Ah, the glorious life of a magazine editor

It’s October 14th and I am up at 0’ dark thirty, drive to the airport, park the car and grab the shuttle to the terminal. Get a cup of coffee and a sweet roll for breakfast and try to remember if I forgot anything. Then get in line with everyone else to go through the wonderful TSA screening process and finally get to the gate and pray that my aircraft is on time. What you say, why don’t I try another profession? And get out of aviation! Are you crazy? I love it!

OK now that you know I’m nuts, why am I doing this? Rotorcraft Support Inc. (RSI) in Van Nuys, CA was hosting its eleventh annual rotorcraft specific IA renewal seminar. That’s right boys and girls, rotorcraft specific, the only one of its kind offered during the entire year! All fixed wingers can stay home; this seminar is for hoverheads only.

Other sponsors included: Aero Weld, Aviall, Bell Helicopter, D.O.M. and HeliMx magazines, Rolls Royce Corp., Rolls Royce Engine Services-Oakland Inc., Spectrolab, and Standard Aero. There were 115 attendees and they were treated to a continental breakfast, a deli-style lunch and door prizes as well. The presenters (listed below) did a superb job and gave relevant and interesting presentations on a wide variety of subjects:

• Richard Komarniski from Grey Owl Consultants – Human Factors and Helicopter Maintenance
• Dave Burch and Daniel Prairie from Bell Helicopter Textron – Human Factors and Helicopter Maintenance
• Greg Houston from Rolls Royce Corp. – RR300 Engine Familiarization
• Dana Kerrick from International Aviation Composites – Rotor Blade Preventative Maintenance
• Gene Estrada from Spectrolab Illumination Products – SX-16 Searchlight System
• Gary Gehrts from Pratt & Whitney – Engine Information
• Jim Whitney from Agusta Westland – AW139 Improvements

This wonderful experience could not happen without a lot of time, planning and effort by many individuals:

• At the top of the list is Phil DiFiore, President /Owner of RSI. Without his contribution, both financially and via his employees who volunteer, there would be no seminar.
• Working the front desk and in charge of the logistics, making sure the brochures are in place, registration forms are complete and accurate, is Deanna Keel, Phil’s Executive Assistant.
• Working the front desk, greeting the attendees, answering their questions and assisting with the hotel catering is Chris Cancelosi. She is RSI’s outside sales representative.
• Julie Roehrich, who is AVIALL West Coast Strategic Account Manager /eStock programs, is the seminar’s resident computer expert. She also works the front desk and transfers the names of the attendees from the registration forms to the completion certificates which are given out at the end of the day.
• Working the video equipment is Chris Bower, who is the Southern California Area Sales Representative for AVIALL.
• Last but not least is Mike Broderick, Director Business Development for RSI. Mike plays a key role as he secures the guest speakers, submits their presentations to the FAA for IA approval, works with the hotel on the arrangements and then MC’s the event to keep it all going in the proper direction.

As you can tell, many individuals bring their talents together and make this seminar happen. Thank you one and all for making the IA Seminar a huge success. If I have forgotten someone, please accept my apologies as no slight was intended. I am already looking forward to next year’s seminar. If you did not make it to this one, don’t miss the next one, it’s well worth the price of admission. Oh by the way, in case you didn’t know, the price is also great … it’s free!