Safety Seminar in Denver * Mr. Michael Franz at Colorado Heli-Ops

[RkyMtnHI]

Hey Everybody.. here is the press release for Mike's Safety Seminar Tour that starts in Denver next month.. we sincerely hope you can attend and help us be a part of the solution!!!

 

aloha,

 

dp

 

 

Press Release: Advanced Helicopter Seminars are coming to Denver!

Colorado Heli-ops

Contact: Margaret Mackenzie (or any CFI)

303.466.HELI (4354)

email: info@coloradoheliops.com

website: coloradoheliops.com

 

Michael Franz, one of the Industry’s most experienced and well respected helicopter pilot mentors, is launching his nationwide seminar series this Spring here in Denver. Proudly hosted by Colorado Heli-Ops, this weekend Seminar series provides helicopter pilots a unique opportunity to learn from an experienced mentoring CFI, who has “been there, done that.” Michael has leveraged his vast experience by making a lifetime commitment to passing that knowledge on to others to promote Helicopter Flight Safety and Pilot Employability.

 

Michael Franz has 42 years of flying spanning a remarkable variety of light helicopter operations including flying Hueys in Vietnam, serving as a US Army helicopter primary instructor, being one of the very first factory-designated Robinson R-22 CFI’s, and being factory trained and teaching in modern equipment such as the Bell 206L, B407 and Eurocopter EC-120. Michael has 7000+ hours of cross-country helicopter flight time encompassing almost every corner of the United States, the Caribbean, and both Eastern & Western Canada. You can get more info about Michael and his seminars from his website at:

 

http://www.lightsportairplaneservices.com/helicopter.htm

 

Now, for the price of a few hours of ground school, serious helicopter pilots can gain the benefit of decades of flight experience in a single day. There will be two courses available, each lasting approximately 4 hours.

The first, an Advanced Aeronautical Decision Making Seminar, is titled: “Clarification and Enhancement of Aeronautical Knowledge” This Seminar utilizes numerous, “pop-up” scenarios to illustrate some of the challenges associated with real-world helicopter flight operations. The students will be introduced to thought processes and specific skills which they can then utilize to effectively handle flight challenging situations which they might encounter in their own professional flying. This course picks up where the traditional Commercial/CFI training leaves off. This seminar is being offered by Colorado Heli-Ops for only $99 at 0800 on either Saturday, May 8th and Sunday, May 9th at KBJC airport.

 

The second, an Advanced Turbine Ground Course, will combine an in-depth discussion and training on turbine helicopter operations and the Rolls-Royce C250 series gas turbine engines, with hands-on examination of multiple facets of a representative helicopter, the popular Bell 206 Jet Ranger. The Turbine seminar will be offered in the same location at 1300 on Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th and is also being offered for only $99.

Both seminars will include illustrated texts, which the attendees may keep, and pilots who elect to take both courses will pay only $150 for both and it will include lunch courtesy of Colorado Heli-Ops during the break in between classes on either day.

 

Attendance is limited for all classes and demand is expected to be high, so please call Colorado Heli-Ops ASAP at 303-466-HELI (4354) to reserve your spot for these fantastic learning opportunities. Or, you can send us an email at; info@coloradoheliops.com

 

You can also take this opportunity to fly our FRASCA flight simulator as we will be giving away two gift certificates for one hour each on our sim… others may catch a few moments in the sim during the breaks as we’ll have a specialist on duty the whole weekend.

 

Please visit our website and down load the pdf of our recent article in Vertical Magazine to find out more about our goals to be a part of the solution…. To help make our industry the best it can be… coloradoheliops.com

 

We also expect a couple of surprise guests, other industry leaders that you will be happy to see and get to know… (cuz that’s the way we roll)

 

In the business of making your dreams come true….

 

Colorado Heli-Ops * 11844 Corporate Way * Broomfield, CO 80021 KBJC

[ADRidge]

Dennis, that is probably the coolest helicopter-related thing I've seen this year. I think it's awesome you guys are working towards bettering the industry as a whole like this. My hat goes off to you and your crew, man.

[kodoz]

Like a few others on this list, I had the good fortune to fly with Mike a couple of years ago. What you get from a few hours of listening to Mike is limited by your capacity to absorb it. This is one of the few opportunities that low-time pilots get to draw on the experience of somebody who's made a career of flying. Glad to see Dennis hosting it.

[Goldy]

We also expect a couple of surprise guests, other industry leaders that you will be happy to see and get to know… (cuz that’s the way we roll)

 

In the business of making your dreams come true….

 

Colorado Heli-Ops * 11844 Corporate Way * Broomfield, CO 80021 KBJC

 

Anyone within 200 miles would be a fool not to go take both of these courses. What a bargain!!

 

I told you not to make such a big deal about me showing up!!

 

Goldy

[RkyMtnHI]

Thanks so much for the good words guys... sorry Goldy, i know you told me not to tell anyone you were coming to avoid the crowds of fans... i just couldn't resist..

 

I just wanted to say the obvious, this is not about the money, it is about making a difference. Mike spent his life doing just that, being a part of the solution, and that is what his whole seminar idea revolves around.. I cannot tell you how much it means to us to be the starting point for this and to be a part of that effort. I believe Mike said that the normal charge for the turbine transition ground course is around $300.. so that alone is quite a good deal. He is doing this for his cost.. as are we.. in fact, we expect to loose a little but, it's not about that...

 

I hope all of you can come.. the truth is, if i could afford it i would send you all tickets and put you up at my house!! (not a bad idea actually, we have one lady coming from Hawaii that is staying with one of my team members, if any VR members want to participate give me a pm and i'll see if i can find you a place to bunk).

 

seriously..

 

aloha,

 

dp

[clay]

I wanna come, and I need a place to bunk

[Shaun]

You should stream it and sell tickets. I personally would pay that amount of money just to watch online. Or record it?

[RkyMtnHI]

Hey Shaun, how's it going??

 

Great idea.. i'll talk with Mike about it.. not sure how to do it or if it would work but i like it.

 

Get back with you on that one..

 

aloha,

 

dp

[JDHelicopterPilot]

DP,

 

At the least record it. Perhaps after the seminars are completed you guys can sell the DVDs? I can't go but wouldn't mind seeing a video of it.

[RkyMtnHI]

DP,

 

At the least record it. Perhaps after the seminars are completed you guys can sell the DVDs? I can't go but wouldn't mind seeing a video of it.

 

Working on that folks.. it's really up to Mike.. We have a great video guy and editor.. and Jack can stream it.. but we have to work it out with Mike.. he's open to discussion.. we'll let you know..

 

thanks for the interest.. wish you all could come.

 

aloha,

 

dp

[yzchopper]

Dp,

I won't be able to make it either and I think the whole video idea would be great. I would buy one.

[RkyMtnHI]

18 people signed up already... we have limited room in the turbine ground course.. if you are interested you need to reserve your spot..

 

dp

[MileHi480B]

I wanna come, and I need a place to bunk

 

You have a place. Just call.

[clay]

You have a place. Just call.

 

 

Thanks! But its a little late now, and I believe I'll be on hitch at the time as well. I am ready to come back up and visit everyone... but I think I'll wait until there is snow in the mountains. I'll definatley be calling around winter time

[RkyMtnHI]

Hey all,

 

We are ready for the seminar and things have come together really well. We still have some slots in the Safety portion of the course but looks like the turbine class has filled up.. there may be some no shows so if you want to come at least give us a call and get on the list.

 

(Tom, we are saving you and Rob a seat.. hope you guys can make it.. There will be room on the ramp for your ship but call us first, there may be a couple of EMS helicopters there if all works out).

 

Thanks to everyone that has helped us put this together, we are really excited about the whole thing as we really do want to be part of the solution.

 

We may be recording the programs but it will be up to Mike to decide what to do with the videos as they will belong to him... we decided to not stream it for a number of reasons.. sorry about that.. we'll work on that in the future.

 

aloha,

 

dp

[RkyMtnHI]

Well folks.. the seminar started today.. Michael got in this afternoon and had the first session with some of our core team tonite.. it was simply amazing. One CFI that's here from Hawaii said that just the 3 hours with him today was worth the whole trip. This guy has so much experience it's unreal.. i truly wish you all could be here. I'll try to keep you updated throughout the weekend, but it's pretty crazy..

 

here are a few photos:

 

dp

[BOATFIXERGUY]

By the pics you have on Facebook, looks like you had a great event Dp! Wish I could have been home for it!

 

Well Done!

[RkyMtnHI]

By the pics you have on Facebook, looks like you had a great event Dp! Wish I could have been home for it!

 

Well Done!

 

 

Thanks bud.. we missed you for sure.. it was crazy busy with no breaks and i am so tired i can't see straight.. sooo, i'll get a review and some photos posted asap.. hopefully Tim will post his thoughts as well.

 

i think it was an amazing weekend and everyone loved Mike... you have no idea who this guy is till you spend some time with him..

 

Rotor & Wing had a writer there so we'll see an article soon too... can't wait on that one.. she was one of the best parts of the weekend.. :-)

 

back soon,

 

dp

[RkyMtnHI]

Ok... couldn't resist.. :-)

 

here are some of the photos.. i'll get to them in the next couple of days and add some comments..

 

Much thanks to everyone involved...

 

aloha,

 

dp

 

 

http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm243/RkyMtnHI2/Michael%20Franz%20Seminar/

[Snowman]

Sunday was great, I went to both classes. Mike had a great way of discussing the issues and I would definitely attend another class in the future. Now I have more questions about turbines then before (like where can I fly one for cheap)! I would also recommend both classes to anyone who has a chance to attend in the future. As always Dennis and his staff were very hospitable and the atmosphere was fun and educational.

 

Thanks Again!

[RkyMtnHI]

Hey everybody..

 

sorry for the delay in my response/review.. i will get to it asap.. still reeling from the weekend. We had a great time, met a lot of people and everyone loved Mike & his presentations. We had two different 206's for the turbine class, one each day, which was very cool. The EMS folks were awesome and it was nice to meet them. The folks that could, sat in the classes on both days as there was a lot of info to take in.. every single participant said it was well worth the time and money, and that they would come back for more...

 

more later,

 

dp

[Mikemv]

While attendees are probably still reeling from information overload, or not, I am exhausted but smiling! My mission to reduce the accident rate, and help educate pilots and make them more employable has taken its first step!!! I applaud everyone that attended as it shows interest in being both safe and professional and hopefully carrying the torch of flight education and safety forward.

 

The host, Colorado Heli-Ops principles and staff, were all fabulous and worked hard in every way to help me, the attendees and anyone else that needed anything to feel welcomed and accommodated. Both Seminar Course books were printed to specs and distributed for all to take with them. Jet Rangers were brought in each day for the Rolls Royce 250 Series Turbine Transition ground school. The Classroom was set up properly, note taking materials were supplied, bottled water and 2 days of fabulous lunch/drinks were also provided. Special thanks to CHO CFI Nathan for Chef duties on Sunday!

 

Both DP and I learn many things to make future Seminars better(some of you might not believe that). Any feedback or comments from attendees will be noted and acted upon. My efforts of giving back to the Helicopter Industry, its pilots, CFIs and others will only intensify, improve and become more widespread. Any pilot group or flight school can host a Seminar.

 

To all, Be Safe. Work together and help the unique brother/sisterhood of helicopter pilots to enjoy a lifetime of SAFE flying.

 

With no(Mikey)isms,

 

Mike

[RkyMtnHI]

Franz Seminar, notes and review…

 

First and foremost the best part was getting to know Mike better.. he really is about giving back and the guy has a ton to share. Someone said before that the hard part would be taking it all in and that was evident this weekend. Although he was extremely organized and prepared, there was so much info and so little time… which brings up one of the short-comings we found.. we should have focused one full day for Clarification and Enhancement and one full day for the turbine course, or a similar schedule. The most important part of the course was the C & E as that’s what needs to be put out there, we added the turbine course for fun and missed the point a little. That being said, I know that everyone really liked the turbine portion and got a lot out of it.. in fact, one pilot with 3K hours in a 206 said he learned stuff from Mike in just a few hours that he didn’t know, another ATP with 200 hours of 206 time made a comment that he was surprised that operators let pilots fly their ships without this important knowledge.. So, we will try to keep this course as a portion of the seminars put on at Heli-Ops, but will focus on the C & E in the future.

 

Mike was up by 4:30am and worked past 10pm every day.. Needless to say it was hard to keep up with him and it’s taken three days for me to recuperate!!

 

Our team came out of the weekend invigorated and excited to know that they are at leading edge of this movement, and will take this information with them from now on. I honestly believe that if the program had lasted for a week, with the same information being put out the same way every day, they would have sat thru every class that they could as they did over the weekend… some of them even cancelled flights to go back thru the sessions for a second time.

 

The groups really loved the scenario based training discussions and practical.. and are already using the things they learned in their training. I personally was happy to see the things I had learned over the last couple of years make sense when related to real world issues.. and herin lies the importance in this sort of training, for example; it’s good to know the max glide of the platform you are flying, but it’s more important to know that you need that number should something go wrong to make better decisions as to were to put the helo down. That also brings up an equation that Mike discussed concerning what altitude to fly at, and how the forced landing sites decrease by exponents when flying lower.. (and then are divided by two since half of those are down wind).. yes, he got our attention a lot… I could go on and on but don’t have time to do so… I will say that if you can talk him into coming to your area it will be a win win situation for your team and the industry. Just don’t book him up completely because we want him back asap!!

 

We had participants from as far away as Hawaii and the West Coast, CFIs, ATPs, and every level of student including some non pilots.. it was a very successful weekend and we hope to see other schools get involved in this program.

 

 

Just a few of the important things that I got from the seminar..

 

Scenario based training is a better way.. period… and I expect we’ll all move that way in the near future.

 

“real world” flying is what we do every minute of every day.. not just GOM, or Firefighting or EMS or Tours.. when you get into a helicopter it is REAL WORLD and we should respect it as such, even if it’s just flight training.

 

What height should you hover at??? The answer will not be the one you expect!! This one caught us all off guard as hover height is discussed quite a bit up here due to performance issues.. I’ll leave that one for Mike to cover when he comes out, not sure if it’s a “(Mikey)ism” but it should be!! ☺

 

What is the most important step of the pre flight??? The one you are on!! (same can be said for post flights, check lists, etc).

 

We all must look at this industry and flight training with a new focus… One of the reasons Heli-Ops exists is that we saw weaknesses in the way things have been done in the past, (at least in our limited experience), and we wanted to make some changes, this is an awesome way to start. One of my sincere disappointments was that only one of the other area schools allowed their CFIs to participate… hopefully the folks in your area will try harder to work together.. after all, this isn’t about politics.. it’s about making a difference…

 

BE a part of the solution…

 

dp