wire avoidance training & crew resource mgmt

Next course in Maroochydore is on 22 July 2011. Normal cost per participant $400 per person (GST inclusive) but if you would like to join Mike Becker and a team of pilots the cost will reduce. Contact Mike Becker mb@beckerhelicopters.com

morgan vidler

It was a momentous day back on 20 April 2011 when 16 year old student Morgan Vidler became Australia's unofficial youngest pilot to fly solo in a chopper.

Morgan began training at Becker Helicopters at the tender age of 14, logging his first training flight of 1.0 hour back in April 2010. Since then Morgan spends almost every school holidays and work experience time studying his theory and flying at the school. He has flown over 22 hours now. Great work Morgan.

You can read more about him here

graduates who have passed their cplh

We are thrilled to see so many top students pass their Commercial Flight Test recently. They've worked tirelessly long and hard. Their time at Beckers has come to an end. We will miss you guys. Fly safe and Good Luck! And many thanks to all the Instructors and Engineers too. Well done.

Below (Top to bottom) Kaarel Mikone (Finland), Alan Netherwood (Australia) with family, Mick Reed (Australia) and Wade Kirwan (Australia)

chris henderson passes his cplh

Congratulations Chris on passing your CPLH flight test today. Your journey was not smooth; bad weather and injury, but you've finally made it. Great job and well done!

qld floods ... continued

Our instructors and students are briefed on the flood relief flights. On ground is Operations Manager, Peter Duitsch and Captain Rob Haylock. In the air: Captains ... Mike Becker, David White, James Orrom, Robin Helsdon, Simon Meredith, Niels Bunte, Terry Riley, Kim Jorgenson, Arnold Catlin, Fergus Ponder, Matt Wilson, Dayne Grimmond, John Hodges, Dom Brachet and Chris Landers. Students (crew): Ben Shuetrim, Bradley Noble, Jason Sharp and Chris Fenech. Engineers Team: Michael Yip, Bernadette Surveson, Dave Mckay, Aidan Hart, Laith Coory and Gordon. On sandwiches: Maraina Waaka. Well done everyone!

qld floods ... continued

At 4am this morning Captain Mike Becker and Captain James Orrom flew out to rescue 3 workers and 1 dog stranded on the rooftop of this Lowood property (located west of Brisbane). They were stranded for 2 days.






On return from this flight Mike and James rescued another 14 people from the rooftop of this school.

queensland floods of 2010/2011

We welcome you to the first news of 2011!

Our pilots Fergus Ponder, Dom Brachet, Niels Bunte, James Orrom and Matt Wilson come to the aid of flood stricken town of Thangool (south west of Gladstone and north west of Bundeberg).

Fergus Ponder (experience flood relief pilot) assisted in the helicopter operations that devastated New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

Fergus and the crew have been flying since Boxing Day.

Co-ordinating ground operations has been Captain Mike Becker. Many thanks to the hard working engineers that worked over the Christmas Holiday period to keep our helicopters in the air.

farewell helen

We say farewell to Helen Patrick who has been an absolute trooper in inducting and organising the Military School Student Operations. We thank Helen for her outstanding support. We will miss her terribly.

Good luck with your new venture, working with your husband Andrew in his accounting business.

All the best!

in case you missed the news!

MIKE and Jan Becker of Becker Helicopters are flying high after winning the award for innovation at the 21st annual Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards.

The awards, which were held in Brisbane on 21 Ocotber 2010, recognise the contribution that exporters make to the state’s economy.

Becker Helicopters won the Dermot McManus Award as well as being finalists in the Regional Exporter Category.

Mr Becker said he was honoured to have won.

“I’m a bit shocked actually. We didn’t go there expecting to win at all,” he said. “It’s an honour to receive the award and it’s recognition that we are doing something right.

“Obviously we’ve stepped out of the box within our industry.”

Among Becker Helicopters’ innovations is the introduction of a military-style syllabus within a civilian environment.

“The military can come to us and we’ll train pilots up and send them back into the military of their country of origin,” Mr Becker said.

Becker Helicopters trains a mix of overseas and civil (Australian) pilots.

“Military-wise we train about 40 to 50 pilots a year, from basic training to instrument training and night goggle training,” Mr Becker said.

“For our civil pilots we teach the basic CASA licence and have approximately 60 pilots a year.”

Mr Becker said the highlight for the business in 2010 was its achievements with night vision goggles.

“We’ve only been doing it for a year now. It took three years to get off the ground. It’s a bit of a political hot potato,” he said.

Mr Becker’s goal for 2011 is to keep building on the business’s achievements.

“Keep building on what we’ve done,” he said.

“Develop our export model more and expand our military and paramilitary course.

“We have an awesome team. Our team is our key to success.”

The Queensland Exporter of the Year Award went to Swift Australia, Australia’s largest meat packer and exporter.


Story by Miranda Cashin from Sunshine Coast Daily on 23 October 2010

ben tapscott passes his CPLH

Congratulations Ben on passing your CPLH flight test on Saturday 6 November 2010. You worked really hard and we are proud of your achievement. We wish you lots of luck in your quest to find your first flying job. We will miss you Ben. Fly Safe!

adian receives his AME certificate

tammi passes her cplh flight test

So you want to be a helicopter pilot

sincere thanks to becker helicopters

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In case you missed the Shen Neng 1 grounding go here >>>