RWS 31 – AOPA Hover Power Blog with Ian Twombly and Markus Lavenson

The Hoverpower blog is updated by a team of helicopter pilots with a vast array of backgrounds.
The Hoverpower blog is updated by a team of helicopter pilots with a vast array of backgrounds.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is the largest general aviation body in the United States. Hover Power is the association’s helicopter themed blog covering a mix of news, stories and advice.

In today’s episode we cover a heap of ground as we talk about the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in the US, loss of licence insurance, helicopter blogs, recommended ipad apps, inflight emergency handling and tuna boat flying.

[Tweet “Helicopters are the ultimate offroad vehicle, can do things no other machine can do.”]

Ian Twombly is editor of the AOPA monthly magazines AOPA Pilot and Flight Training. Ian has been a fixed wing instructor for some time and has recently also joined the helicopter fraternity.

Ian Twombly converted across to helicopters in 2014 and this is a photo after completing his checkride.
Ian Twombly converted across to helicopters in 2014 and this is a photo after completing his checkride.

One of his other duties with AOPA is to head up the Hover Power blog. Ian has been busy building up the site and has managed to herd a team of experienced helicopter pilots together to contribute articles about all aspects of helicopter operations.

One of the blog contributors is Markus Lavenson. Markus is a AW139 captain in the Gulf of Mexico and is about to head off soon to convert across to the AW189. He has been flying since way back in 1984 and had a go at instructing, tuna boats, tourism, powerlines, EMS, offshore, check and training roles and a stint in Alaska.

Markus in an AW139 preparing for offshore flight in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo Credit: Alex Geacintov
Markus in an AW139 preparing for offshore flight in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo Credit: Alex Geacintov

AOPA is a not for profit group founded in 1939 to ensure that the early US general aviation community was able to be represented in the formation of new laws and to provide subject matter experts. Its role today is similar with effort put towards advocacy, safety education, training,
representation at federal, state, local levels, social activities and legal advice.

Australia, England, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Greece and probably a bunch more countries also have their own AOPA groups. The Australian AOPA maintains a National Airfield Directory publication that we always bought for the Squadron Ops room as it listed many of the remote and out of the way country strips and contact details that would not be found in other normal AIP.

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In this week’s episode:

02:15 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com
06:50 Number of pilots in the US
08:40 Working with governments at all levels to put forward aviation industry case
09:30 New York / New Hamptons helicopter noise restrictions
10:10 What does AOPA membership get you?
12:50 Loss of licence coverage and insurance coverage
16:35 Hoverpower blog articles and writing team
21:50 Markus’ flying background and experience
26:35 AOPA Live video blogging and news articles ‘Enstrom’ example
28:10 Reviewing aviation products that get sent in
29:10 Top flying iPad app recommendations
35:00 Visting helicopter industry events
36:20 New wave of helicopter designs hitting the market
39:30 Engine failure at night to hospital pad
45:10 Handling aircraft emergencies
46:50 Soloing in a Bell 47 with wooden blades
50:30 Tuna boat flying
53:10 Going out to dinner at restaurant in R22
57:30 EMS off airfield landings

Links from this week’s episode:
AOPA Hoverpower Blog
World Helicopter Day

This video gives you an idea of the video content that AOPA is producing. In it Ian Twombly talks about the training helicopter market during HeliExpo 2015.
[leadplayer_vid id=”5574178019E86″]

[Tweet “I was able to pick up the phone and call AOPA and talk to an aviation legal professional immediately.”]

[Tweet “As a pilot in an emergency, your first priority is preservation of life.”]

Photos of Markus during his time flying off tuna boats in the Pacific.
Photos of Markus during his time flying off tuna boats in the Pacific.

[Tweet “You have 2 hours searching for fish to think about how the heck am I going to get this thing back on the boat.”]

[Tweet “In the event of an emergency we sink to the level of our training. We are only as good as our training.”]

What topics would you love to see the Hoverpower writing team cover on their blog. Leave a comment below and have a chance to get an AOPA cap sent out by Ian.

4 Replies to “RWS 31 – AOPA Hover Power Blog with Ian Twombly and Markus Lavenson”

  1. Hey Mick, great show. My suggestion for the blog, a article about the flight characteristics of diffrent helicopter types, and how pilots can prepare for them. Can non pilots view the blog?

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