Category Archives: News
First solo - Hamish Funnell
Congratulations to Hamish Funnell for completing his first solo on Sunday the 25th of October, 2009.
Hamish, who holds a Commercial Pilots License (Aeroplane), has managed to complete his first solo flight with just 10.2 hours in the Robinson R22, a total achieved over the past couple of weeks.
Chief Flying Instructor, David Lealand, said “Hamish is smoking ahead and has taken to the Helicopter really well. Had it not been for the flight manual stipulating that solo flights are not to be conducted with less than 10 hours of flight experience on type, he would have gone solo comfortably in under 5 hours.”
Hamish Funnell flying solo
Staff and students of Heli-Hire Limited would like to say well done and wish Hamish all the best for all future flights.
Three months after having courses approved for the education of students as Private and Commercial Helicopter Pilots, Heli-Hire Limited has today received approval to offer a NZQA Approved Course for the instruction of Helicopter Instructor’s Ratings.
The NZQA Course Approval and Accreditation for the Heli-Hire Limited Helicopter Pilot Instructor Training Programme is the final step course accreditation Heli-Hire Limited is applying for at this stage which will enable students from countries outside of New Zealand and Australia to apply for a Student Visa to train with us.
Having the course approval now also means that students will graduate courses when completing their Helicopter Pilots Instructor Rating.
Heli-Hire Limited is to commence training the first instructor under this accreditation and the staff are forward to having our first graduation in September or October 2009.
Hughes 500D joins fleet
HUGHES 500D JOINS FLEET
9 August 2009
Heli-Hire Limited has purchased a former California Police Helicopter to add to its’ fleet. Two former Police helicopters, both Hughes 500D’s, were up for Auction in California on Tuesday 22nd of July and Heli-Hire Limited has been successful in purchasing N4575Z.
The new helicopter is an advancement on the Hughes 500C which is already on fleet, and will be helicopter number 4 for the Heli-Hire Limited fleet.
Since the auction, N4575Z has undergone a fresh 100 hour check and the check for export, and is expected to depart from California within the next week or so. It is hoped that the latest edition to the Heli-Hire Limited fleet will be up and flying around the Bay of Plenty in time for summer.
Heb Overhauled
The overhaul of the recently acquired Robinson R22 Beta, HEB, has been completed. Heli-Hire Limited has taken delivery of HEB and CFI David Lealand is looking forward to having this additional helicopter working in the fleet.
The overhaul has taken approximately 7 weeks to complete and testing has been done on the completely rebuilt machine over the course of this week. The weather had slowed progress but staff had been available to do the test flights required at short notice, reducing any further potential delays by days.
HEB, Overhauled at last.
Heb rebuild
The overhaul of the recently acquired Robinson R22 Beta, HEB, is starting to take shape. The new paint job has been completed and all of the rebuild kit components have arrived in New Zealand and the rebuild is under way.
The Taupo based engineering firm is now in the process of putting all of the parts together on HEB, a task that could take up to 6 weeks, depending upon the work load. It is hoped that HEB will be flying as a part of the Heli-Hire Limited Fleet around mid July 2009.
HEB, A painted shell
Heli-Hire Limited are the first company in New Zealand to have purchased a new Exhaust Modification from Performance Aviation Limited to help the Robinson R22 Beta to obtain improved Horsepower and reduce exhaust noise emissions. This modification will be part of the rebuild and a link for more information will be added to the Links page in late June. (Link added 20 June 2009)
After 9 months of planning and submitting documents to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Ministry of Education, Heli-Hire Limited has today had courses approved for the education of Private and Commercial Helicopter Pilots.
The NZQA Course Approval and Accreditation for the Heli-Hire Limited Private Helicopter Pilot Training Programme and the Commercial Helicopter Pilot Training Programme has been the final step required to enable students from countries outside of New Zealand and Australia to apply for a Student Visa to train with us.
Having the course approval now also means that students will graduate courses when completing their Helicopter Pilots License.
Heli-Hire Limited is now planning for, and looking forward to, registering its’ first International Students for Full-Time studies.
Congratulations to Roger Ferguson for completing a first solo on Friday the 1st of May, 2009.
The first solo for Roger was not planned by CFI David Lealand for the day, but after a stellar performance in his first flight for the day, David felt that Roger was ready for that long awaited First Solo. Rogers second flight of the day was continuing in the same way as the first so David let him go.
Roger Ferguson flying solo
Staff and students of Heli-Hire Limited would like to say well done and wish Roger all the best for all future flights.
Heli-Hire Limited has recently acquired a Robinson R22 Beta to add to the fleet. The machine, ZK-HEB, had been operating in Northland until recently.
The machine was bought back to Taupo on the back of a trailer and has been taken to manitainence for a full overhaul prior to being put into service as a full time training machine.
Keep watching the news for updates and when HEB will be released to service
The Bay Trust Rescue Helicopter Open Day was held again on Sunday the 5th of April and Heli-Hire Limited were there to offer support once again. It was a successful day with the event raising over $ 8,000 towards the continuing upkeep and maintaining of the service.
Rotoruas’ BayTrust Rescue Helicopter
From 10am until 2pm Heli-Hire Limited staff Mark Lealand, David Wylie and Mike Gallacher were there with the Robinson R22 Beta II and the Hughes 500C, offering support and showing many of the 2000+ visitors around the helicopters.
The day was praised as a huge success with additional displays and demonstrations. David Wylie, C-Cat Instructor, said the highlight of the day for him was when the Rescue Pilot from the Tauranga Rescue Helicopter Service, Liam Brettkelly, was put into a Police Dog training suit and then got taken down by a Police Dog.
March 2009
Heli-Hire Limited has just finished refurbishing what previously was a sunroom into a classroom for student training and pre-flight briefings.
Heli-Hire Limited Classroom
The classroom has been set up to cater for up to four students but can be rearranged to cater for up to eight students if required.
Vast windows in the classroom give students a great view of the operational area at the Heli-Hire Limited base, in turn allowing the students to visualise a lot of what is being taught.
