Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with longtime friend Joey Buley to compare two aviation careers that started from similar places but ultimately took very different paths. Halsey and Joey have known each other since childhood, and Joey reflects on finding his way into flight school after struggling with the traditional college path. His career would take him through flight instruction, regional...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider welcomes Robinson Helicopter Company CEO David Smith back to the podcast for an update on a period of significant change for the company. At the centre of the conversation is Robinson's growing role in military flight training and the selection of the R66 for the U.S. Army's Flight School Next program. David explains why the Army is placing renewed emphasis on single-engi...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Jim O'Neill of Bristow Group, an experienced helicopter rescue paramedic, winchman, and winch operator whose career has taken him from the infantry to decades of helicopter search-and-rescue operations. Jim takes Halsey inside a challenging rescue with the Irish Coast Guard near Dingle Harbour, Ireland, where severe weather, a vessel in distress, and a rapi...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Chad McIntosh and Bailey Gackstetter of Great Lakes Helicopter and HeliSIX in Ontario, Canada, for a conversation about flight training, building helicopter pilots and the value of learning inside a working aviation operation. Chad and Bailey explain why choosing a flight school should be about more than price or simply earning a licence. The instructors, c...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Beau Prine of Aviation Academy Louisiana to discuss a career shaped by military aviation, maintenance excellence, and a passion for developing the next generation of aviation professionals. Before entering aviation education, Beau served as a CH-53 crew chief in the United States Marine Corps, including two tours with HMX-1—the squadron responsible for pres...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with fighter pilot, author, and content creator C.W. Lemoine to talk about an aviation career that rarely followed the obvious path. Growing up in Louisiana, C.W. dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, only to be told early on that his eyesight would likely prevent him from ever reaching that goal. Rather than letting that answer define his future, he continued lo...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Ryan Vandehei, a former Coast Guard helicopter pilot, to talk about his path into military aviation, the realities of Coast Guard flight training, and some of the personal challenges that have come with the journey. Ryan shares what drew him to the Coast Guard Academy with the goal of becoming a pilot and the highs and lows that followed—from struggling thr...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! Aviation insurance can often feel like a complicated process, but behind every policy is a conversation about risk, experience, and finding the right solution. In this episode of The Helicopter Podcast, Halsey sits down with Ryan Konrath of Wings Insurance and Michael Puglisi of IAT Insurance Group to explore the world of aviation insurance from both sides of the table. They discuss how brokers and unde...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Matthias Wendt, a dentist from Germany who has turned his passion for helicopters into an innovative STEM outreach effort designed to introduce young people to aviation. Matthias’ connection to helicopters started through curiosity rather than a career path. Despite numerous opportunities throughout his life to pursue aviation, his journey instead took him ...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Helicopter Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS! In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Raphael Yver, director of sales and support at Guimbal, to explore the story behind one of the most distinctive helicopter manufacturers in the industry. Raphael shares the remarkable journey of company founder Bruno Guimbal, whose passion for engineering and aviation led him from building aircraft as a student to creating a helicopter designed specifically...