Case of the Mondays at Upper Limit

Here at +Upper Limit Aviation, Inc. there is no "Case of the Mondays" We love what we do!

Postage Stamp Landing

Ryan posts this beautiful shot on a landing spot we like to call the "Postage Stamp" at +Upper Limit Aviation, Inc. 

3,000 Facebook Likes

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Thanks to all of our awesome Facebook fans that helped us get to 3,000 Likes!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve at Upper Limit

Christmas Eve at +Upper Limit Aviation, Inc. 

Congratulations Marshall Murdock!

Congratulations to Marshall Murdock for his new job offer, flying Grand Canyon tours for Papillon! 

Marshall came to Upper Limit a few years ago as a student. Then became a helicopter instructor for +Upper Limit Aviation, Inc. and now is moving on to fly tours in the Grand Canyon!

First Autorotation

What was yours like?!

How New Technology to Help Pilots Fly Difficult Routes Is Creating New Jobs

The Future of Flying Is All About Eliminating Risk

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, pilots running offshore flying gigs down in the gulf have had their needs met with a pretty incredible new invention that promises to make flying these tough routes easier and safer.

The Kansas City Star reports that new software developed by Sikorsky is an automated helicopter guidance system designed to help pilots even in inclement weather and shrouded in total darkness.

That had always been the toughest part of the job. You're basically a tiny metal dot trying to land on another relatively tiny metal dot in the middle of the vast and unforgiving ocean. Now imagine doing that with virtually no light and flying into weather that, despite a pilot's best efforts to mitigate the risk and not fly into a storm, can be unpredictable to say the least.

The software is called Rig Approach, and it promises not only to save lives, but increase job growth.

The software was developed for a Lafayette, LA based operator named PHI Inc. and was the result of a five year effort that began when PHI asked Sikorsky to develop pilot software that would assist pilots in a range of challenging flying conditions.

Sikorsky's own chief researcher and development pilot, Ron Doeppner thoroughly tested every facet of the software himself in both a simulator environment and in a real helicopter setting.

The software works based on satellite data, eliminating many of the problems that go along with a lack of ground support to make many of these landings. This data allows the pilot to use Rig Approach to fly the helicopter until it is half a mile away and 200 feet above the sea, and it knows how to put the pilot in the sweet spot for an ideal approach every single time.

The Rig Approach software takes a lot of pressure off of the pilot to allow him to evaluate real time input like what's going on on the radio as well as weather conditions.

This software is just the latest in a series of evolutions undertaken in terms of how pilots in the oil and gas industry have made safety a priority. Safety allows pilots to do their jobs more effectively. The assurance of safety will allow for a greater number of flights, which will lead to job growth.

By combining the right training with the latest technology, helicopter pilots are helping to forge a future that pilots from even just twenty years ago could not have anticipated.

Upper Limit Aviation believes that today's pilots must be agile and safety-minded. We help prepare you to excel in just about any flight career imaginable, and those possibilities are growing every day. Call 1-855-HELIEDU to learn more.

Sunset

Last nights sunset was something for the record books! Several students and instructors at +Upper Limit Aviation, Inc. were able to enjoy the moment before their night flights began.

Has This 15 Year Old Shown Us A Picture of Helicopters From The Future?

Contest Victor's Prize Winning Design Is A Real Innovation

Try to envision a tractor-trailer rig that's powered by the sun and can be flown in either manned or unmanned modes.

A country-wide competition seeking futuristic helicopter designs from kids has been won by a 15 year old Collierville High School sophomore named Vance Hudson.

The Igor Sikorsky Youth Innovator Award comes with the prize of a $1,000 scholarship and a trip to the aviation corporation's main office in Connecticut. Hudson's award winning design and idea envision a future, specifically the year 2050, where a very light helicopter will be able to disassemble itself in order to deliver large payloads, leaving cargo components behind.

Sikorsky is a name that all in the helicopter aviation community associate with innovation. Igor Sikorsky, whose namesake company is an industry giant, headed a team that created the design for and flew the first truly viable American helicopter.

Helping the Helicopter Industry Embrace The Future

As the aviation industry evolves, we anticipate that we are entering a period of unprecedented innovation. The designs of the future may enable helicopters to play a vital role in emerging applications. Ours is an industry built by dreamers. The engineers who build helicopters often began drawing them as children. Our pilots have usually spent their whole lives wishing they could get in the cockpit before they ever step a foot inside one.

People always associate show business, rock 'n' roll and the entertainment world as the province of dreamers. But we know that pilots and engineers and mechanics and everybody else in our industry possesses the same imaginative qualities that have always fueled the growth of the American dream.

As the race to find qualified pilots to meet the demands of an increasingly diverse helicopter industry progresses, we have to take every effort we can to applaud and encourage the efforts undertaken by organizations such as the Igor Sikorsky company's award. They are truly paving the path for the dreamers of today to find their way into the helicopter aviation industry of tomorrow.

To learn more about aviation opportunities available to the helicopter dreamers of today, call Upper Limit Aviation at 1-855-HELIEDU.