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Episode 116: Why Quality Maintenance Protects Aircraft Value | Joe LaRue

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Episode 116: Why Quality Maintenance Protects Aircraft Value | Joe LaRue

This special crossover episode of the Vertical MRO Podcast comes from our sister show, The Helicopter Podcast, bringing an operator-focused conversation directly to the maintenance community.

Recorded at VERTICON 2026, The Helicopter Podcast host Halsey Schider sits down with Joe LaRue of Prairie Air to discuss his path through aviation and the role quality maintenance has played in building a business focused on Robinson helicopter operations and support.

Joe shares why good maintenance goes beyond keeping an aircraft serviceable. The conversation explores record-keeping, long-term aircraft support, and how the quality of work performed throughout a helicopter's life can directly affect safety, reliability and aircraft value.

Joe and Halsey also look at one of the industry's biggest challenges: developing the next generation of pilots and maintainers. Joe discusses Prairie Air's work with local schools and community programs, why exposing young people to aviation matters, and what the industry can do to create clearer pathways into these careers.

The conversation rounds out with a look toward emerging technologies, including autonomous aircraft, and where new tools may fit alongside the people and skills that keep today's helicopter industry moving.

Originally recorded for The Helicopter Podcast, we're sharing this conversation with the Vertical MRO audience because Joe's perspective on maintenance, workforce development and long-term aircraft support is equally at home in the MRO community.

Thank you to this episode's sponsors: Robinson Helicopter, Precision Aviation Group, Airbus.

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TRANSCRIPT 🔗

WEBVTT
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What's up, MRO?
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It's all the Schneider with the Helicopter Podcast.
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And before we dive into this episode, I just want to give y'all a little bit more context of why you're hearing my voice and not our typical host.
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So I originally recorded this conversation with Joe LaRue of Prairie Air on the helicopter podcast.
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In fact, we did it at this year's Verticon.
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It was super awesome.
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And there's just so much discussion that crossed directly into the maintenance world that I thought it was worth sharing it here as well.
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I've said it many, many times on the helicopter podcasts just about how much respect I have for AMEs, MPs, IAs, and maintenance professionals.
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Seriously, I love you all.
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I break things, y'all fix things, and it's just the best relationship.
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Obviously, I'm a pilot, not a maintainer, but I think it's just extremely important to continue to highlight the amazing work that people are doing in your space.
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And Joe is certainly one of those people.
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We talk about quality maintenance, good aircraft records, and how all those things impact safety and long-term value of an aircraft.
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And what was really neat is everything that Joe is doing to usher in the next generation of maintenance professionals for his business.
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So it's really a great conversation.
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And I really think that you guys are going to enjoy this crossover from the helicopter podcast coming at you now with the vertical MRL.
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Thank you to this episode's sponsors, Precision Aviation Group, Robinson Helicopter Company, and Airbus.
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Welcome to the Vertical MRO Podcast, where we dive into the world of helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
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In each episode, we talk with the technicians, engineers, and experts who keep helicopters flying.
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Because at the end of the day, no maintenance, no mission.
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What's happening, guys?
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It's Halsey Schneider with the helicopter podcast, and I'm coming at you from Verticon 2026 here in beautiful Atlanta.
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That's not that's okay, I guess.
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The weather's been a little wonky.
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In fact, it's been really stormy in the evenings, which I love.
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I lived in South Texas for about eight years, and we would get some banger storms down there.
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And up in Oregon, we don't really get them.
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Like they called for a thunderstorm, I don't know, a month ago, and it was like one little lightning, and everyone's like, oh my God.
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Yeah, Minnesota, we definitely get uh tornado activity in June and July.
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It really gets up and rocking and rolling for sure.
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Yeah.
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So yeah.
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The uh once upon a time, I lived just south of here, so it's kind of a little bit of a homecoming.
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I grew up in uh Columbus, Georgia.
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So really yeah, I didn't know.
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See, the more you learn on these podcasts before we get into it.
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Thank you to MHM Publishing for providing this beautiful Verticon booth space.
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It's upgraded this year, Joe.
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So last couple years it's been fogged and now it's clear, so it's really nice.
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It's kind of a fishbowl and good, good uh you get to still people watch and have the conversation.
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So so stoked uh to be part of MHM and the Vertical Plus team, and of course the Helicast platform.
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Please make sure that you check out the Helicast platform.
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And to all of our sponsors, I'm gonna give a specific shout out here at Robinson because uh Joe LaRue, who's joining me on the podcast today, is very much in the Robinson helicopter world.
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So it only makes sense to uh highlight that they've been a sponsor of the helicopter podcast now, uh, I think over a year.
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So we love that support, we love that relationship, and we certainly love Robinson Helicopter.
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So Joe LaRue from Prairie Air.
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That's right.
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You know, you and I have been working together, I would say now a handful of years.
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Yeah, I've watched the uh helicopter podcast grow from the early numbers, and we've had you know different pilots from uh that's come through our organization be on your podcast, and it's fun to see their stories.
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That's cool.
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Yeah, I'm really happy to hear that.
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And it's it's been cool.
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But what I'm what I'm excited about is I'm I don't really have any tweeners, right?
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So I either know someone and I podcast with them, or I don't know them at all and I podcast with them.
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I feel like you and I are a little bit in between because we work together.
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For sure.
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Uh we love working together.
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Yeah, it's been I uh and we'll talk a lot about that on the podcast and your business and why I trust your business and why I like working with Prairie Air and all that fun stuff.
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But I don't know like who you are all that well, to be honest, right?
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We have never had those deep conversations.
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So I'm gonna use this opportunity to just kind of dig deep.
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So we'll start there.
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Born and raised in Georgia.
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I was, yeah.
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So I was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, just outside of Fort Bidding.
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And family had a military background, and um my stepdad was from Minnesota, and as life progressed and his family was getting older, it was like, hey, let's move back to Minnesota.
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Uh move there, it's a big agriculture area, right?
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So right smack dab in the middle of the corn belt, and uh farming, uh, crop dusting is going on all over, and uh started to learn about flying a little bit, and we we went flying and um I was hooked immediately, and then we started going to like air shows, things like that.
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My next door neighbor was a crop duster, cool, and that thing's flying over the house.
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I'm like, I gotta go see what this is about.
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So I started working for him in high school, and um I'm like, this aviation thing's pretty neat.
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So learned to fly at um 16.
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Nice, yeah.
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So fixed swing, fixed wing, yeah, fixed wing.
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And um then uh I had a lot of influential people in my life, and they're like, you know, your mechanical aptitude is way higher than you you enjoy flying, not um not as a job, right?
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So I listened to them and went to a tech school up in Thiefer Falls, Minnesota, really well attended place, uh supported well by big airlines.
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And when we got there, um they had like three hangars of you know, big iron in one hangar, engines in another hangar, and then they had this other hangar, and it was full of helicopters.
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Like, these things are cool, and nobody was paying attention to them.
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Yeah, so the teacher of those classes was like, Hey, we want to get this one running.
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And I'm like, pick me, I'll do that.
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And then so we got to work on those, and all of a sudden, I'm uh just a helicopter bug bit me.
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That's so funny.
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Uh Columbia Helicopters uh was hiring.
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Cool.
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And other than coming from Georgia to Minnesota, I hadn't really seen much of the country or the you know, world for that matter, and uh Columbia was like, hey, we're going everywhere.
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And so just on a whim, I packed up and moved all the way to Portland.
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Yep, and uh started working on um the uh 107s, yeah, very cool.
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Yep, and uh the 46s were you know Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between.
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I didn't do any of the overseas work, um, but I volunteered for Alaska a lot and East Coast.
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Cool.
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Enjoy that uh 30 days on, 30 days off break schedule, yeah, and firefighting and all that.
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Learned um a lot of stuff, met a lot of the cool people that you still have connections with, you know, like Kim and Andre with uh Bolo Mission.
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Of course, they're wonderful and a lot of great people Columbia and you know relationships that still have now, right?
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Yeah, I mean Columbia is like uh I call it a legacy brand for sure, right, in our industry.
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And I've actually talked about this on the podcast, so it's a repeat, sorry.
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But you know, I grew up in Lake Oswego, which is right outside of Aurora, right?
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So I always talk about the helicopter bug was not necessarily because of Columbia, but I used to go to a pumpkin patch right there near the Aurora Airport.
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Yep.
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And seeing those big helicopters back then was like, oh my god.
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You know, so I feel like that was kind of my first uh recognition, you know, recognizing helicopters was the the orange and white Columbia birds.
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Uh so that's really cool.
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Again, I didn't know that you were at Columbia, so this is what I'm talking about.
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We work together, we don't even know some of this stuff.
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So this is this is one thing I want to touch on real fast before I forget is I was talking to a maintenance friend of mine recently, Mike Underwood, I think you know Mike.
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Yep.
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And you know, he was talking about how when you when you go to school to get your AMP, that so much of it is focused on airplanes.
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Oh, yeah.
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And it's kind of like this idea like, oh, there's an old Schweitzer in the corner, or there's there's an old jet ranger or something, and that people end up just kind of falling into helicopters, and I would say that that's kind of a problem.
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It is a problem, yeah.
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We uh I I could echo the same the same sentiments.
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Um we had a big class when I was in tech school.
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There was like 400 kids in that tech school on the first year class, and nobody wanted to go do the helicopter stuff, and they had a great big hanger with all of them.
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It was kind of like, well, a few of us, and we we got to do kind of whatever we wanted because of that.
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And um, as far as learning about them, being bound, the teacher just kept feeding us.
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But um, yeah, there's not um everybody I kept in really good contact with the um secretary at that tech school, and she's been really influential on hey, these these are new kids coming through.
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There's a you know a good class coming through, and we try to get them interested.
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That's cool, and uh bring them in.
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We have all the tech schools in the area come to our facility because everybody says, Oh, I never knew there was a place like this with helicopters here.
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I never knew you guys were here.
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I think if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, we'd be retired.
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Yeah, but um, yeah, they'd come in and uh oh, people are like, hey, and so then we started taking interns in and you know, just starting to get people interested that way.
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And through the high school, we started the EA organization that's local to us.
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Um, they're phenomenal, the people that run that, and they fly upwards of a thousand kids a year.
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What's EA?
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Sorry.
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EAA?
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Oh, EA.
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Yeah, sorry, Young Eagles program.
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Yep.
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So and they go around to the local communities and fly the kids, and so we go to the different towns and help them, and then when they come to our town, they tour the hangar.
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Every kid gets to fly, they get to talk to some retired military uh individuals that are in the area, so they come talk about.
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We have uh a local retired um Vietnam era pilot, and uh he was actually in the Top Gun first movie.
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Nice, and so he's his call sign's big bird, and he talks about all that kind of a thing, and it gets the gets the kids all fired up.
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Yeah, it's so important.
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And uh, so then we use that kind of as a feeder for our business where kids come in and they're doing uh general labor stuff, shop rounds, we call it, and they use a checklist just like for aircraft.
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Yeah, but hey, this is kind of the flow that we get into.
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Checklists are super important.
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I like that.
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And um, then after they're there a little while, and we're like, hey, do you like what you see, what we're doing here?
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Does this interest you?
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And um, it's actually been a really successful program for us.
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It's a long game, right?
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You don't just put out an ad and you've got a new mechanic on board that's ready to rock and roll.
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Um, I'd say it's probably like a five-year commitment because you get them when they're first able to drive in school and they come and then um we help out with school afterward.
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We of course go back to Thiever Falls.
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We say, hey, you know, the one that I graduated from, we we're we'll uh we'll encourage you to go there.
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And then um I'm uh the president of the Minnesota Aviation Trades Association now and advocated for some scholarships.
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And so uh our organization does scholarships for maintenance now.
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So if you're interested in going and to school as a mechanic, I understand the pilot side of things.
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Everybody talks about the shortages there, but the mechanics are kind of forgotten about a little bit.
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Oh no, I think it's um very forgotten.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So I think it's and and I think aviation as a whole has done a horrible job at recruiting pilots, and if pilots are bad recruiting, then the maintenance side is ten times worse.
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Yeah, right.
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It's just not there.
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And I don't know if a lot of kids even know how to get into the pathway.
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Like if someone was interested in helicopter maintenance, or they might not even realize that they're interested in helicopter maintenance because they don't even think about it, right?
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So out of sight, out of mind.
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So I think it's really neat that you have taken some initiative because you as a business employing mechanics, it's one of the hardest things to do right now is keep good mechanics and have good mechanics, right?
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And so by you having the Yeah, well, it's uh it's all about workforce development and this industry is about people.
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Um from you know, when you're thinking about safety, you're I'm thinking about the people that are gonna be flying in the aircraft, but then also developing the people that you want in your organization and um you know coming here and all the people that you meet and all the things that are going around and the chance to connect with uh you know the vendors that you use all the time, but you never get to put that face with it.
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And my whole team, it was so cool to see them just light up on I talk to this person, I work with this person all the time, and you know, get to shake hands and ideas and you know there's a chance that you know they're not gonna come be a mechanic, but they're interested in aviation, and oh, they either buy an airplane or a helicopter or they learn to fly or they know somebody that is.
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And uh if they've come through an experienced organization some, yeah, it just kind of leads to the next thing.
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Yeah.
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And um I think aviation has always been bad at at just that we essentially just live in the moment, right?
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We're living here now, and we haven't done a good job at bringing people in.
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Uh and it's such a niche thing, right?
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Whether you're flying airplanes, you're flying helicopters, you're working on airplanes, or you're working on it's just so different, right?
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There's a pathway of being a a business person, right?
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You go to business school.
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There's a pathway to being a dentist or an engineer.
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Um there isn't a clear-cut path, right?
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You know, of how you get into this.
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And so I think hopefully, and that's one of the goals of the podcast.
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And you know, kudos to uh Vertical Plus here, because you know, I think that by them giving a platform like this, whether it's my podcast or John Gray with the Hanger Z uh or the Vertical MRO podcast, of course, on the maintenance side, I think hopefully that's maybe now giving some voice and some pathway of how folks can get into this uh unique career path, which is a very uh it's a very special place, right?
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I love this industry and it's cool to be a part of.
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I was shocked within the so um in my spare time I I've become a wrestling coach.
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Okay, and uh my my youngest daughter came into the house one day and says, I'm gonna wrestle.
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Once upon a time, I wrestled as well.
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And so she talked me into coaching, and for the last couple of years, and I've I've got to be involved with a lot of young kids, and um I was shocked to hear that they thought it was unattainable.
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.080
Yeah, like, oh, I can't go do that.
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I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm doing it.
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You absolutely do it.
00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:07.519
I hear it all the time.
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Yeah, it was just right blew me away to hear that that they didn't think it was.
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And there's a lot, there are hurdles, right?
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I mean, uh on the pilot side, especially, it's very cost prohibitive, right?
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I I'm 37, I just paid off my debt last year for flight school.
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You know, um, and actually that same debt from flight school put me in a horrible financial position early on in my life because I couldn't pay it.
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Right.
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I had to default essentially on my loans for two or three years.
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You can imagine what that did to my credit, right?
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It's not pretty.
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It's not pretty.
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It got me the career, and I'm here now, and I'm and I'm thankful for it.
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I think at that point was a little lack of education, of understanding what it means to borrow money, yeah.
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Uh what it means to owe a bank money, you know, so there's just blind spots, and that's probably a bigger conversation of some of the blind spots that we have in our society.
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Uh, but yeah, I just think that we haven't done a good job at fostering that next gen, but I think we're getting better.
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Yeah.
00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:11.679
I think with um social media as a whole specifically, not a great place.
00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:14.000
Yeah, but there are some good places about it.
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:20.399
And there's oh, there's a nice announcement happening at the Verticon Connectbooth.
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:24.720
Uh but you know, there's uh there's some great influencers, you know.
00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.919
I think of like uh Faith Ortega, how no helicopters.
00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:31.279
You know, uh talk about even more niche, right?
00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.039
A female wrenching on aircraft.
00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.360
You don't see that, specifically at helicopters, right?
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:45.279
Right, and and so it's cool to see people like her and other influencers that are positive influencers for the industry, because I think that that's hopefully going to start driving that pathway, right?
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:49.200
Where then people won't hear, oh, I didn't even know that was a thing.
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:50.480
Didn't know that was a thing.
00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:54.399
So you you work at Columbia Helicopters, that's cool again.
00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.120
I didn't know that.
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.039
So you're familiar with my hometown area.
00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:57.679
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.279
Where did you live in Oregon?
00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:01.120
Well, um, on the road.
00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:06.319
So you were but uh for the first little bit, uh, there was another new hire.
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:22.559
I lived in a hotel in uh uh right down the road from Wilsonville, probably and uh another new hire was like, Hey, I have a trailer out back that using so I rented that trailer for a while and again got my first field position, and then after that, it was just on the road all the time.
00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:23.599
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:32.240
And so as being a a young uh new mechanic there, um break schedule was like it was a thing, but not a thing, you know.
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:33.759
It's you wanted to work all you could.
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.920
So I think my first year I went from July to Christmas.
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:38.559
Oh my gosh.
00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.480
And you know, it was a big fire season that year, so I was like, yeah, I'll do that.
00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:43.599
I'll go here, I'll go there.
00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.240
And so that's what you have to do though, when you're young, right?
00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:47.039
You gotta go and do it.
00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.599
It was it was a lot of fun, got to see a lot of places, and I actually got to meet my wife because of that.
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:52.160
Really?
00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:54.079
Uh she was from Salmon, Idaho.
00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:59.759
Okay, and uh our machine, uh the fire season in 2000 was enormous, right?
00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:20.799
There's everybody was dispatched out, the uh National Guard was and um in Salmon, Idaho, they had like 3,000 troops in there, all kinds of type one helicopters, and uh my machine was in Alaska, and they dispatched us all the way from Alaska, and so I spent like three months long enough to claim residency, I think, in Salmon, Idaho.
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.039
So and you met her there, yeah.
00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:29.599
Met Laura there, and um then wherever she was at, it kind of ended up being my home from that point.
00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:30.079
That's cool.
00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.799
With a break schedule, and you know, you could you know, two weeks off or a month off, it didn't matter.
00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.079
Yeah, you're able to spend some time and build that relationship.
00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:38.559
For sure.
00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.519
So I was talking about that earlier on my earlier podcast.
00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:52.480
Uh, this idea that this industry, at least on the pilot side, and of course the same on the mechanic side in the utility world, it's not easy to navigate a relationship.
00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:54.480
Yeah, it's uh it's very challenging.
00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:04.000
What I was talking about earlier on the podcast, and I'm curious to hear, because I I think that there's these types of conversations are equally as important because if you're getting into a career, you should know the whole scope.
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:04.400
Yep.
00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:04.720
Right.
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:12.000
So for me, I chose to go this direction of you know, flying tours and air medical and ease easier on the family life.
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:18.319
Whereas some pilots, most pilots choose utility and you're on the road a ton, and that's a hard family life.
00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:18.720
Yeah.
00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.400
But it sounds like it's worked for you.
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.759
It's worked for my earlier guests.
00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:30.160
What what were some of the secrets to us of just being able to, you know, uh maintain a good relationship, but also be gone for long periods of time.
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.279
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00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.759
Precision Aviation Group.
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:07.039
Others sell parts.
00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.400
We sell support.
00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.200
Uh a lot of connection, spent a lot of time, you know, with each other when we were home.
00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:18.400
And then um uh the expectations were she met me when I was working there, right?
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.039
So she understood what we're in the game for.
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:26.079
And um being young, like I was, um, you know, I was chasing the dollar signs, right?
00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:32.880
They come from a small town, Minnesota, then um making making the opportunities that we had with Columbia then.
00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.559
And um uh, but that did wear on us for a while, right?
00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:42.319
So once we started building the family, that being gone, you just had your first that was super cool.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:43.279
Congratulations.
00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:58.240
So and I remember working a fairly long stint, and I came home and uh my daughter uh was like walking and I'd missed a little portion of you know life, uh milestone that you don't get back, right?
00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.960
And I'm like, man, we we could figure something else out, right?
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.680
So my daughter crawled yesterday, right on, congratulations.
00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:04.319
And I missed it.
00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.920
All of a sudden, um life is gonna change.
00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.480
Accessibility to all things, yeah, yeah.
00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:11.440
So super cool.
00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.640
Um, yeah, all the pieces of that I enjoyed a whole bunch.
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:24.079
Um uh but Laura was ultra um that was she supported all that portion of our life, and uh I didn't want to miss out on much of it anymore.
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:32.960
So my dad uh was on the airport board in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, where I grew up, and he's like, Hey, they want maintenance in Elbow Lake.
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.079
I'm like, what?
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:39.440
And they're like, Yeah, well, so to preface that a little bit, it was a grass runway and no bathroom.
00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.960
Okay, I mean, Elbow Lake doesn't sound like a like a big place.
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:45.119
Seven airplanes were there when I left home.
00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:46.319
I'm like, I don't know about this.
00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.000
I don't know if that's a good business place.
00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:55.599
So, but with Columbia working the month on, month off, I was like, all right, we'll go move there because we were living in Salmon Idaho again.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.680
We moved uh back to Elba Lake, Minnesota, and um got Laura out.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.039
Of the mountains and uh to the flats of Minnesota.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:03.440
Yeah.
00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:06.480
So and uh her joke is Laura, you're a saint.
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:07.440
Absolutely.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.720
So she her joke when we're introduced in a meeting is that you know she thought we were gonna do this for a year.
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:18.160
And uh, you know, we were we were really young and um people took chances on us.
00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:18.799
That's cool.
00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:29.599
And and um within a year we were building a hangar, and um then the they put in a paved runway and things kind of growing, and then they put in more tea hangers.
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:38.160
The the city there and the um uh county, the airport board, everybody was really looking to invest.
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:38.640
Cool.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.680
And so that was like, wow, that's a that's a team to be a part of.
00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:42.000
Yeah.
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.279
When you travel around, you don't see that across the board in airports.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:46.400
Sometimes there's some struggles, right?
00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.200
Yeah, totally.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:52.319
I mean, I would say that most general aviation airports by and large are in shambles.
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:52.799
Yeah.
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.559
Uh andor either closing too.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:55.359
Yep.
00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.559
So that just continued to grow.
00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:06.000
Um, I worked concurrently at Columbia and when we started Prairie Air, uh, it's because right, it was a grass runway in seven airplanes.
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:09.200
You can't you can't make a can't make a living there.
00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:16.720
So um we did both for a while, and then uh 20 years ago in coming this coming May, I came home full-time.
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:17.279
Nice.
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:26.000
And uh Prairie Air just continued to, you know, went from my dad being my second set of hands to now we need to you know invest and have another mechanic.
00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.119
And um, you know, the the team kept growing.
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:45.440
Now we are on our third version of the buildings that we're in, so we went from an 80 by 80 to uh there's 120 by 120, and then our 80 by 80 original building we expanded out, the runway became paved, there's parallel taxiways, it's you know, kind of like a real live airport.
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.039
It's like an international airport now.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.799
Yeah, it's it's a lot of fun.
00:23:48.880 --> 00:24:03.039
Um, actually, the airport itself this coming well into April, it's getting what is the equivalent of Mindot's uh Lifetime Achievement Award for the airport for all the things that um the city administration people put together put together.
00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:17.279
Yeah, their foresight um in the funding opportunities to go after it and take a chance and you know, on a 24-year-old kid that was had never done, you know, and business of business was sure on my radar, right?
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:18.559
It was fixing some helicopters.
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:19.119
Yeah, of course.
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:27.119
Yeah, so it's interesting though, because I I think it's always easy to give credit to other areas, right?
00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.200
Oh, they supported me or they did this.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:37.200
Uh but you had to put yourself in a position uh to take advantage of the good fortune, right?
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:44.400
And I think that that in itself is what makes successful business owners and entrepreneurs you gotta take the step.
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.160
You gotta like you have to A, take the risk, right?
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:53.519
And B, you have to say, okay, I think this is an opportunity and I'm gonna take it.
00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:57.359
And by you taking that opportunity, then all these great things happen.
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:04.799
And so it's a it's a very I I always think it's like a very it's a decision that entrepreneurs make.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:11.440
And then you look back and then it's easy to say, oh well, you know, this person was helping me and that person was helping me.
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.519
But you had to make the decision, right?
00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:15.200
And that's not an easy decision to make.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.480
So I always give kudos.
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:20.720
Entrepreneurialism uh to me is like the coolest thing.
00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.799
I think the that's why I love America.
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:30.480
It's like this, this is truly the the place where you can go and do something, you know, and you can be someone and you can work hard.
00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:31.839
Doesn't always work.
00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:38.480
Uh, but you know, for you taking the the chance and then receiving that good fortune, it's put you in a really good spot.
00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:45.279
Yeah, and now um, you know, we're in the position where you know we are focusing on those people, right?
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:51.599
Like the kids that you know need that spark or to understand that aviation is something that's attainable to them.
00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:56.480
Um uh we're just going after that wholeheartedly because it's like, all right, we invest in people.
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:57.839
People took a chance on me.
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.480
I'm I'm any chance I got I'm helping out.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:06.640
And it's incredible now you're investing back into the community, you're investing back into people, and plus business in that area is good, right?
00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:12.559
That's uh it's a good city decision because if you have a good functioning airport, that's gonna bring people in.
00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:13.200
Yep, right?
00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:16.799
And then you're selling fuel and you're selling services, you're providing jobs.
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.240
Uh it's incredible.
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:29.200
Prairie Air, I don't know if this is fact or fiction, I'm just making it up, but it seems like it's a very large organization in the grand scheme of Robinson, you know, service centers and dealers.
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:33.279
Seems like you guys have a very large footprint specifically to Robinson.
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:39.759
I know that you're working on other aircraft uh as well, but I know Robinson's a big play for you guys.
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:41.200
How did that happen?
00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:50.160
Was it was it a purposeful move to to be in with Robinson, or did it just organically just kind of happen that way with the AG or or what was that?
00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:59.119
So initially, uh when we started Prairie Air, it was uh if there was an air, if there was an aircraft around that would let me work on it, you know, we took it, right?
00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.920
It was every oil change, every tire change you could get.
00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:13.839
The super cool oddball story is one day on a Saturday, uh, older gentleman come walking through the uh hangar, and his shoes are tied together with duct tape.
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:15.920
He's got a beard down to here.
00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.119
Um, he looked like he did have two nickels to rub together.
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:27.680
He's really inquisitive about what I was working on and uh asked all kinds of questions and he just kind of left it at that and was like, well, we'll see you later.
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:34.000
And you you get the I don't know, airport bums that you know come through, they just love aviation and want to see what's cooking, right?
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:45.119
And uh we have an annual fly-in, and a couple weeks later, or probably a couple months later, at this fly-in, in comes the rotor craft, and I could hear it, and I'm like, man, there's a helicopter coming.
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.640
It was like, I I didn't anticipate ever getting to see a helicopter again, right?
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:51.920
Yeah, because you kind of did kind of leave the helicopter path there.
00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.039
But um my desk at the time was on the shop floor.
00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:56.000
We didn't have an office.
00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:59.200
It was like, there's the aircraft, here's my desk, here's the paperwork.
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.279
And I had a couple of models that I'd gotten from Columbia and they were set up on the wall.
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:08.880
And um he comes flying in on a Robinson, and I've seen those before.
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:11.920
And then um back to the connection with Andre.
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:23.039
So this this this gentleman he owned uh a bunch of cell phone towers, and he had a lot of connections, and so this Robinson was his tool that he went around and did a lot of checks, right?
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:27.680
And so uh he we got to be talking about rotorcraft and our experience and that kind of a thing.
00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:34.960
And a couple weeks later, so he had transitioned from having an R22 to the R44 Raven 1.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:40.079
And you know how the horizontal stabilizer sticks past the skids by a fair amount on the 44.
00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:48.640
If you're accustomed to the 22, it wasn't something that stuck out and was a big of an issue, and him pushing it in by himself, he smashed that horizontal stabilizer.
00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:53.440
Big it's it's one of those things, like uh when it's not yeah, it's not if, but it's just when.
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.720
Yeah, and so calls me up, says, Can I help you out?
00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:57.279
Absolutely.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:03.680
So we go up and we take care of that scenario for him and providing customer service the top level that we could.
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:08.160
I've I've just strove for the best I can on this on the service side.
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:15.039
And uh he word of mouth, he knew he was very connected in the rotorcraft world as far as our little area.
00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:15.519
Sure.
00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:19.759
So you know, he tells one guy and tells another guy, hey, there's a rotorcraft guy in Minnesota.
00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:21.519
This guy was working on Virtals.
00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:28.000
So um then my connection comes with Andre, with Andre his background, which is wonderful back, yeah.
00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:28.319
Right.
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:31.519
So um I'm like, I gotta have to go get certified on Robinson.
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:33.119
So did the course.
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.519
Andre at the time had like a pilot house and hang out in Long Beach and do the whole thing.
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:40.160
I forget that they started in California, right?
00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:40.480
Right.
00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:56.000
So he has helped me out along the way with that, and so got Robinson certified, got to meet his crew and start seeing, oh, they're they're doing overhauls, there's all this levels to what you can do with Robinson, besides you know, me just hoping to get an oil change out of somebody else.
00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:56.799
Yeah, of course.
00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:05.039
And so that just kind of kept developing, and you know, just word of mouth, I was like, there's this rotor craft guy, and he's working on Robinson's.
00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:15.119
And um, so that went from pretty slow first, I'd say 10 years of just organically, one guy finds another guy finds me, that kind of a thing.
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.279
And I remember one day we had four lined up in the hangar.
00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:18.559
I'm like, man, this is amazing.
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.720
We've got four helicopters here, this is great.
00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:23.200
And uh we've made it, yeah.
00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:26.799
Yeah, my 80 by 80 hangers got four helicopters, yeah.
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:31.440
And we we ran them up all at the same time, and I took some pictures, and it's like this is a big deal.
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:39.440
And uh then I was like, Well, these so this is 04-06, and so the 44 is a fairly new platform, right?
00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:46.240
It's not hit 12 year old yet, and uh well now they're starting to get some hours on them, and this overhaul needs to happen.
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:50.720
And the same first client, he's like, My helicopter's timed out, we have to get it to overhaul.
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:53.440
Okay, well, what kind of systems do we need to put in place for that?
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:58.480
And um, so I started in the overhauls, and uh again, word of mouth thing.
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:14.240
Hey, that overhaul went well, and now we overhaul aircraft and that thing went to Florida, and now we overhauled it, and now that one went to Texas, and and so uh we set up specific bays for doing overhauls, and and now those guys, you know, word of mouth more.
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.279
Um, and now we're increasing our staff um and building up.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:28.720
And then I would say about five about five years ago, uh our business had gone all the way to about 75% rotorcraft.
00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:28.960
Wow.
00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:32.640
So then add component overhauling that authorization.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:36.240
Uh the 66 was real prevalent, so okay, now we're a repair station.
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:38.240
We you know, keep adding there.
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:44.640
And uh so now I think this last year was somewhere around 125 different Robinson airframes.
00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:44.799
Wow.
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:50.640
Um, we get the occasional Instrum MD Bell, there's a handful of that kind of a thing.
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.039
But uh yeah, we're kind of all in Robinson from there.
00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:00.160
Over the years, you build the relationships with the team there and um really uh enjoy what they've got going on.
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:06.880
Um and then um now we're have about four overhauls at a time going on.
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:12.240
The service work, our area is you know, utility ag.
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:14.240
It's totally big deal, right?
00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:18.720
So um a lot I would say about 50% of our clients are that now.
00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:24.160
Um, but we've got a pretty good reach around the um upper Midwest and and country with the Robinson products.
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:29.680
Um yeah, I mean, if you're not familiar, Prairie Air is a very big name, at least from my perspective in the Robinson products.
00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:34.799
And this just my little plug, I'm not paid to do this.
00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:47.440
Uh well, actually, I am paid to podcast, but not to make this statement that um, you know, from from my from my business buying and selling aircraft, specifically on the buy side, we help people buy aircraft.
00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.200
Uh I can tell you that all not all overhauls are created equally.
00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:51.599
Yeah.
00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:54.880
Not all maintenance providers are created equally.
00:32:55.119 --> 00:33:04.240
And so you start to kind of figure out in the Robinson specific world what maintenance entries do you like to see?
00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:10.960
Uh the title at least of who did the maintenance, versus maybe the titles that you don't really want to see.
00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.839
And for Prairie Air, it's always a big relief for us.
00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:18.720
We see that and we know the level of work that you can expect, right?
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.559
It's it's just a high level.
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:22.000
Uh things are done, right?
00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.640
It's it's well documented, which is really important.
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:36.319
Robinsons are unique because on on say bigger helicopters, say 407s, A stars, 130s, whatever it might be, those service centers for the most part do pretty good work.
00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:39.839
They make pretty good entries, they keep pretty good record.
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:42.720
Robinson World's not always that way, right?
00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:53.839
Uh I can't tell you how many overhaul entries I've read that are a sentence, you know, complied with the 2200 hour, 12-year per the, you know, maintenance manual, chapter 12 or whatever it is.
00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:55.359
It's like, that's it.
00:33:55.519 --> 00:33:56.559
That's all I get.
00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:59.440
You know, and so it's just uh it's always uh a relief.
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:04.880
So I appreciate the work that you guys do because on my end, when I go and look at an aircraft, because that's what happens, right?
00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:11.199
You you'll you'll hold an aircraft and do service on it for a few years for someone, and then they sell it and it goes somewhere else.
00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:11.519
Yep.
00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:16.400
And then we end up selling it for that person, and you're auditing records, and oh prairie air.
00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:18.719
So it's it's always nice to see that.
00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:20.559
So you guys are doing very good work.
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:22.400
I know the overhauls are really good.
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:25.599
We're actually selling, we're helping you sell an R66 right now.
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:29.119
And again, very easy sell for us because it's like it's prairie.
00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:31.039
The work is done right.
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:31.360
Yep.
00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:32.800
Uh the overhauls are done right.
00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:39.280
And and if you're if you're listening to this and you're in the market for buying an aircraft, that that's a true thing, man.
00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:42.320
It's Robinson service centers.
00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:44.320
Um maybe it's getting better.
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:45.360
I hope it's getting better.
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:47.679
I know that there's been a lot of trimming, right?
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:49.679
There's been trimming of the fat per se.
00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:58.639
But you you want to be really careful and you want to make sure that the uh the maintenance and repair has been done in the right way and by the right people.
00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:05.119
So I really appreciate what you guys do because I think it just levels up the industry that we're in with Robinson specific.
00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:17.360
Thank you to our sponsor, Robinston Helicopter Company, the choice for unrivaled safety and reliability, so you can accomplish any mission with confidence.
00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:22.400
For more than half a century, Robinson has been at the forefront of the helicopter industry.
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:30.559
From the R-22 to the R-66 turbine, Robinston makes helicopters accessible so more people can accomplish more missions.
00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:31.679
Climb higher.
00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:37.199
For additional information, visit www.robinsonheli.com.
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:59.119
Yeah, I really appreciate the uh the stance that Robinson's taken recently with the new leadership team on their attention to the safety, attention to the detail, but attention to that this is a this is a real product that you know stands to um it it deserves the quality that you know the new team is giving on it.
00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:04.880
So um, and I'm very fortunate to work in an industry where my OCD is appreciated.
00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:05.599
Yeah, it's good.
00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:07.119
The attention to detail.
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:12.159
Um get you know, I get a chance to uh uh show off on that a little bit.
00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:16.800
Yeah um people when they come through the facility the first time, they're like, wow, what is going on here?
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:25.760
Because of you know our our ladders, our tables, our the foam that we you know protect the aircraft with is it's a little over the top.
00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:27.440
Well, I always say it's important though, right?
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:34.320
If I go into a hangar for a pre-buy and it's scary looking, that's an indication, right?
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:42.480
Yeah, well, so Laura being from uh you know out west, we travel back there periodically to visit her family and we'll fly out there.
00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:48.320
And I uh I got a flat tire one time en route, and it was before we were deciding to become a repair station.
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:54.239
And so, and and as the business owner, I was like, Man, that's the this level to be a repair station seems unattainable.
00:36:54.320 --> 00:37:00.079
And the people that are repair stations, it's like you know, amazing, you're a repair station kind of a thing.
00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:02.639
And we we got this flat tire, and I had to get pulled in.
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:05.920
I'm like, oh, there's XYZ shop here, oh, they're a repair station.
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:11.519
And the guy comes out and he greets us, he's like, Well, um, we'll get that ordered, roll it in, that kind of a thing.
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:18.079
And the next day I go to check on the airplane, and it was almost like ant trail paths to get in there.
00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:23.920
So everything was just covered, the whole floor was covered, and then all of a sudden your comfort level just comes down.
00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:25.360
You're like worrying about it.
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:38.880
So yeah, I mean you don't want to put, you know, what did it say, lipstick on a pig, but you I think a presentable maintenance shop, an organized maintenance shop, a clean maintenance shop is a reflection of the work that I could expect the person to work on my helicopter.
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:39.519
Yeah, right?
00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:43.039
If it's chaotic and messy, I start to feel concerned.
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:44.719
Now, that said, there's a couple caveats.
00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:49.440
I have some friends that are also great mechanics, and I wouldn't recommend that you go in their hanger.
00:37:49.920 --> 00:38:04.400
They they operate a little bit differently and a little bit more chaotically, but uh yeah, I I think it's important, and I think that if you take a stance of a clean environment and you're protecting the helicopters and you have good uh tool inventory, I know that's very important as a pilot, right?
00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:10.000
Sometimes you go and do a uh pre-flight after, say, an annual inspection and you find a tool.
00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:17.199
Yeah, I I you know, so for I'm super fortunate in the team I have that they're all in step.
00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:18.880
They all really appreciate that.
00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:21.519
They're they're all wanting to be the best.
00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:21.920
Yeah.
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:39.039
And and um, but you know, I was talking about the high school kids, they're coming in to help us out, and uh, we really teach them that there's no difference in my mind as far as the level of safety that we all have to maintain from the kid cleaning the helicopter, that rag misplacement could cause us problems.
00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:42.159
Big dead, just those like the guy putting the engine in the aircraft.
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:50.800
And so um I I tell them, hey, I'm inspecting and expecting this quality level of attention to detail out of everybody.
00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:51.119
Yeah.
00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:53.920
From you to the guy on you know putting the engine in.
00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:54.239
Yeah.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:00.159
Well, you have to develop a safety culture and a safety mindset that supports safety in every level, right?
00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:02.559
Could be the guy that's cleaning the hangar floor.
00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:03.440
Absolutely, right?
00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:09.440
You want him to be safe, you don't want him to slip and trip, and you want to set safety protocols, you want him to be safe around aircraft.
00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:12.639
You know, there's all these things, so it's good to set that tone.
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:13.119
Yep.
00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:17.360
Going back to Robinson here, there's been some big changes, obviously, in the last couple years.
00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:19.920
I want to talk about uh the announcements, we'll get to that.
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:39.679
But first, just tell me about what it's been like for you as someone that's very much in the Robinson world to kind of exist this past, say, two to three years, this Robinson has transformed into a big mom and pop to now what I think they call like a 50-year startup.
00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:44.000
Uh, what has that been like in in uh because I know that you're working with them daily.
00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:44.400
Yeah.
00:39:44.559 --> 00:39:45.519
What's what's been great?
00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:47.119
Has there been some pain points?
00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.800
Yeah, you know, anytime there's change, uh, it it creates some anxiety in your network, right?
00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:56.239
Um the communication is is uh uh been coming.
00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:59.440
We're we're understanding, you know, we we see the goal, right?
00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:07.360
And anytime that there's change happens, uh maybe all the all the uh the challenges weren't foreseen.
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:13.920
Um, you know, last year uh rolling out with their new ERP system, um, we felt it, right?
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:17.599
It was uh so throughput through our shop is super important.
00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:21.840
And you know, we drug out a little bit, got a little longer than I expected.
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:26.639
We're fortunate to have the space, but yeah, it made us prick our ears up and pay attention.
00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:32.639
So I mean we went for like six weeks without throughput due to the parts scenario, and we worked through it.
00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:40.480
And that was just because they're using a new system and it was just yeah, not quite developed, it was just uh it wasn't working properly.
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:41.440
Correct, correct.
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:47.760
So um, you know, when you hit the reset from an old way to the brand new way, sure, there's gonna be some growing rates.
00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:49.039
A little bit of lag there.
00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:53.599
So, but I would say you know, uh there was a big improvement past Verticon.
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:57.519
You know, there was all kinds of announcements last year, super, super fun to be a part of there.
00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:05.679
Um receptions that they're put on previous um to these these these last couple years.
00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:07.199
It's a little different.
00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:08.079
We're different, yeah.
00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:10.000
And and exciting to be around.
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:16.639
Uh after Verticon last year, we got a really good well, and and they had uh structured meetings.
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:20.000
We're gonna train, we're gonna come and listen to you, we're gonna come talk.
00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:31.760
And here, I mean, they stood up and let us communicate our our uh dissatisfaction with a lot of things, and they uh they took it and listened.
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:34.480
Um it's not all perfect, right?
00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:36.639
Um nothing ever is right.
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:42.000
Uh, but they're striving, you know, they're going for a target throughout the summer uh this year.
00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:44.639
It's we saw a large improvement.
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:46.880
There's a new climb higher program.
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:50.079
You know, I know it set a lot of anxiety throughout.
00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:52.079
You know, I'm friends with a lot of other service centers.
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:53.920
Like, where are we gonna land in here yet?
00:41:54.239 --> 00:41:56.880
And um little competition healthy, right?
00:41:57.119 --> 00:41:58.159
It's important, right?
00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:06.400
So, I mean, we with the announcement of that 88, you know, like people are looking at at Robinson, they're looking at us, what are we gonna do?
00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:12.639
Yep, and um, so once you make some big announcements like that, you gotta keep running, right?
00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:16.079
And so they're continuing to make improvements this year.
00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:20.559
Um, you know, with the climb higher recognition, we knew we're at.
00:42:20.719 --> 00:42:25.760
Um, and you kind of alluded, so they've they've trimmed some places that weren't, you know.
00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:27.360
Hey, this is our standard now.
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:33.280
If if you're not there, you know, there's different people, there's people that we've seen for a while that weren't in the room anymore.
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:33.760
Yep.
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:38.239
Um, and so it's refreshing that they're standing behind.
00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:42.719
Yeah, I think for the long time, I mean, I don't know enough from your end.
00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:53.440
So, but from my perspective, it seemed like for a long time, prior to say the change, Robinson was uh more focused on just selling new aircraft, right?
00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:55.920
Let's just sell new aircraft, and that's great.
00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:57.280
They were selling a lot of aircraft.
00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:02.639
In fact, I think at some point, even in 2008 or something, they sold 800, you know.
00:43:03.199 --> 00:43:12.159
So they weren't having a problem selling aircraft, but I don't think that they had the uh oversight on the dealership network and the service center network.
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:14.880
I think that it it grew too big.
00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:19.599
I think too many people had the privilege, but they didn't actually represent the brand.
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:20.239
Right.
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:26.159
And to me, if you're gonna be a service center or a dealer, that's just an extension of the brand, in my opinion, right?
00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:32.719
Like when I buy a Kia, which I just bought, you know, I'm judging Kia based on my experience at that dealership, right?
00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:34.239
Which was crap, by the way.
00:43:34.559 --> 00:43:38.960
Um so you know, it's that's been refreshing for me.
00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:43.679
You know, I I'm not involved in new helicopter sales or a dealership or service center or things like that.
00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:47.920
So I don't deal with Robinson in that level, but I sell a lot of used Robinsons.
00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:59.679
But I've you know, I've seen a lot of people get burned when they're buying aircraft, or I know a lot of previous dealers were you know selling the aircraft or you know, making five thousand dollars on.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:01.519
Because they were just cutting everything.
00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:08.400
And there was, you know, one dealer that was selling, you know, all the helicopters but not making any money while no one else was doing it.
00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:09.920
So you know, I think it was important.
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.320
I think that it's been a big initiative for Robinson to come in, take a deep look at it.
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:20.480
Understand that you need good service centers and you need good dealer networks, and they need to be in a brand extension.
00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:22.639
And I think that you guys exemplify that.
00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:26.559
I think that even before the change happened, you guys were already doing that.
00:44:26.800 --> 00:44:38.480
So to me, it seems like yes, of course, there's anxiety about new changes and some hiccups with the ERP and things like that, but I'm guessing nothing really changed for you guys because you already had that high standard.
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:43.119
Yeah, we we uh we just saw it as now we can really shine.
00:44:43.280 --> 00:44:47.679
We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna they they've set some points that they want met.
00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:48.880
All right, let's go get it.
00:44:48.960 --> 00:44:49.199
Yeah.
00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:52.079
And you know, I'm a kind of a competitive individual.
00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:57.519
And so um it uh all right, well, and my team is like, yeah, let's go be the best.
00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:03.840
Let's and so um it was a lot of fun getting the diamond award and our team being there to see that.
00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:06.559
Yeah, what is what does the diamond award mean?
00:45:06.880 --> 00:45:18.000
So um it was a certain metric of level of of volume uh through the for the service center in sales of of our parts, and then there's training requirements.
00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:20.480
There's we're gonna host trainings.
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:35.920
We're uh and so it's you know, they put a a target against the wall that you had to meet, and then with that, now at the different levels, our our um you know, our ability to be more profitable is now tied to that.
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:41.199
Yeah, so yeah, it's it's it's given us you know more opportunity coming forward.
00:45:41.519 --> 00:45:45.920
And I think doing things like that will have a positive impact in the overall safety of things.
00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:47.679
You're gonna have better trained guys.
00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:54.960
David even mentioned yesterday during his announcement that uh last year alone was the safest year for Robinson helicopters.
00:45:55.199 --> 00:45:56.719
That's a big deal, and that's a huge deal.
00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:58.159
That's important to all of us.
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:01.440
Less helicopters crashing from any brand is good.
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:10.719
Uh and tightening things up and holding service centers to the highest standard, holding pilots to that highest standard of training and professionalism.
00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:12.239
Well, yeah, so important.
00:46:12.480 --> 00:46:24.000
As you know, that you know, they're making requirements for the pilot training side, and you can be an instructor pilot training now, and then as you know, a dealer, you know, there's requirements for the and then recurring training on top of that.
00:46:24.159 --> 00:46:30.800
So it's you know, it's not a once and yeah, 25 years ago you took the class and then you don't do it never again, right?
00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:35.760
Yeah, so it's it's so important, and all the courses are very reasonably priced as well.
00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:45.280
When you compare brand, you know, the cost between the different uh manufacturers out there, yeah, it's it's uh it's an easy uh class.
00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:49.760
And now with the ability of them coming to uh out into the field to do the trainings too.
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:50.400
So cool.
00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:52.320
So you know, we're small town America.
00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:55.199
My guys um they're there for a reason, right?
00:46:55.280 --> 00:46:56.639
We don't have a stoplight in our county.
00:46:56.800 --> 00:47:04.159
Wow, uh hunting is a big deal, fishing, yeah, and a certain way of life of uh torrents doesn't fancy them, right?
00:47:04.239 --> 00:47:17.760
So when I the first time I ever did Robinson training, and uh like I said, I was staying in Long Beach, and so I had to drive from Long Beach up to Torrance, and uh you get on is it the 405 or something or something like that?
00:47:17.920 --> 00:47:24.400
Yeah, and they're all they're all bad, and it was all gridlocked, it was dead stop, and I remember looking around, I'm like, there are more people right here than in my hometown.
00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:25.360
Yeah, oh for sure.
00:47:25.840 --> 00:47:32.239
So a little, you know, being able to come out to us, and then it opens it up well, more people.
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.719
Hey, well, I want to come over there and get trained too.
00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:40.320
You know, uh, you mentioned uh Mike Underwood, you know, and him and their crew, they did a training, and you know, they get more people to come into that.
00:47:40.400 --> 00:47:42.960
So it's yeah, just recently I think they were doing some training.
00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:43.920
Yeah, super cool.
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:44.800
Yeah, I love Mike.
00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:46.960
One of my favorite people to see at the show here is Mike.
00:47:47.199 --> 00:47:49.199
Mike and I actually started Celicopter together.
00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:50.079
Oh, right on.
00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:53.360
Uh, and then he got so busy with his bait and stuff back in the day.
00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:57.440
We we just gently departed uh ways, but yeah, I love cool.
00:47:57.519 --> 00:47:58.239
I love seeing Mike.
00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:00.320
Yeah, I had no idea the the connections.
00:48:01.119 --> 00:48:02.480
Oh yeah, I know Mike well.
00:48:03.039 --> 00:48:04.800
So big announcements.
00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:07.599
I'm curious to hear kind of your opinion on things.
00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:12.639
Uh I know that you're in the ag world, you understand the ag world, a lot of your clients are ag folks.
00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:12.880
Yep.
00:48:13.039 --> 00:48:15.679
Robinson is pushing very hard in that market.
00:48:15.840 --> 00:48:16.079
Yeah.
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:23.280
Uh cool that they released the R-44 with the uh utility interior, uh, more of a rugged style.
00:48:23.440 --> 00:48:23.840
Yep.
00:48:24.079 --> 00:48:27.920
Not so curious, or not so uh anxious to hear your thoughts on that per se.
00:48:28.159 --> 00:48:34.559
I'm more anxious to hear now with the announcements of the autonomous uh aircraft, essentially.
00:48:34.719 --> 00:48:40.639
The aircraft that will be uh flying with a pilot, but not a pilot inside the helicopter.
00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:40.880
Yeah.
00:48:41.039 --> 00:48:46.079
And they're really targeting at uh AG, uh, and I think it's in conjunction with Rotor AI.
00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:50.159
If you haven't checked out my podcast with Hector from Rotor AI, you can do that.
00:48:50.639 --> 00:48:52.000
Well what are your thoughts?
00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:58.400
I mean, uh it's a I almost kind of find it to be almost a sensitive subject a little bit.
00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:00.000
What what are you feeling?
00:49:02.719 --> 00:49:05.199
Thanks to our sponsor, Airbus.
00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:15.280
Airbus provides the most efficient helicopter solutions to its customers who serve, protect, save lives, and safely carry passengers in demanding environments.
00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:20.559
Its civil and military helicopters are flying all over the world, making missions possible.
00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:23.840
Visit Airbus.com for more information.
00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:28.480
Yeah, so you know, I fly because I love to fly, right?
00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:29.360
It I enjoy it.
00:49:29.519 --> 00:49:32.480
You get in and you fly around, and everything about flying is is awesome.
00:49:33.519 --> 00:49:38.320
But the in the environments that my clients fly in, um it's tough work, right?
00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:38.880
Very tough.
00:49:39.039 --> 00:49:47.039
It's and it's dangerous, it's low level, repetitive, um, and a lot of people are doing it to get to the next step, right?
00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:57.599
And so um I I don't think that it is a something that they need to worry about replacing them, right?
00:49:57.760 --> 00:50:04.800
It's going to uh make the aircraft safer, it's gonna expand our capabilities and what the Robinson products can do.
00:50:05.039 --> 00:50:08.960
And yeah, it's I just see it as another area where we can grow.
00:50:09.039 --> 00:50:09.360
Yeah.
00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:14.159
Um the service centers, you know, the the dealer and service center network.
00:50:14.320 --> 00:50:17.119
We we still have to service them, we still have to inspect them.
00:50:17.360 --> 00:50:17.599
Of course.
00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:21.199
You're you know, they got to be bought, you know, they're gonna be brand new off the line.
00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:33.599
But I I think it's going to open us up to some of you know the I didn't do video games very much, but there's you know a whole generation that are way more comfortable with electronics and things like that.
00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:37.679
And it they might be uh it might seem more attainable to them, you know.
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:40.239
We talked where you know, the kids are like, Well, I can never go do that.
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:51.199
I'm like, well, it might be more obtainable to them to go fly it out of that ground control station with um, and then maybe that will oh well, this is obtainable.
00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:52.000
I should go fly.
00:50:52.239 --> 00:50:53.440
Yeah, go go do it both.
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:54.079
Yep, yeah.
00:50:54.159 --> 00:50:58.159
I mean, I I my whole thought is is that we know where things are going.
00:50:58.719 --> 00:50:59.679
That's the future.
00:50:59.840 --> 00:51:09.199
Things evolve, and I think that we will live in a world where there's there's a relationship uh that's hopefully symbiotic.
00:51:09.280 --> 00:51:12.800
I don't know if that's the right word, uh, in unison almost of complimentary.
00:51:12.960 --> 00:51:13.760
Yeah, I yeah.
00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:17.519
Um I used to think drones were like the end of the world, right?
00:51:17.760 --> 00:51:21.519
And now I feel like, well, helicopters and drones are actually working together.
00:51:21.840 --> 00:51:23.280
There's a collaborative effort.
00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:23.760
Yep.
00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:27.920
I look at ag specifically, and I'm not an ag guy, I got ag clients and ag friends.
00:51:28.559 --> 00:51:30.079
Shout out to my boy Jay Buckman.
00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:30.960
I've been working with him lately.
00:51:31.199 --> 00:51:31.599
You know, Jay?
00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:32.320
I know Jay.
00:51:32.719 --> 00:51:33.840
Yeah, he's a good guy.
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:38.079
I'd uh anytime I have a good deal on a 44, he's my guy.
00:51:38.159 --> 00:51:40.159
He's I can find he's just ready to go.
00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:44.079
Uh but what I know, the industry is very dangerous.
00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:50.880
I've I've heard some years 13 plus aircraft will crash, specifically with wire strike, usually.
00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:51.280
Yep.
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:55.360
I had my uh had a friend on the podcast before talk about uh his accident.
00:51:56.000 --> 00:52:03.039
Um very accomplished pilot, very experienced pilot, very experienced ag pilot, yeah, knew the wire, still hit it.
00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:04.239
I've heard the same story.
00:52:06.639 --> 00:52:11.039
So for me, I'm like, why not why not do that, right?
00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:26.719
You know, if it's going to make a safer operation and it's going to accomplish the same outcome and probably even more efficiently and more effectively, and then God forbid if there's an accident, it's not machine, it's not going to take a loss of life.
00:52:26.800 --> 00:52:28.239
It's an insurance claim at that point.
00:52:28.719 --> 00:52:33.199
You're not burying bodies, you're not having to talk to partners and significant others.
00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:34.880
It's it's just a machine.
00:52:35.119 --> 00:52:38.159
And the technology is not susceptible to the fatigue that's in there.
00:52:38.239 --> 00:52:43.599
You know, I've heard the same story uh over and over again where this accomplished pilot, they know they know the field even.
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:47.199
It's you know, it's sometimes spraying it every day for the last month.
00:52:47.440 --> 00:52:47.760
Right.
00:52:47.920 --> 00:52:52.320
And uh just that one whatever, and and then there they are.
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:57.840
Yeah, so I there hasn't been a season go by since we've been involved in AG where there hasn't been some sort of incident.
00:52:58.159 --> 00:53:01.840
Yeah, there's significant accidents all the time.
00:53:02.239 --> 00:53:06.000
And the technology's improving um for that wire detection as well.
00:53:06.079 --> 00:53:08.239
You know, that stuff's it's coming, it's gonna be amazing.
00:53:08.639 --> 00:53:09.920
It's incredible industry as a whole.
00:53:10.159 --> 00:53:11.519
Yeah, I I I'm excited.
00:53:11.679 --> 00:53:13.599
Look, I I'm a pilot, I love flying.
00:53:13.679 --> 00:53:18.880
I didn't fly heli, you know, I didn't start flying helicopters to to do it from a room like this, per se.
00:53:19.039 --> 00:53:20.719
Uh maybe now I would like that actually.
00:53:20.880 --> 00:53:23.199
You know, I'm a dad now, and so I'm a little more cautious.
00:53:23.360 --> 00:53:23.679
Yep.
00:53:23.920 --> 00:53:32.800
You know, I hope that uh I mean I'm guessing some in some world, far, far from now, it might be obsolete to be a pilot.
00:53:32.960 --> 00:53:34.639
But I don't think it's anytime soon.
00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:43.519
I think the moment that we're in now is that for the next several years, even decades, there's going to just be a continued complementary effort.
00:53:44.159 --> 00:53:50.719
Helicopter pilots doing helicopter pilot things, and you know, autonomy and drones and things like that doing what they're doing.
00:53:51.039 --> 00:53:53.760
Well, aviation's always the leading portion of technology, right?
00:53:53.840 --> 00:53:55.519
It's like pushing the envelope always.
00:53:55.599 --> 00:54:00.960
And so, yeah, I mean it's just a natural thing for us to uh we we're gonna forge ahead.
00:54:01.039 --> 00:54:04.559
We're gonna, you know, it's the next frontier of something to to conquer.
00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:07.280
Um, yeah, and and not to be scared of it, right?
00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:08.239
I know, I know change.
00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:10.960
I mean, I'm yeah, I change change sucks.
00:54:11.199 --> 00:54:11.840
It is scary.
00:54:12.079 --> 00:54:14.639
Um, but um, yeah, it's it's gonna be okay.
00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:16.239
I'm gonna have David on tomorrow.
00:54:16.400 --> 00:54:18.000
Uh I'm excited to chat with him.
00:54:18.079 --> 00:54:19.280
It's always fun to catch up.
00:54:19.440 --> 00:54:21.360
I want to get his take on that too, right?
00:54:21.519 --> 00:54:27.679
Because, you know, he he's now the leader of a helicopter company that, you know, historically pilots have flown.
00:54:27.840 --> 00:54:29.440
So this is a big change, right?
00:54:29.679 --> 00:54:32.159
So I'm curious to hear kind of his narrative on it.
00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:45.840
Dave's very intelligent guy, and I know that he's had to well well think this out of you know, how do you present it to the world that doesn't serve as like a scary thing, like you said.
00:54:46.480 --> 00:54:51.280
He did a really good job of uh you know at the training this past week, uh Monday.
00:54:51.519 --> 00:55:01.440
Uh things kind of wrapped up a little earlier, and so David had to spend an hour and a half in front of you know a room of us answering questions and feeling it for an hour and a half.
00:55:01.519 --> 00:55:06.480
And I was I was really impressed with uh the overall you know questions and and outcome of that.
00:55:06.960 --> 00:55:08.000
He's that guy's a robot.
00:55:08.079 --> 00:55:08.320
Yep.
00:55:08.480 --> 00:55:09.440
He might be a drill.
00:55:09.840 --> 00:55:10.480
He might be.
00:55:10.639 --> 00:55:11.440
He's he's everywhere.
00:55:11.760 --> 00:55:13.360
On LinkedIn, he's there, he's on Facebook.
00:55:13.440 --> 00:55:15.039
I mean he's I asked him, do you sleep?
00:55:15.119 --> 00:55:16.719
Yeah, I asked his wife that yesterday.
00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:18.400
She was like, uh, kind of.
00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:20.400
I think Mac too, the his son.
00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:21.920
I think he's gonna be the next in line.
00:55:22.079 --> 00:55:23.920
That he he's a smart kid.
00:55:24.320 --> 00:55:30.079
And he was uh we were at another helicopter thing yesterday, and he was providing me his feedback on what he thought.
00:55:30.320 --> 00:55:30.800
Outstanding.
00:55:30.960 --> 00:55:34.639
And uh, he had some actually very valid points.
00:55:34.880 --> 00:55:35.199
Super.
00:55:35.280 --> 00:55:39.519
Uh so I think David operates at a different level uh mentally, honestly.
00:55:39.679 --> 00:55:48.159
I mean, his capacity is huge, and uh you don't get uh in most industries to have that type of connection, right?
00:55:48.239 --> 00:55:49.199
He's an available guy.
00:55:49.360 --> 00:55:49.760
Oh man.
00:55:49.840 --> 00:55:53.440
I've I've asked him before, I said, hey, look, I got this guy, he's a little upset about this or that.
00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:54.639
He wants to talk to you.
00:55:54.800 --> 00:55:55.199
Yeah, yeah.
00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:55.920
Give him my number.
00:55:56.159 --> 00:55:57.440
He's like, call me now.
00:55:57.599 --> 00:55:58.559
Yeah, and I don't know.
00:55:58.639 --> 00:56:00.079
If a phone rings, I'm like, hello?
00:56:00.239 --> 00:56:00.960
Oh okay.
00:56:01.280 --> 00:56:15.679
Yeah, so I think that that's like I think that that is uh a testament to what they're doing really well at is that you have access to David, you have access to Randy and Will and Robin and really the entire team, and they're listening, yeah, right.
00:56:15.840 --> 00:56:19.199
And again, it's a big company, so things don't move necessarily fast all the time.
00:56:19.360 --> 00:56:26.079
And unfortunately, sometimes you have to wait on certain parts by other manufacturers that take longer time.
00:56:26.239 --> 00:56:29.440
So, you know, it definitely can get a cog in the wheel.
00:56:29.599 --> 00:56:32.719
Uh we'll finish up with the R66 turbine truck.
00:56:33.039 --> 00:56:34.079
Am I saying it correctly?
00:56:34.239 --> 00:56:34.880
I think yeah.
00:56:35.119 --> 00:56:39.840
So the turbine truck you were telling me yesterday when we caught up is is it coming?
00:56:40.079 --> 00:56:42.000
No, it's so so the uh the air truck.
00:56:42.239 --> 00:56:42.719
The air truck.
00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:44.159
Yep, the 44 air truck.
00:56:44.320 --> 00:56:46.400
The 44 air truck, so I got confused.
00:56:46.639 --> 00:56:47.119
That's all good.
00:56:47.280 --> 00:57:04.880
So the R-44 air truck, which is what we were just talking about, which is the rotor technologies, and that is the ag purposed so the the air truck is the is the cargo version of the 44 Raven 2, and the spray hawk is a spray version of the RE4.
00:57:05.280 --> 00:57:11.760
So you have do you have a client that is our area being as rural as it is, we have a great test area.
00:57:11.920 --> 00:57:16.400
And so we've been working with Nick and Hector and the team at Rotor.
00:57:16.639 --> 00:57:20.880
Um we know the uh we know the airframe really well, right?
00:57:21.039 --> 00:57:29.679
Like and they're really great at all the technology and things like that, and we're trying to help um really make that aircraft sing and do well.
00:57:29.920 --> 00:57:42.000
Um and there are retrofits for the older aircraft, and the few of the first iterations are going out that way, and so um so that they can do testing.
00:57:42.159 --> 00:57:42.320
Sure.
00:57:42.480 --> 00:57:42.719
Right.
00:57:42.880 --> 00:58:02.559
And so we're going to uh right after the show that one machine is coming up to us, we're gonna finish getting it operational, and then Hector and the team are coming out, cool, do their side of the of the puzzle, and um some of the first testing, some of the demos is gonna happen out at Elbow Lakes.
00:58:02.719 --> 00:58:03.280
Man, how excited?
00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:05.119
That's so cool that you're part of that.
00:58:05.280 --> 00:58:08.800
Yeah, you're kind of part of this new history, this new this new area.
00:58:08.960 --> 00:58:10.480
You work with a lot of ag operators.
00:58:10.639 --> 00:58:13.119
Anyone anyone biting to to buy?
00:58:13.440 --> 00:58:14.559
Um they're talking.
00:58:14.719 --> 00:58:15.119
They're talking.
00:58:15.440 --> 00:58:15.920
They're talking.
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:24.400
So the the air truck's gonna be operational first, and um that is really um going is interested.
00:58:24.559 --> 00:58:36.960
The markets interested are um oil and gas, you know, where they can move um instead of firing up some big iron to move a small part uh quickly and efficiently, right?
00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:41.920
And some of the environments around the country aren't as permissive as flying around as we enjoy here, right?
00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:44.800
So uh it's not the risks involved with that either.
00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:48.960
So um, yeah, so that's that I I imagine is gonna be the first clients.
00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:53.840
Um, of course, the regulatory environment in in the US is pretty dynamic right now.
00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:57.599
Things are changing, materials, things are still in comment periods.
00:58:57.760 --> 00:58:58.960
We don't have anything written yet.
00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:00.559
So yeah, working on that.
00:59:00.800 --> 00:59:12.880
Um as as uh we have the largest test area um uh submitted with the FA right now that rotor um is gonna use, and it's something like 800,000 acres or something.
00:59:12.960 --> 00:59:18.800
It's you know, it's a big area, but low population we are density area, it's class G airspace.
00:59:18.960 --> 00:59:20.079
So it's easy, yeah, yeah.
00:59:20.239 --> 00:59:20.639
Easy stuff.
00:59:20.800 --> 00:59:24.400
So excited to go out and test with them and uh and learn more about the platform.
00:59:24.559 --> 00:59:25.599
So that's so cool.
00:59:25.840 --> 00:59:29.840
And after that, you know, then then we'll see where the spray hawk comes into play.
00:59:29.920 --> 00:59:31.599
So well, the future is here, yeah.
00:59:31.679 --> 00:59:32.000
That's cool.
00:59:32.400 --> 00:59:33.119
And things are happening.
00:59:33.199 --> 00:59:37.039
Joe LaRue from Prairie Air, uh up there in Elbow Lake.
00:59:37.119 --> 00:59:37.679
Am I saying it right?
00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:38.559
Said it right, yeah.
00:59:38.719 --> 00:59:40.000
Uh Minnesota, quite cold.
00:59:40.079 --> 00:59:45.599
I've talked to you recently, and we actually had some delay on pictures because he was uh like snowed in.
00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:49.519
Yeah, it was uh 20 some below and a whole bunch of snow, so yeah.
00:59:49.920 --> 00:59:50.960
A little warmer down here.
00:59:51.199 --> 00:59:54.159
Yeah, it was uh some of my crew was like, oh, it's too hot here.
00:59:54.320 --> 00:59:58.239
Yeah, I mean, yesterday when I caught up with you in the parking lot, I felt like I was melting, honestly.
00:59:58.320 --> 00:59:58.960
It's very humid.
00:59:59.119 --> 01:00:00.559
Yeah, it was fun to find some sun.
01:00:00.639 --> 01:00:02.960
You know, it's cloudy and snowy in our area.
01:00:03.199 --> 01:00:03.760
So we found some.
01:00:04.239 --> 01:00:05.519
A little vitamin D is always good.
01:00:05.679 --> 01:00:07.679
Well, Joe, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
01:00:08.079 --> 01:00:09.039
Thank you for what you're doing.
01:00:09.199 --> 01:00:13.440
I'm excited to keep on following with uh Joe LaRue and Prairie Erin, what you're doing.
01:00:13.599 --> 01:00:18.079
Also, by the way, just whoever does your social media and your email marketing, kudos.
01:00:18.239 --> 01:00:19.039
Really nicely done.
01:00:19.199 --> 01:00:19.519
Right on.
01:00:19.599 --> 01:00:19.920
I appreciate it.
01:00:20.079 --> 01:00:23.199
Honestly, I I I love I love what you do on your emails.
01:00:23.360 --> 01:00:28.159
Uh, and yeah, honestly, a lot of uh maintenance facilities don't do that at all.
01:00:28.400 --> 01:00:30.639
Yeah, you know, we just try to get the word out on what's going on.
01:00:30.719 --> 01:00:32.639
You know, we try to be in around the patch, right?
01:00:32.800 --> 01:00:35.199
Yeah, so we we do actually three intentional.
01:00:35.519 --> 01:00:36.719
It's uh did you know?
01:00:36.800 --> 01:00:37.840
So we want to inform you.
01:00:38.000 --> 01:00:38.239
Yep.
01:00:38.320 --> 01:00:46.719
Uh the quotes around the patch is just a fun thing that my wife came up with, and it's like, you know, something applicable to what's going on in the Robinson.
01:00:46.800 --> 01:00:50.000
And then uh it's a Friday field notes, is our latest one.
01:00:50.159 --> 01:00:59.119
And uh then one long format a month where you know we get a testimonial from a client or you know, hey, the part scenario that's going on.
01:00:59.199 --> 01:01:00.639
Well, let's talk about that a little bit that time.
01:01:01.119 --> 01:01:05.920
It's a great informative, you know, just so people could see what it's going on in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.
01:01:06.000 --> 01:01:07.920
Otherwise, you know, you don't know.
01:01:08.079 --> 01:01:08.159
Right.
01:01:08.320 --> 01:01:08.880
No, it's awesome.
01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:10.400
Well, Joe, thanks so much to our listeners.
01:01:10.559 --> 01:01:21.199
Thank you for listening to this Verticon 2026 edition of the helicopter podcast, and again to our sponsors, uh NHM Publishing, of course, and Vertical Plus and the Helicast platform.
01:01:21.280 --> 01:01:22.159
We couldn't do it without you.
01:01:22.239 --> 01:01:29.599
It's so cool to be here, have this amazing uh facility to be able to have these awesome conversations with awesome people like Joe.
01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:34.480
Joe said it early in the episode it's the people, and I couldn't echo that more.
01:01:34.639 --> 01:01:42.480
I walk around this hall, and it's uh people I know, people I don't know, but we all share a common thing, and it's helicopters.
01:01:42.719 --> 01:01:46.480
Joe started with helicopters, he kind of pulled away.
01:01:46.639 --> 01:01:48.480
The siren brought you back, brother.
01:01:48.880 --> 01:01:49.760
He couldn't stay away.
01:01:49.920 --> 01:01:56.079
So we're we're we're grateful that that happened, uh, and thank you for listening to this edition of the helicopter podcast.
01:01:56.960 --> 01:01:59.519
Stand by for a message after a word from our sponsors.
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01:03:19.679 --> 01:03:24.800
Its civil and military helicopters are flying all over the world, making missions possible.
01:03:24.960 --> 01:03:28.079
Visit Airbus.com for more information.

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