Episode 198: Why the U.S. Army Chose the R66 for Flight Training | David Smith

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Jim O'Neill of Bristow Group, an experienced helicopter rescue paramedic, winchman, and winch operator whose career has taken him from the infantry to decades of helicopter search-and-rescue operations. Jim takes Halsey inside a challenging rescue with the Irish Coast Guard near Dingle Harbour, Ireland, where severe weather, a vessel in distress, and a rapi...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Chad McIntosh and Bailey Gackstetter of Great Lakes Helicopter and HeliSIX in Ontario, Canada, for a conversation about flight training, building helicopter pilots and the value of learning inside a working aviation operation. Chad and Bailey explain why choosing a flight school should be about more than price or simply earning a licence. The instructors, c...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Beau Prine of Aviation Academy Louisiana to discuss a career shaped by military aviation, maintenance excellence, and a passion for developing the next generation of aviation professionals. Before entering aviation education, Beau served as a CH-53 crew chief in the United States Marine Corps, including two tours with HMX-1—the squadron responsible for pres...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with fighter pilot, author, and content creator C.W. Lemoine to talk about an aviation career that rarely followed the obvious path. Growing up in Louisiana, C.W. dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, only to be told early on that his eyesight would likely prevent him from ever reaching that goal. Rather than letting that answer define his future, he continued lo...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Ryan Vandehei, a former Coast Guard helicopter pilot, to talk about his path into military aviation, the realities of Coast Guard flight training, and some of the personal challenges that have come with the journey. Ryan shares what drew him to the Coast Guard Academy with the goal of becoming a pilot and the highs and lows that followed—from struggling thr...