Utility Subcontract Capacity

Aerial Services › Utility Subcontract Capacity

Written for utility aviation firms, not for utilities

If your company flies patrol, inspection or vegetation work for utilities in the Northeast, you already know the problem this page addresses. Routine cycles are fine until a storm season, a multi-year inspection contract or a client's surge request stacks more line miles into a quarter than your fleet can cover. Ferrying a turbine aircraft and crew into upstate New York for the overflow costs more than the work pays. North Country Heli Flight is a locally based, piston-helicopter option for that overflow.

What you get

• A Robinson R44 Raven II staged at Harris Airport (83K), Fort Ann, NY, with coverage across the Adirondacks, the Champlain Valley, the Capital Region and southern Vermont
• Up to 3 observer seats with intercom and headsets, so your qualified observer or inspector flies with our pilot and your company keeps the data
• Doors-off capability for an unobstructed downward view of conductors, structures and right-of-way
• No fixed mount: your observer uses handheld optics or a gyro-stabilized gimbal your firm supplies
• Cruise about 110 knots and roughly 2.5 hours of endurance with crew and reserve, enough for a meaningful patrol segment per fuel load
• Airborne within 48 hours of a confirmed order, daylight VMC — and we will discuss storm-standby arrangements for the season

How the subcontract works

You hold the utility relationship and the inspection standard; we fly the aircraft under your scope of work with your observer on board. Flight time bills from $750 per Hobbs hour with a 30-minute minimum, and ferry time bills at the same rate. Storm-standby, monthly or quarterly overflow blocks are quoted as programs; a one-off surge request gets a project quote within 24 hours.

We carry $1,000,000 in aviation liability and $100,000 per passenger, and a certificate of insurance naming your firm is available on request. Our safety program is built on 14 CFR Part 5 SMS principles, and we are glad to walk through it with your director of operations before the first flight. Our pilot is a resident CFII (Helicopter), the owner of the company, and the person who flies every job.

What we are not

We are not a turbine operator, and we are not pitching your utility clients directly. The R44 is the right aircraft for visual patrol, observer carriage, post-storm damage assessment and vegetation reconnaissance over distribution and sub-transmission corridors. For work that needs a larger ship, we would rather tell you so on the phone than find out on the job.

Start the conversation

Send the counties, the approximate line miles and whether this is a one-time surge, a seasonal standby or a recurring overflow block, and we will come back with a quote and availability within 24 hours. Prefer a call? Our number is below, and the owner answers it.