I’ve blogged a lot about the success of Genesys’ HeliSAS, but now I’d like to talk about one of the valued partners that have helped the system get where it is. Everyone here at Genesys Aerosystems wants to give a big shout out of congratulations to the entire team at Wysong Enterprises for installing their 50th HeliSAS system.
Wysong and HeliSAS
Wysong Enterprises is a leader in creating unique solutions for corporate/private, emergency medical, electronic newsgathering, public/search and rescue and special use helicopters. When I talked to Wysong’s Sales Manager, Paul Schreuder he told me about the company’s history with HeliSAS sales and installations.
“We installed our first HeliSAS in a in a Bell 206 JetRanger owned by Baron Real Estate. That was typical for HeliSAS back then. It was mostly adopted by private and corporate owner/operators. They fly single-pilot and understood the added safety value that HeliSAS brought to their helicopter,” he said. “In the past few years, that paradigm has shifted to the helicopter EMS operators. They can’t wait for good weather to fly so the majority of EMS operators are very proactive with regards to improving safety. That’s the number-one reason HeliSAS is becoming a must have.”
Schreuder said that, in fact, Wysong’s 50th HeliSAS sale was for Memphis Medical Center’s Hospital Wing Airbus EC130 helicopter.
“We pretty much put HeliSAS in every EMS helicopter we do,” he said. “They have to fly 24/7 so their pilots often encounter inadvertent IMC. The stability augmentation system – SAS, part of HeliSAS was created for those situations.”
“HeliSAS is designed to be turned on before the aircraft leaves the ground, so should the pilot find themselves suddenly in reduced visibility or in the event of a bird-strike (a frequent occurrence when you fly down low), all they have to do is release the controls and the system will return or maintain the aircraft in a neutral pitch/roll position until the pilot gets their bearings,” Schreuder explained. “It’s a great tool to have even if all you want to do is tune the radios or get a drink of water. HeliSAS greatly reduces the pilot’s workload.”
“Everyone here at Wysong is totally committed to safety and we’re all very happy when our customers decide to add HeliSAS to their helicopter’s avionics package,” he said.
All I can add is that everyone here at Genesys Aerosystems shares Wysong’s sentiment about safety. We’re very proud of the safety-enhancing features of HeliSAS and all of our other autopilots and large screen display systems.
So, again to our friends at Wysong Enterprises: Congratulations on your 50th HeliSAS installation. And here’s to 50 more!
Until next time, fly safely,
Jamie