Flying the MD530F and the Resurrection of MD Helicopters – AIN

If you have any questions right now, you feel good, okay, so I'm here at MD Helicopters in Phoenix, Arizona, and I'm about to fly a

md530f

with CJ and we're here to find out what MD Helicopters is up to since they left. Through a challenging bankruptcy and the

resurrection

of an investment group that is bringing MD

helicopters

back to life, one of those smart people who helped rescue MD is Ed Delinsky, a turnaround expert who has extensive experience in aircraft manufacturing and in the aerospace sector and is also a true Aviation Expert, I received a phone call about a company change that was necessary.

It was one of our owners who let me know that it was an MD helicopter and obviously that's a historic name that caught my attention and made me think hard now. Wait a minute, that's the Howard Hughes brand, so I had a very interesting conversation with the owners, the moment they called me, they asked us if I would be willing to chair the board and I said I would do it as long as I could. having influence over other members that are on the board, at least a couple of positions that are important and also how we build the leadership team here and that's where we were very fortunate to find Brad and bring Brad on as our CEO .

We'll meet Brad. In a moment, but first let's take a look at the 530f. It is MD's top-of-the-line helicopter with plenty of power thanks to its 650-horsepower Rolls-Royce 250 C30 turboshaft engine. Pilots love the precise handling of the 530 and many utility operators fly Hel 500 Series

helicopters

for Precision Power Line work and other uses. Brad Peterson is president and CEO of MD Helicopters and took the job because he loves helicopters and, in fact, he used to work for the company years ago, he never thought he would. He had the opportunity to return and he took advantage of it.

I don't know, the first helicopter trip. He bit me. It was something I fell in love with and stayed in the helicopters for 20 minutes. A few years and I moved on, I helped some private equity firms get some companies out of bankruptcy and others that were just languishing and I got a call asking if I would be willing to help new MD helicopter owners figure out what they were doing. To see this with this asset, it was like one of the best days of my life. I took the controls and, as Schneider indicated that he was

flying

on the right side of the Salt River, he suggested some sharp turns to get used to the 530 FS's handling.

You're with me, I'm not going to let anything happen to this helicopter, so I want you to do it, I want you to just put it in the bank, okay. A little bit of cyclical application, a little more AP, a little more bank, bank, bank. and off the shore and out, wow, there you go a little further towards the shore and a little further out a little further to the left 5.5 over the street coming up Keep going keep going there you go and now just straighten it out and then go in in a Turn right here and hit it B over B over B over B more more more there you go a little bit fit and a little bit up on that Bus there you go easy day here pulling that Bus really tighten that turn which is Great, there it you have and now just fix it.

Good morning, huh. Peterson was well aware of MD's problems, but he felt it was worth resurrecting and had a lot of value not only to investors but also to customers. There were many situations that maybe were not MDS's fault, but I saw the business going downhill. They ignored their after-sales support. They ignored some of the customers. They made some decisions to just focus on the military, which I didn't think was right and it was kind of like that. It's sad to see all the surveys come out in which MD was judged so poorly by customers. You know, everyone has always said they love the product, they just hated the company and seeing it go downhill, I felt like it was an opportunity you rarely get.

Have you ever had the opportunity in your career to become an icon and try to help him at a critical moment after the steep turns, we headed towards a small canyon that was wide enough for the helicopter and I had a fun job? of twisting and turning to follow the convolutions, practicing sharp turns really helped me prepare for these radical maneuvers and this is just we bring guys here just because you know if you can maneuver here you really have to fill the beginning of the helicopter. I know reaching out to him is just a good way to get the guys you know on the same page with him and he'll come out here on the right, great job, awesome, and then he'll come back on here on the right, great job, yeah, really cool , pleasant.

Schneider took the controls to demonstrate the landing on a rocky Pinnacle that is famous among pilots learning to fly MD helicopters, of course he made it look easy and would definitely need more practice before attempting this. Wow, do you ever want to wonder what this helicopter could do? That's amazing, not bad, huh? Yes it is beautiful here, the production line produces new md500e md530 fs and military versions of those helicopters as production increases, the new management has worked to update production processes. My biggest observation was that the plane was built. the '60s and not much has been done, so we're looking at how we take that information, digitize a lot of our data, which is Legacy, you know, thousands and drawings, digitize that data and then transform some of it. parts to use the latest advanced manufacturing technology so that we can accelerate the production rate.

Now we have 130 production workers. We're going to add about 50 more production workers in the next 6 to 12 months, but we have two lines. production now here we're going to add a third line, so that should give us enough room to get through. Now it's my turn to land on a pinnacle, although not the famous rock, this one is more forgiving and as I slowly approached the landing. I kept the descent speed very low and slowly inched forward until the high skates touched the ground. It was much easier than I expected. There you go easy and do a little click up and half click C and that will be something like this.

Just give it that little break, great and now walk a little bit to the left, there you go, great, great, great job, you have to turn a little bit up a little bit, let's hover over it, go straight, still nice . gentle down there we go great job no, okay wow, it's your first time reaching a pinnacle here, not bad man, how do you feel amazing? Now those skids are a little higher than Schneider demonstrated an off-the-ground spin car. rotation starting from zero airspeed and it really wasn't an event and we'll get it out of ground effect you're ready to go yeah okay and in three 2 one there we go and then we drive that RPM get some air. speed and then dive back to the ground Northwest practice a climb to 4,500 6 mil take it directly over the new Riverwest there aren't things that have a lot of power, but to regain air speed, did you have to?

Did you keep the Cy back or did you? let it go forward a little bit, you know what I don't do, I don't really push it forward because right now if I push down if I leave the nose where it's neutral and I barely push down on the nose, where does it go? Yeah, so when I'm at altitude and I hit that Collective down, the nose is naturally going to drop, okay, and I don't want to accelerate too much because that means I'm going to move faster toward the ground, yeah, so I try to Do everything as slowly and comfortably as possible.

Then, if I need a little airspeed, I gently push it forward and fly it there on the way back. At the airport, we flew over some wild Mustangs that live in the desert. That is incredible. Watch as Schneider concluded the flight with full automatic rotations and I followed the controls whenever the 530f had a lot of energy left to cushion the landing. Explains the difference between an outside ground effect and an automatic rotation with ground effect. uh just the way you use the control, whether it's hovering, you know like our Powerline guys would do or with a forward movement, you know the controls react differently. way, so go up to a you know, okay, start from an automatic effect, hover, yeah, and then I'll go in just like we did there and then I'll take it right to the ground, okay, are you ready to go, are you?

OK? slowed down, okay, 3 two 1 traffic 4:00 not bad, eh, press, can I try to take off? Yes, do it and just yes, focus outside and keep coming, don't even think about keeping bringing it. The more efficient you are, the slower you'll go into Over Control if you just bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it, bring it, try to get up an inch off the ground. bring it, bring it, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep it there, that's so smooth, yeah, that's it for you too, CRA and we'll go ahead and turn right here 7th, okay, everyone's ready there, yes.

Alright, there we go all day. Schneider told me that if I were checked out in the 530f, it would take me only an hour to feel comfortable in the machine and after that flight I'm convinced I could learn to fly this. It ships pretty fast. MD management is working toward a brighter future and, as the company's workforce grows, has sought to modernize its approach to its greatest resource. The people who work here know this, so we want people to understand that they do make a difference. and they contribute, you know, and they want to be appreciated, you know.

I think it's important that we walk up and say thank you very much, thank you for what you do. We have a monthly all-member meeting where I try to communicate everything that is happening. I share the financial good, the bad, whatever with employees. I share, uh, what our business development is. Activities are what we're doing, you know, because the things that are important to me I think are important to everyone else. I want to have a job next week. Next month next year, you know, I want to see all this grow and everyone else, you people who work here, want to look at the production line and see a nice series of planes coming down there because, you know, if they don't. so, uh, your job security is in question, we're a small company, everything we do means something, no one will get lost in the crowd here, we really appreciate, whether you're an engineer, a sales technician, whatever, it's um.

Um, it's important that we let people know that