THE STATE OF HELICOPTERS, WITH PROFESSIONAL HELICOPTER PILOTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT BUTCH GRAFTON
While only about 5% of all pilots in the U.S. fly helicopters, the men and women who do it for a living represent a truly a unique breed of aviator. They're out there in all kinds of weather, transporting sick and injured people to the hospital, landing on floating oil rigs, hovering over accident scenes with TV news cameras rolling, and patrolling utility lines over unforgiving terrain. Learning to fly helicopters isn't easy, and becoming a commercial helicopter pilot is even tougher. Which is one of the reasons we've taken such great interest recently in the fate of the more than 2,500 trainees who were displaced when Silver State Helicopters filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. To get a better sense of what's going on in the helicopter industry, AVweb's Meredith Saini spoke with Butch Grafton, president of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association. The association represents 6,000 helicopter pilots worldwide.

Click here to listen. (8.5 MB, 9:16)

SAVING APOLLO 13: THE INSIDE STORY
Although the Apollo astronauts got most of the glory, NASA's unsung flight controllers came into their own on Apollo 13, when an oxygen tank exploded and disabled the spacecraft on the way to the moon. Sy Liebergot, a Cal State-trained engineer, was lead EECOM (electrical, environmental, consumables) on that mission and in this detailed podcast, he describes what it was like to ultimately resolve NASA's most challenging moment. Liebergot spoke recently at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Click here to listen. (19.2 MB, 21:03)

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Paul Bertorelli blogs about Liebergot