The Hangar Z Podcast

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Episode 106- LAPD'S Chief TFO Manny Dickerson Part two Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 106 of The Hangar Z Podcast, brought to you by Vertical Helicasts.

This is part two of our conversation with Manny Dickerson, chief tactical flight officer (TFO) in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Air Support Division. Dickerson grew up in Southern California and joined the Marine Corps before becoming an LAPD officer.

Throughout Dickerson’s distinguished career, he has had a dramatic and positive impact on the program he was assigned to, as well as the people assigned to work with him.

That is evident in the LAPD Air Support Division, where Dickerson developed the training and standards for TFOs assigned to this legendary organization.

In this episode, we talk about LAPD’s TFO selection and training process, their formation flight cadre, and several other very interesting topics.

Thank you to our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies.

Episode 105- LAPD'S Chief TFO Manny Dickerson Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 105 of The Hangar Z Podcast, brought to you by Vertical Helicasts.

In this episode, we sit down with Manny Dickerson, chief tactical flight officer (TFO) at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Dickerson is a Southern California native who joined the Marine Corps before becoming an LAPD officer.

Throughout Dickerson’s distinguished career, he has had a dramatic positive impact on the program he was assigned to, as well as the folks assigned to work with him.

That is evident in LAPD’s Air Support Division, where Dickerson has developed the training and standards for TFOs assigned to this legendary organization.

This is part one of a two-part series. In part one we profile Dickerson’s career and talk about how he made his way to the air support division. We also talk about how LAPD recruits and trains their tactical flight officers amongst a bunch of other topics.

Thank you to our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies.

Episode 104- Celebrating Milestones: A New Chapter in Our Podcast Journey Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 104 of The Hangar Z Podcast, brought to you by Vertical Helicasts.

This episode is a rollercoaster of celebration, revelation and inspiration! We're excited to announce some groundbreaking milestones on our journey and welcome a new member to our podcast family. We raise a toast for joining forces with the MHM Publishing family, marking our third glorious year on air, launching our 100th episode, and stepping into the visual world of YouTube to share our entire podcast episodes.
We're also thrilled to introduce an industry stalwart as our new co-host. In addition to all of this, Jeff has some exciting news to share during the episode. Buckle up as we embark on uncharted territories together!

The Hangar Z Podcast would like to thank its sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies.

Episode 103- ECHO Public Safety Aviation Conference Live Safety Panel Plus a Mini Debrief of ECHO 2023 Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 103 of the Hangar Z Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS
Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall at a top-tier public safety aviation conference? Strap in and join us for an engaging rearview reflection on the enriching experience we had at the Echo Public Safety Aviation Conference in San Diego. Mrs. Z and I share how this unique gathering enabled us to collaborate and learn, strengthening bonds within the public safety aviation community.

The Hangar Z Podcast was asked to moderate the live ECHO Public Safety Aviation Safety Panel which was sponsored by Airbus. We were humbled to have been asked and honored to share the stage with RJ Garwood (retired Huntington Beach Police Aviation), Tony Webber (search and rescue/fire pilot with San Diego County Sheriff's), Jack Fulmer (Mercy Air flight paramedic), Dave Callen (retired Las Vegas Metro pilot and owner of SR3 Rescue Concepts), Rob Monday (SAR hoist operator Cougar Helicopters and SR3 hoist operations trainer) Dan Gillis (US Coast Guard Pilot), and Joe Lebrecque (ECHO Safety Team).

During the safety panel conversation we discussed over water flight operation considerations, Issues surrounding crew rest, and the pressure to respond.

This is the live recording of the safety panel so please excuse the audio interference that pops up from time to time.

If you would like to hear more from our panel guests you can find their individual episodes on the Hangar Z Podcast here:

RJ Garwood, episode 78

Tony Webber, episode 12

Dave Callen, episode 25

Rob Munday, episode 63

Dan Gillis, episode 56

The Hangar Z Podcast would like to thank its sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies.

Episode 102- Announcing Vertical HeliCASTS Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 102 of the Hangar Z Podcast, brought to you by Vertical HeliCASTS

Yes, Vertical HeliCASTS. You may wondering: What the heck is Vertical HeliCASTS?
It's an exciting new podcast network from Vertical and Vertical Valor magazines, the helicopter industry's leading publications.
The Hangar Z podcast is proud to be part of the new Vertical HeliCASTS family.
When Hangar Z host Jon Gray discovered podcasts, he loved them. He listened to them every day on his commute to the hangar. One problem he had was finding helicopter-related podcasts, so he spent time navigating podcast libraries looking for quality helicopter industry shows.
That problem has been solved with the creation of Vertical HeliCASTS, the go-to helicopter podcast network.
In this episode, Gray speaks with Mike Reyno, the creator of Vertical HeliCASTS and the owner of MHM Publishing (which produces Vertical and Vertical Valor magazines), along with Jason Quinn, the host of the Real ResQ Podcast; and Halsey Schider of The Helicopter Podcast. All three shows are now part of the Vertical HeliCASTS network. This discussion focuses on what Vertical HeliCASTS is and what they aim to do with it.
After you are done with the episode, check out the Vertical HeliCASTS webpage at verticalhelicasts.com. While there, you can check out the awesome content being created by Jason Quinn of The Real ResQ Podcast and Halsey Schider of The Helicopter Podcast.

The Hangar Z Podcast would like to thank its sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies, as well as its supporters on Patreon.

Episode 101- Touching the Dragon With Jimmy Hatch and Jack Schonely Part Two Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 101 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

This is part two of two with Jimmy Hatch a former Navy Seal, founder of Spikes K9 Fund, and author of Touching the Dragon.

Jimmy’s story is truly inspiring, Jimmy is a former Navy Seal, master naval parachutist, he was involved in over 150 missions between Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Africa. Jimmy was also an expert K9 trainer and handler as a NAVY SEAL.

Jimmy writes about the battles he fought overseas as well as the battles he fought on the home front after being critically wounded while attempting to rescue ARMY deserter Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Jimmy talks about the nonprofit K9 organization he developed to protect our nation's working dogs called Spikes K9 Fund. As a K9 handler on several deployments, James’ life was regularly spared by the work of K9s – one of the most memorable was Spike. And on James’ final deployment, the night he was critically wounded, a K9 Remco spared James’ life while losing his own. From that evening on, James oriented his life around the training, care and preservation of working dogs. In addition to working as the founder and president of the fund, he works with local law enforcement to fine-tune their work.

As I mentioned in part one if you are like me and listen to podcasts in the car oftentimes with kids present this may be one of the episodes you excuse the kids from.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies.

Episode 100!!!- Touching the Dragon With Jimmy Hatch and Jack Schonely Sep 19, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 100 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

One thing that has been constant for The Hangar Z Podcast as we have grown over the last three years and 100 episodes is change. We have constantly worked to bring new and different types of interviews to our aviation community. Our hope in doing so is that the guest's stories will challenge you, motivate you, and work to strengthen our global public safety aviation community.
The guest we have in store for our 100th episode will definitely challenge and motivate you. This is part one of a two-part series.
During the Hangar Z Leadership Summit 2023, Jack Schonely introduced me to the book titled Touching the Dragon by Jimmy Hatch. After the leadership summit, I bought the book and found I could not put it down.
Jimmy’s story is truly inspiring, Jimmy is a former Navy Seal, master naval parachutist, he was involved in over 150 missions between Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Africa. Jimmy was also an expert K9 trainer and handler as a NAVY SEAL.
Jimmy writes about the battles he fought overseas as well as the battles he fought on the home front after being critically wounded while attempting to rescue ARMY deserter Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl.

In Jimmy Hatch’s book Touching the Dragon as well as in our conversation, Hatch courageously discusses the ever-important topic of PTSD by opening up about his own battle as he worked to heal from the career-ending gunshot wound that exploded through his femur, requiring eighteen surgeries and twelve months of recovery in which he had to relearn how to walk.
Jimmy talks about the nonprofit K9 organization he developed to protect our nation's working dogs called Spikes K9 Fund. As a K9 handler on several deployments, James’ life was regularly spared by the work of K9s – one of the most memorable was Spike. And on James’ final deployment, the night he was critically wounded, a K9 Remco spared James’ life while losing his own. From that evening on, James oriented his life around the training, care, and preservation of working dogs. In addition to working as the founder and president of the fund, he works with local law enforcement to fine-tune their work.

Thank you for joining us over the last 100 episodes we look forward to continuing to bring inspiring stories and conversations like the one you will hear here with Jack Schonely and Jimmy Hatch.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies.

Episode 99- Kansas City Police Aviation with Jon Hess Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 99 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

In this episode, we are privileged to host Sergeant Jon Hess from the Kansas City Police Department Aviation Unit.

During the conversation, Jon Hess talks about the Kansas City Police Department and their aviation unit. Jon is a Purdue University Aviation program graduate, so we spend time talking about his education, and the road to the Kansas City Police Aviation Unit.

Kansas City being the home of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL Football team, we talked about how their operations are impacted by the crowds of the football season.

We also spend time talking about today's recruitment and retention issues and look at ways to work around the current problem.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies.

Episode 98- ECHO Public Safety Aviation Conference San Diego Preview Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 98 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

In this episode, we piggyback off Vertical Magazine’s article on ECHO’s Public Safety Aviation Conference in San Diego. We got to sit down with ECHO HEMS Director Travis Mason and ECHO Marketing Director Ashley Chitty.

During the conversation, we talk about what ECHO is as an organization and most importantly we preview their annual conference that is going to be held in my favorite city San Diego October 2nd through 4th.

This year they have added a law enforcement track to the training curriculum in addition to all the other courses being offered that benefit anyone in public safety aviation regardless of segment.

In addition to the world-class training, the networking that takes place at the ECHO conference is something you do not want to miss.

To register for the conference go to ECHO’s webpage ECHOFlightcrew.org where you will find a registration link as well as other info on the conference.

The final day to book a room with the ECHO room rate is Friday, September 8th.

Looking forward to catching you all at ECHO in San Diego

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies.

Episode 97- Battle of the Missions with Bell Part 2 Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 97 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

In this episode, we continue the conversation with Bell legends Terry Miyauchi and Steve Soliz and discuss the differences in the HEMS and Law Enforcement mission sets.

Thank you to Bell for sponsoring these special episodes of The Hangar Z Podcast.

Terry's aviation career spans more than 30 years, where he served both as an Army Aviator and as a law enforcement pilot. Terry's public safety career culminated as commander of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Aviation Unit, where he lead a unit of over 65 personnel and a fleet of 14 aircraft.

Steve Soliz has over twenty-five years of experience in military and civilian air medical. He is a retired air force commander and experienced senior business development executive. Commander of the largest aeromedical evacuation squadron in the US Air Force. leading over 200 personnel during multiple global wartime deployments as well as domestic disaster response.

This is a fun and informative battle between HEMS and Law Enforcement so sit back with a nice beverage and enjoy.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies.

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