Flight For Life Wisconsin New EC145e Helicopters

Metro Aviation, March 05, 2022 - Flight For Life is upgrading its fleet of critical care helicopters with the addition of two new Airbus EC145e aircraft.

The new helicopters will be replacing aircraft at their bases in Waukesha, WI, and Burlington, WI, and introducing a new paint scheme for the first time in fourteen years.

The new EC145e is equipped with Metro’s standard medical interior and Genesys Aerosystems’ instrumental flight rules (IFR) HeliSAS Autopilot and Stability Augmentation, providing safety and workload reduction for both single and dual pilot operations.

The aircraft also has onboard the Outerlink Global Solutions IRIS combined voice, video, and flight data recorder. The video function and data monitoring are helpful for pilot training. The flight following, push-to-talk radio, and live alerts and warnings allow the operations control center to verify conditions in real-time.

“Working with the team at Metro Aviation was a fantastic experience. The knowledge, attention to safety, and quality of work are top-notch,” said Leif Erickson, Executive Director for Flight For Life. “The IRIS system in these aircraft will provide us with so much more information during flight operations and is precedent-setting for us in terms of safety,” Erickson said.

With support from Metro Aviation, Genesys Aerosystems and S-TEC established a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the aircraft in February 2019. The IFR platform incorporates the latest HeliSAS/EFIS autopilot and stability augmentation technology, providing safety and workload reduction for single and dual pilot operations.

The system is a safety upgrade that significantly reduces the pilot’s workload, making it easier to adjust radios, set destinations, and more. The new medical helicopter also includes the Genesys Aerosystems IDU-450 EFIS.

The IDU (Integrated Display Units) and EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) configure the aircraft’s display screens in various ways to show flight instruments, moving maps, flight planner, traffic and terrain, weather radar, engine displays, and more.

Metro Aviation will display one of the new aircraft during Heli-Expo 2022 in Dallas, March 8-10, on Booth 7736.

Flight for Life Adds New Aircraft to its Fleet

Flight for Life, February 1, 2022 - WAUKESHA, Wis. – Flight For Life will welcome the first of 2 new EC145 C2E model aircraft into its fleet today.

The new aircraft will replace the existing BK117 model aircraft currently serving as the primary aircraft for our base located at the Burlington Municipal Airport. The second aircraft expected to arrive in March 2022 will replace the existing primary aircraft at our Waukesha Base.

The EC145 C2E model helicopter will bolster Flight For Life’s ability to serve patients throughout Wisconsin. New features - include a brand new, state-of-the-art medical interior and an increased avionics package with live satellite tracking, dual autopilot control system, real-time weather radar, in-flight cockpit reporting, terrain and collision awareness avoidance systems.

The upgraded avionics system allows for the Flight for Life communication center to monitor aircraft systems, including fuel level, fluid levels and temperatures, in real time. This level of monitoring helps provide additional safety to our crews and the patients we serve.

The new aircraft will be able to perform both VFR (Visual) and IFR (Instrumental) Flight, ensuring that FFL is able to safely navigate in a wider range of inclement weather conditions by leveraging instrumental navigation tools rather than relying solely on pilots’ visual capacity.

Increased payloads and large interiors in these new aircraft will enable FFL to fly further distances, support additional specialty equipment and personnel for complex transports. At the same time, the footprint of the aircraft will ensure that FFL is able to safely land at locations in the prehospital and hospital setting.

The new aircraft will boast a new paint scheme for the first time in almost 14 years. Please see the attached photo of the new paint scheme.

About Flight for Life: Flight For Life has been a trusted community partner since 1984. Over the last 38 years. FFL has cared for and transported more than 38,000 of the most critical patients in Southeastern Wisconsin - moving patients from scenes and area hospitals to the treatment they require. As a not-for-profit organization, Flight For Life makes it their mission to provide safe, high-quality and efficient medical transportation to patients with a customer-oriented approach. L