Access:
Minutes to Wall Street, Versatile Workhorse
By Chris Brunson
Marshalling out a Sikorsky S-76 corporate helicopter client.
Helicopters are unlike any other form of aviation in their versatility. Nimble, able to fly in any direction, the aircraft can whisk Wall Street traders from quiet homes in the region quickly to the heartbeat of the financial district in downtown Manhattan.
U.S. Helicopter also offers corporate charters and shuttle services to and from Manhattan and JFK International Airport (JFK). With an average flight time of 20 minutes to Manhattan and 10 minutes more to JFK, Connecticut commuters can fly from Connecticut’s Bridgeport Sikorsky Airport (BDR) to/from the downtown Manhattan heliport (JRB) and connecting service to/from JFK. Corporate office is the downtown Manhattan heliport, New York, N.Y.
A helicopter also is an incredibly efficient workhorse and provides a competent way for utilities and construction companies to get towers, antennae and equipment/crews in place - where roads don’t go and access is a challenge.
Charles Priestley, managing partner, Hummingbird Helicopter Service (HHS) LLC.
“The helicopter’s niche is its ability to rapidly perform whatever level of work it’s called to do,” said Charles Priestley, managing partner, Hummingbird Helicopter Service (HHS) LLC.
Priestley is a U.S. Navy and Army aviation veteran and a certified helicopter pilot.
The company is based in the Yalesville section of Wallingford and also has a southern U.S. operations office. “We service the entire East Coast and the Caribbean and subcontract for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
HHS has diverse operations and abilities.
“We can pick up clients from a facility approved for landing and fly them to Manhattan at one of four heliports. Saves them from being stuck in traffic on I-95.”
Another facet is construction, using helicopters to install lift operations, recover torpedoes and move drill rigs in the Everglades or place air conditioning systems on commercial buildings.
“Helicopters are suited for places where ground-based cranes don’t have the reach,” he said. The company also regularly does power line inspection for Northeast Utilities. In addition to flight operations, the firm operates the Hummingbird Heliport and is the exclusive training facility for National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for helicopters in the country.
“Our first group of NTSB - they are the federal agency charged with investigation of all transportation accidents from rail to maritime and aviation. Their investigators are different than FAA - their job is to find facts and report them. We offer pilots with from 200 to 10,000 flight hours of experience. We’re 20 minutes from Sikorsky and 30 minutes to Kaman so we can offer a view of manufacturing operations also.”
The HHS flight school works under four different FAA certificates. HHS operates a full service heliport (4C3), the only one in Connecticut. Students observe and learn helicopter commercial operations progress from start to finish.
“The FAA is here constantly for monitoring and surveillance,” he said. Helicopters also support photographers’ and filmmakers’ work with what is called a “gyromaster camera mounting system,” which allows for versatile airborne production work. Corporate clients can charter a flight or tap into HHS know-how to act as a broker to acquire a helicopter. (Visit the company web site to view available aircraft.)
“I came to Connecticut to take a job with Kaman Aerospace in Bloomfield and did a year. It was beneficial, but the job was a diversion from what I really wanted to do, which was a dedicated flight operations,” said Priestley. “We started in September 2000.”
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U.S.Helicopter also offers corporate charters and shuttle services to and from Manhattan and JFK International Airport (JFK). With an average flight time of 20 minutes to Manhattan and 10 minutes more to JFK, Connecticut commuters can fly from Connecticut’s Bridgeport Sikorsky Airport (BDR) to/from the downtown Manhattan heliport (JRB) and connecting service to/from JFK. Call (212) 922-1366 or e-mail inquiries@ushelicopter.net or call (877) 262-7676. Corporate office is U.S. Helicopter, Downtown Manhattan Heliport, 6 East River Piers, Suite 216, New York, N.Y. 10004. Tickets can be purchased online at www.flyush.com.
For more information about Hummingbird Helicopter e-mail chiefpilot@hbhelicopter.com. The company also has a southern operations office. Connecticut headquarters are120 Church St., Yalesville (Wallingford); call (203) 679-0828. Web is www.hbhelicopter.com.
Another company that offers flight training is Northeast Helicopters, in Ellington, Conn. For details call (866) NEHELOS, visit www.northeasthelicopters.com or e-mail Info@northeasthelicopters.com.
