About Kill Devil Aviation
Leadership
Kill Devil Aviation is owned and operated by Steve Helmandollar. Steve has over 33 years experience as a UH-60 mechanic and pilot. Steve enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1992. His first 10 years he served as a sheet metal and engine mechanic. He was then accepted into Army flight program in 2001, where he has obtained over 4500 flight hours with over 3500 hours in a Blackhawk as a MTP/ME/IP/SP. He also holds a FAA ATP rotorcraft certificate with CFI/CFII privileges, including the S70 and BE200 type ratings. His experience and qualifications give him a distinct advantage compared to other UH-60 maintenance test pilots.
Our Services
We offer a wide range of services including UH60 phase maintenance, MTP support, tech support, MTP training, A&P H60 familiarization training, and on-site unscheduled maintenance support.
Our Team
Our team of highly trained and certified A&P technicians have over 80 years of combined experience performing maintenance on the UH-60 and the EC-145 aircraft in the US Army. Their skills range from engine, powertrain, sheet metal, NDI, and avionics.
Quality Aircraft Maintenance Services
Complete Service
Most UH-60 support companies today are limited to inspections and basic follow-on maintenance. At Kill Devil Aviation, we go beyond these industry norms.
Our team of highly trained A&P-certified technicians and maintenance test pilot offer comprehensive, turn-key support—from inspections and servicing, to full maintenance test flights. Simply drop off your aircraft, and we’ll handle the rest. Need it delivered? We’ve got that covered too.
Choose Kill Devil Aviation—exceptional service, start to finish. You won’t be disappointed.
Phase Maintenance
When it comes to UH-60 phase maintenance no one beats our experience and knowledge of the Black Hawk. Our team has performed multiple PMIs over the last 20 years .
Inspections
Not only do we perform PMIs, but we can handle all other required inspections to include the 48 month inspections and follow-on rigging and fuel integrity checks.
Unscheduled Maintenance
Our team of certified A&P technicians is committed to repairing your aircraft to the highest standards, ensuring you’re back in the air as safely and quickly as possible. We have extensive experience replacing major components, ranging from the the main transmission to the vertical pylon and everything in between.
Expert Technical Support/troubleshooting
Our team of experts is always available to answer any of your questions and provide technical support. If you are having difficulty finding the cause of an issue, don't hesitate to contact us anytime for assistance.
Maintenance Training
Maintenance Test Pilot Training
We live in a world of risk when it comes to performing jobs with the UH-60 and we have learned to mitigate those risks from training and lessons learned.
There is no better example of this than the tragic loss of the Blackhawk crew in Minnesota on December 5th 2019. The events of that accident took three great Americans while they were performing a MTF for an HMU replacement. Although this was a tragic event, we all learned a lot from this accident, as MTPs and especially as Maintenance Evaluators. For example it changed the way Steve trains his MTPs to prevent similar events like this from happening in the future.
Events like the one in Minnesota are one of the driving forces in Steve's motivation to start Kill Devil Aviation. The UH-60 has increased its role in the civilian market and need for trained MTPs. Steve can train your pilots that you have designated as MTPs/FCPs on how to perform the required checks to standard and how to deal with unforeseen failures such as what happened in the Minnesota crash.
We offer a "short course" that covers the in flight maneuvers and a "standard course" that covers systems, troubleshooting, and all in flight maneuvers.
Steve has approximately 300 hours of MTP time and approximately 100 hours of ME time training and evaluating MTPs. Let us help you mitigate risk with professional training for your MTP/FCPs.
A&P Familiarization Training
The PMD is arguably the most important inspection that is performed on the UH-60, it sets the foundation for all other scheduled inspections. Catching problems during these inspections will save you time and money!
Your A&Ps are professional mechanics that keep your birds in the air, but the UH-60 can be overwhelming for A&Ps who have not performed maintenance on one before.
Let us come in and give your A&Ps the familiarization training they need to perform maintenance with confidence. This training covers the PMD (daily), PMS (40 hour) and the 120 hour inspection, we can also tailor this training to meet your company needs.