Enstrom was recently excited to be visited by none other than Jim Viola, the President of HAI. HAI is the helicopter industry’s leading trade association. Not only do they host the Heli-Expo, our largest trade show, they are a leading voice in Washington and throughout the world speaking on behalf of helicopter operators, maintainers, and manufacturers. HAI has always been a great supporter of Enstrom, and we were delighted to host them at our factory.

Jim has a really interesting background. He started his professional aviation career in the US Army, where he flew just about every helicopter in their inventory including Chinooks! After retiring from the Army, he went to work for the FAA, and was soon known as the top “helicopter guy” in the agency. When Matt Zuccarro retired as the President of HAI, Jim was a natural candidate to replace him. Jim continues to fly personally, and owns a Robinson helicopter as well as a Grumman airplane.

Photo by Brent Bundy

During his visit, Jim took the opportunity to meet with Chuck Surack, the new owner of Enstrom, as wells as a number of Enstrom employees. He toured the factory, and afterwards he flew with Cody Parkovich (Enstrom Tech Rep and CFI) in our demo 480B. And how did he like flying an Enstrom? “I need to go home and measure my hanger!” He said.