This aircraft is a brand new AS350B2 Helicopter that flew directly out of Eurocopter Canada, on a flight destination directly to Maxcraft.

The Need

The west coast owner of the aircraft wanted immediate upgrades before any future journeys. He wanted all of his passengers to have latest in noise cancellation headsets with access to music. To go forward with new headsets without a battery requirement, the need for music and LEMO power jacks was a must. The owner also is going to be upgrading his airframe fuel filter kit to ensure clean fuel and asked us to install the wiring provisions and annunciator for this package. The challenge; the owner requested to have everything look factory!

The Maxcraft Solution

Our staff was in awe by this gorgeous machine and knew exactly how to proceed. Maxcraft, known for accuracy and making installations look factory, installed the panel power jacks and music jacks in the front and rear. Providing 6 brand new Lightspeed Zulu.2 ANR (active noise reduction) headsets with LEMO connectors, gave the quiet and comfort that the owner needed for his pilot and passengers. The aesthetics and accuracy was what this owner was all about and we provided it.

The Story

The owner decided to have his pilot fly the helicopter out of Fort Erie; however, it was not before his family wanted a lift to the west coast. The following is the story from Sean, the pilot:

“We did pick the machine up straight from Eurocopter, brand new. I had the owner’s 86 year old mother and her 89 year old friend with me the whole way back. They were the most enthusiastic and patient passengers I’ve ever had, and they did knit the whole way back. I was under a little pressure to get the machine to Vancouver to get work done before leaving for Alaska.

We got caught in fog outside of Marathon, Ontario. I was skimming the trees trying to make it into the airport under the fog. Whenever it got too bad, I would land in the bush somewhere and wait for it to lift enough to make it another mile or so. At one point one of the woman said ‘We may not make it! We might have to spend the night in the bush!’ The other resounded ‘How exciting!!!’

Finally I tucked the machine out of view behind some trees next to the highway, walked out, and hailed a cab to the motel.

The next day we were in Manitoba. We did a little detour off track to see if we could spot the farm house the 89 year old grew up in. We found it. She hadn’t been there since 1946. We then found the tree her parents were buried next to. The crosses had fallen over. It was a touching moment. We did the rest of the prairies below 1000′ AGL. They loved it.

We spent the night in Castlegar where all we could get was the ‘Theme Rooms’ at the Hotel. For some reason they all thought I should stay in the ‘space’ room. The weather sucked the next day, and we spent half of it on a logging road on the side of a mountain until the pass opened up. Nobody complained.”

It was a great trip.

– Sean