Marlborough Helicopters use v2track Digital Forms to Enhance their Business
Nestled at the top of the South Island of New Zealand, Marlborough Helicopters is a proud locally owned and operated company that has been in business since 1979. They provide services for agriculture, forestry, firefighting, lifting, utilities, pest control, aerial photography, and charters, using Jet Ranger B206 B3’s and a Squirrel AS350 B2.
Marlborough Helicopters is continually striving to improve quality and continue to incorporate the latest technology to meet and exceed industry standards. This led them to evaluate their flight forms and decide to make those paper forms digital and available online. They had recently made the decision to use v2track as their tracking service provider and fitted v2track V5 tracking devices in their aircraft.
Manifest and Weight & Balance Forms
After approaching v2track they worked with them to come up with a solution that provides conformance and a high-level of information, with minimal input from their team. A pleasing by-product of this increased efficiency has been increased visibility and a safer operation.
The solution was a custom form that was specifically designed for Marlborough Helicopters. The form resides in v2Connect, v2track’s cockpit EFB app running on a smart phone or tablet in the aircraft. The pilot enters manifest and flight information e.g. luggage, freight, number of passengers, weights, and fuel. The pilot signs the form and submits it electronically.
The form is templated, and different versions are available for each aircraft, with information that is specific to that aircraft e.g., Aircraft Type, Registration, and Callsign. The weight and balance chart is automatically calculated, drawn and displayed to the pilot. This is especially valuable for charter operations when people are being dropped off in different locations and details need to be regularly updated.
When a pilot submits the form a summary of the flight details is transmitted to base in real-time. This is first attempted via the cellular network but will automatically switch to the Iridium® satellite network for transmission if required, therefore providing reliable form submission everywhere. When the aircraft is within range of a cellular network, all the data in the form is transmitted to base. This operational capability is unique to v2track!
Simon Moar, Owner & Pilot
Simon Moar, Co-owner and Pilot of Marlborough Helicopters is extremely pleased with the outcome and the continued support from v2track. He had this to say about them: “v2track are adaptable and open to ideas compared to other companies that we have dealt with previously. It helps that they specialise in aviation and some of them are pilots themselves. We didn’t have to limit the possibilities based on the
mainstream services that vendors usually offer. We also love the real-time tracking and messaging capabilities, and the peace-of-mind that it offers – loved one’s and colleagues know exactly where we are and we can reach out to them, anywhere, anytime”.
To reap the benefits of a paperless system, email us at: sales@v2track.com.
