Helicopter and Airplanes: Sharing the Ground at the Airport

Humans, on the whole, congregate into groups with a similar focus. There always has to be an opponent to strengthen the group – the old “us versus them” mentality. Look at sports fans loyal to the death for their favorite team, or state college rivalries. Even on a small scale, this instinct prevails – power boaters versus sail boaters, mountain bikes versus street bikes, wine versus beer…helicopter versus airplane.

OK, so that last one has some real and some perceived issues. In the air, the two are much safer being separated due to the different performance and visibility issues, but what about on the ground? As it turns out, that’s also an issue.

When I first started enquiring about helicopter storage space in New Jersey, the woman at the first local airport I visited told me in no uncertain terms that helicopters were not welcome. “Too many problems,” she said, “it’s not worth the hassle.”

At flight school, we were told to drag our helicopter all the way to the end of the hangar row before starting up. It seems rotor wash sends dust and undesirable stuff into the adjoining hangars. That baffled me. Airplane propellers did the exact same thing when they taxied by, but you never saw an airplane owner pulling the aircraft all the way out to the apron.

When designing the sHeli-Port helicopter storage solution, I kept these anti-helicopter sentiments in mind, trying to help solve that issue. And solve it we did.

With the portable and sturdy sHeli-Port, airports can now designate an area for helicopters, away from airplane hangars and tie down spots, thus eliminating the “too many problems” of the past.

The sHeli-Port can be staked down anywhere on the airport grounds. A line of sHeli-Ports can be rented long-term or even overnight, creating a source of revenue for an airport. News will travel fast in the helicopter community when an airport provides a helicopter-friendly storage location with safe and secure protection.

The portability of the sHeli-Port is ideal for airports. As the need for space changes, they can easily be relocated to another part of the field, no painting or asphalt resurfacing required.

Airport owners don’t need to turn away helicopter business because of perceived hassles. Airplanes and helicopters can share the space with the proper storage solution. Get a sHeli-Port and grow.

I’d appreciate hearing your opinion. If you knew there were sHeli-Ports available to rent at a specific airport, either long-term or just overnight, would you adjust your plans so you could use that airport in order to have the use of a sHeli-Port? Please leave a reply below.