HAI has announced that Carl Jones, Bell 205/Bell 412 crew chief, National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, is the 2017 winner of HAI’s Salute to Excellence Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance Award. In addition, Jack H. Schonely, police officer/pilot (retired), Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the 2017 winner of HAI’s Salute to Excellence MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award. The awards will be presented at HAI’s Salute to Excellence Awards dinner at HAI HELI-EXPO 2017 in Dallas.

HAI’s Salute to Excellence Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance Award

Carl Jones is described by colleagues as “a dedicated, hardworking individual who epitomizes the type of AME [aviation maintenance engineer] you want working on your helicopter.” For example, on one deployment on a critical contract with a tight schedule, the combining gearbox on a PT6 Twin-Pac failed. Changing this unit is not a small job, but Carl was able to source and arrange for delivery of a replacement, remove the old unit, and install the new one, leaving time to complete the contract. To make this happen, he worked evenings and weekends until the job was done.

“Rather than sitting back happy with the status quo, Carl takes pride in his aircraft and is always looking for ways to make incremental improvements to them,” a colleague said. “He is a regular attendee at trade shows like those held by HAI, where he is always on the lookout for new technology to increase our capabilities. Examples of this include a new step and door roller system for our Bell 412 or a cycle counter system for our Bell 205. The savings alone from the cycle counter system has already paid for the system through reduced maintenance costs.”NRC fly-by-wire helicopters have unique research equipment attached to the flight controls, as well as auxiliary systems such as a nonstandard 3000-psi hydraulic system. Carl was able to maintain and repair these systems and keep the helicopters operating. In one instance involving problems with the pedal axis of the force-feel system on a Bell 205 fly-by-wire research system, Carl devised a modification to fix the problem.

HAI’s Salute to Excellence MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award

Jack H. Schonely spent more than 33 years in law enforcement where he dedicated his professional life to promoting professionalism in, and the advancement of, helicopter use in airborne law enforcement in the United States and around the world. He is a nationally recognized expert on suspect tactics and perimeter containment.

Schonely began his law enforcement career as a deputy sheriff in Berks County, Pa., before moving to Los Angeles in 1983 and joining the LAPD. He witnessed the changes in daily police work firsthand and did exhaustive research on suspect tactics, culminating in his book, Apprehending Fleeing Suspects: Suspect Tactics and Perimeter Containment. In addition to his book, Jack has been published in many industry magazines.

Working as an LAPD patrol officer, Schonely was involved in perimeters containment on a daily basis. In 1992 he became a K-9 handler within the Metropolitan Division, where he spent the next five years searching for LA’s most dangerous criminals. He worked as a tactical flight officer in LAPD’s Air Support Division, coordinating tactical operations from a helicopter that involved foot pursuits and perimeter containments. He served as chief tactical flight officer and later command pilot, where he served until his retirement in June 2016.

Schonely has participated in more than 2,000 perimeter containments during his career, and he has seen many successes and failures. He has shared this experience with thousands of U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officers and as an instructor for the Airborne Law Enforcement Association and individual agencies. His programs set the standard for tactical flight officer training and perimeter containment operations.

The awards will be presented at the annual Salute to Excellence Awards dinner during HAI HELI-EXPO 2017. HAI HELI-EXPO®, the world’s largest helicopter trade show and exhibition, will be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, March 6–9, with the exhibit hall open March 7–9.