Twin Ambition

The steady growth has been almost 10 years in the works for Oz Choppers owner and veteran pilot Mark Rogers, who sources machines from across the world for complete overhaul.

“There’s plenty of 212s and 412s for sale but there generally isn’t many for sale at the standard that we’re putting out,” he said.

“It’s a strong utility helicopter and we know the Bell product very well.”

We fix it, you fly it

Founded in 2009 by Rogers and his wife, Kate, Oz Choppers was originally established as the maintenance and refurbishment arm to the couple’s main flying business, Commercial Helicopters (sold to Armidale-based Fleet Helicopters in 2014).

“Oz Choppers was just busy maintaining all our Bell Aircraft and refurbishing our own in-house fleet. We always had machines going through a refurbishment program,” he said.

After refurbishing the first of three Bell 212s bought from a South Korean operator in 2011, Rogers received a chance request from Kestrel Aviation owner Ray Cronin in August 2012 to buy a 212 for a firefighting contract.

“I didn’t have any intentions of selling them initially but with Ray needing a machine that kicked it off,” he explained.

“Then Ray needed a second 212 with pretty much the same specifications, so I did another up for him.

“What those sales did was show us there was a market for the type of machine we were putting out – a stripped back, freshly painted and upgraded medium-lift platform.”

The success of the first two refurbished Bell medium twins to an external operator has since attracted both domestic and international interest, including Papua New Guinea-based operator HeliFix (2 x 212s), Alaska-based company Northern Pioneer Helicopters (412), Germany’s Agrarflug Helilift (412) and a slew of local companies.

Oz Choppers recently sold its 12th refurbished Bell medium twin to Orange Helicopters, a 212 that will be used predominantly for firefighting operations.

Rogers said utility work, such as sling loading and crew transport for mining operations, and firefighting formed the bulk of customer requests.

Perhaps one of the unique factors about Oz Choppers is their method of sourcing and refurbishing helicopters before they find an actual buyer.

But Rogers said that strategy was a calculated risk, given the current market demand for Bell medium twins.

“We found out pretty quickly with Kestrel wanting to buy a couple of them that there was a market for both types and there still is,” he said.

A plentiful parts supply chain was another advantage operators were attracted to when it came to both 212s and 412s.

“That why people are buying them because nothing else really fits the bill. A lot of the fire contracts are for that type of helicopter,” Rogers said.

“We’re not spreading the love too far between different types. We’re just really focused on the 212 and 412 market.”

Diamonds in the rough

For Rogers, sourcing the right heli for a refurbish comes down to both a solid network of brokers and workable logistics.

Indeed, there’s few places in the world the veteran operator won’t go to for a good deal, listing
South Korea, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei and Alaska as places where he’s found several Bell twin mediums and in years gone by, JetRangers and LongRangers.

“Every country has its challenges and the more times you have to organise the logistics, the better you get at it,” he said.

“You get a bit of a network going. Anyone who does this for the first time in trying to a get a machine out of a country, it’s a learning curve.”

Rogers’ Alaskan adventure sourcing a 412SP proved an interesting challenge.

“We were hoping they could drive the helicopter down from Anchorage in Alaska via road freight to Seattle and then ship it back to Australia because you can’t ship it direct from Alaska. Of course, the roads were frozen so we had to get another smaller ship to take it from Anchorage down to Seattle,” he said.

“There’s all of these little logistic nightmares but you’ve just got to take your time and work through it. There’s lots of traps.”

A helpful seller is another factor in ensuring a smooth export back to Australia.

“That has a big bearing on how things flow,” Rogers said.

“What becomes hard is when you first have to send the aircraft via somewhere else to get it onto a ship back to Sydney.

“As part of the deal, we’ll dismantle the aircraft, pack it into boxes and put the hull and tail boom in protective wrap to get it ready for export back to Australia. We’ll assist as much as we can.”

Just like new

Once an aircraft arrives at the hangar for refurbishment, the next challenge begins for Rogers and his team of engineers, painters and avionics technicians.

Oz Choppers’ hangar includes an overhaul workshop, avionics hub, spare parts room, quarantine room and temperature-controlled paint shop custom built to fit the 212 and 412 types.
“We strip these machines out and make them as light as possible. Utility-wise we make them as good as they can be for that role,” Rogers said.

‘We strip these machines out and make them as light as possible.’ Mark Rogers

“We like to take six months to do a machine, so we try and do a couple a year. We don’t want to oversupply the market and that way we put out a good product.”

About 15 modifications and upgrades are made to each heli that goes through a refurbishment at Oz Choppers, on top of a five yearly/3000 hourly inspection.

The aircraft is first stripped backed to a bare bone cabin with anything no longer required that adds weight removed, such as old wiring, radio systems and brackets for support equipment.

Internally, new, lighter avionics, including some glass cockpit upgrades, are installed in house by Rogers’ other Mudgee-based company, Airborne Avionics.

Externally, Oz Choppers installs a 12-piece inspection panel kit that improves access for engineers, DART Aerospace high skids, a vertical reference bubble window, FastFin Tail Rotor enhancement and stability system, wire strike protection and door gauges for long-lining (sling) operations.

The aircraft’s paint is also stripped and replaced with a generic white scheme ready for sale.

Rogers said the weight savings can be as much as 300kg depending on the machine and what further modifications a buyer may need, such as a belly tank for firefighting operations.

“300kg is a pilot and half an hour of fuel so it’s substantial amount,” he said.

Lift off

The steady success of Oz Choppers’ refurbishment program is now seeing the company embark on a period of expansion.

Rogers exclusively revealed to Australian Aviation that he is in the process of purchasing adjoining land to his current hangar to potentially build a second hangar housing Oz Choppers’ growing Bell medium spare parts inventory.

The investment, which would be worth approximately $1 million if realised, would essentially be a mirror image of their existing 1110 sq m hangar which was completed in 2009. It will also allow Oz Choppers to bring all of their spare parts on site after years of housing them at two additional hangars off site.

“This year alone we’ve sold 3 Pratt and Witney engines for 412s. We’ve got a huge inventory of Bell medium parts. That’s the area where we’re going to expand,” Rogers said.

“My thoughts here are that with the extra room I can purchase additional helicopters to have ready for the refurbishment process and potentially look at pushing more helicopters through refurbishment if the market is calling for it.”

Another part of Rogers’ expansion plans would be for Oz Choppers to have a fully refurbished 412 airframe available that could be exchanged with a customer’s airframe that required refurbishment.

“Basically, for a customer with a helicopter that is in need of a refurb, we could offer an airframe fully overhauled with their paint scheme and all the upgrades in exchange for their airframe and an agreed amount of funds,” he said.

“It then becomes a quicker process of swapping a customer’s “running gear” over from their existing airframe to the overhauled one.”
The additional hangar would also give space to house fixed wing aircraft that are being maintained by sister company Airborne Avionics, as well as space for specialised work aids, such as engine and transmissions stands.

If eventually built, the additional facility would position Oz Choppers as a major refurbishment and parts distribution hub in Australia for Bell medium twins.

“We’d like to stick with this niche market that we have built up,” Rogers said.

“The 212 and 412 aircraft are versatile, reliable and well supported by Bell. I think we’ll continue on with what we’re doing.”