A crew of talented pilots and maintenance technicians is having an amazing adventure, flying a new Sikorsky S-92 all over the world to showcase the helicopter’s search-and-rescue capabilities. The trip is called the Legacy of Heroes Tour, and the mission is “to celebrate everyday heroes and touch the lives of the people they serve and protect.” Of course, if Sikorsky persuades a government organization or private operator to buy an S-92 or two, all the better.
But meanwhile the crew is having a great time showing off the S-92. Production test pilots Joel Vigue and Jamie Wittmeyer, crew chief Chad Phillips, quality assurance representative John Bainbridge, avionics expert Adam Gosser and aircraft manager Jean Schryver have been traveling with the S-92, keeping it healthy and demonstrating how it can add to the more than two million people already saved in Sikorsky helicopters since 1945. You can read their account of their adventures on the Legacy Tour website.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
