
Over the past 20 years the school’s graduates have made a very big impact on the commercial helicopter industry. Some major helicopter companies have dozens of HAI graduates in their ranks. These pilots have earned a reputation for consistently high standards and professionalism, which undoubtedly helps new HAI graduates as they begin their careers. From very humble beginnings the school has grown in size and stature and is now a well respected institution of the helicopter industry. In its first month in operation HAI, with a total staff of two, flew about 75 flight hours. Now HAI has 120 employees and flies approximately 3,500 hours every month. HAI expects to continue to play a major role in the current transformation of the industry from one that used to be dominated by former military pilots to one in which most pilots have a civilian background.
