The following is the published text [electronically translated to English] of a presentation by Helidax President Jean-Michel Palagos at an event to mark the achievement of 100,000 hours across the entire Helidax fleet.  Helidax is a joint venture between French company DCI (Defense Conseil International) and operator INAER which operates a fleet of 36 Airbus H120 helicopters to train French military helicopter pilots for Army, Air Force, Navy and Gendarmerie. 

These 100 000 flying hours are more than one way to success. The success of Helidax, it is above all the courage shown by men and women, the ability to take risks, to dare to think “outside the box” and to have the courage to bring new and innovative solutions. 

There is a collective success and this is actually the achievements of three class I would like to salute today.

1. These 100 000 flying hours are primarily the result of a win-win partnership with the state. 

Helidax is, since January 2008, the first contract for public-private partnership ever launched by the French Ministry of Defence. The aim of the outsourcing was the supply to the School of Light Aviation Earth Dax Army (EALAT) of flight hours required for the basic training of the Armed pilots (Earth, Sea, Air) and the National Gendarmerie, among other beneficiaries. The contract, signed for 22 years, concerns the provision of modern equipment, called Calliope EC120B helicopters and maintenance services associated with it.

This partnership is a success greeted first by the French army on 36 Calliopé of Helidax, 32 are available simultaneously, every morning for students EALAT and 100% of the resources requested by the school have provided. Since May 2010, the Helidax devices participated in the training of over 500 student pilots and instructors from the various components of the French military (Army, Navy, Air Force) and the National Gendarmerie and Belgian pilots, Nigerian students and instructors. Military Ministry, through the Court of Auditors, all wrote their good report on public-private partnership of Helidax.

I want to clarify here that we can be proud of this achievement: the French army is the best army in Europe, respected around the world for its high level of know-how and technical expertise, and to participate in this excellence is really a great honor and a great satisfaction.

Just see success after only a few months, the ITC-H, the International Helicopter Training Center to be convinced: he pushed DCI to acquire three new helicopters for our colors, to serve Training demand from countries friendly to France.

2. This success is my second point, is also the result of cooperation between two companies of intermediate size: DCI and, at the time, Proteus, who were able to be sufficiently dynamic and ambitious to win this project. 

To perform high quality services, now has Helidax infrastructure enabling it to meet the demand of its customers. This is already more than 60 people who work daily in workshops to support and put online theft of the fleet of 36 helicopters used by military forces and the gendarmerie for the initial training of their pilots.

Helidax also has substantial resources and infrastructure: two hangars totaling 4,000 m², a workshop of 4200 m² and sharp airworthiness management tools AMS type.

Helidax shows that the alliance between intermediate size firms with experience can be a major player in the world: the entity now represents 5% of the fleet and 14% of flight hours on EC120 worldwide.

I want to stress here that this partnership has been able to deploy locally very beneficial way and fit within industrial sectors around Dax. The first image that comes to mind is the choice of colors of the unit. They correspond to the city of Dax, red and white. They are those of the Dax feria in mid-August when all Dacquois start in red and white and they are those of the US Dax, the local rugby team. Since September 2015, Helidax is also one of the sponsors of the women’s team of Dax basketball, one of the best teams in France as part of the TOP 4 for several years.

Therefore, the project is a success both global and local, thanks to the good cooperation of the two parent companies.

3. It is especially emphasized that this achievement is the result of the work of the team of Helidax tirelessly to serve the satisfaction of our client. 

It is difficult to list all the certifications obtained, as they are numerous and bear witness to the expertise of employees: PART 145 (workshop), PART M / G (airworthiness monitoring), PART M / I (continuing airworthiness) APDOA (part design activity), ISO 90001: 2008, PART 21G (making parts “designed” by the APDOA) authorized Turbomeca engine shop for maintenance … It is more than a month to maintain audit 8 approvals and standards such as ISO 9001.

Helidax is also a global benchmark for “witness floats” (study of aging apparatus) for the EC120. 
The company works in partnership with the most advanced companies in the world, such as Airbus and Turbomeca for engine maintenance.

As DCI’s Chairman and Director, I have to express my pride for sharing all this celebration of 100 000 flight hours since Helidax is the realization of a great project, which many did not believe. But the President of Helidax I would also like to thank all the employees of this great company for their involvement andsay, “believe, dare and continue to live this adventure. Boldness is creative opportunities and allow us to build the great successes of tomorrow! “.