VAI Member Spotlight: Sterling Helicopter, Pennsylvania, USA Located in the heart of Philadelphia, the helicopter services provider offers a range of maintenance, repair, and modification services in addition to certification help for aircraft operators. By Jen Boyer The operator of the only heliport in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sterling Helicopter has been a helicopter industry staple in the area for more than 40 years. Built around pilot Jack Brown’s vision, Sterling launched in 1984 and has grown into a full-service FAA authorized repair station and an aviation engineering firm, in addition to being a heliport operator. Sterling provides helicopter rotor and engine maintenance, modifications, and other services for municipalities, corporate executives, private travelers, and more. The Sterling Helicopter location at Penn’s Landing Heliport (KP72) is a private facility that is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Early or late operations are available on request, and the company remains on call around the clock to take calls for scheduling landings at KP72. Hangar and fuel services are also available, upon request. Focus on Service and Satisfaction Being at a heliport allows Sterling to offer customers something extra. While operators wait for their aircraft, for example, they can use the heliport’s conference room and pilot and passenger hospitality suite. In addition to maintenance, component overhaul, and avionics support, Sterling Helicopter offers a full range of engineering services for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, including development of FAA supplemental type certificates (STCs), amended type certification support, major alterations, and major repairs. Sterling also offers Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) assistance for operators who own design data but lack the tooling to manufacture parts or the FAA certification to do so. The company also maintains an on-staff FAA Designated Airworthiness Representative for manufacturing (DAR-F), a helicopter DAR for maintenance (DAR-T), and Designated Engineering Representatives (DERs) of all disciplines. STCs and More With extensive experience working with FAA aircraft certification offices all over the United States on certification projects, Sterling Helicopter offers complete STC services on Part 23, 25, 27, and 29 aircraft. This includes the entire STC process, from application to certification and marketing. These services include design, modeling, drawings, plans and reports, substantiation data, ground testing, flight testing, electromagnetic interference testing, and post-STC issuance assistance. Testing services are available at Sterling Helicopter’s repair station, or the company can travel to an operator’s facility to test. Sterling’s PMA service allows the company to manufacture parts once the operator’s STC is complete. Sterling will also ship completed parts directly to an operator with Form FAA 8130-3 (Authorized Release Certificate, Airworthiness Approval Tag). Additionally, Sterling manages international validations, assisting operators with STCs from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil, and the Transport Canada Civil Aviation Directorate. Repair Station Expansion Sterling Helicopter’s repair station business outgrew its capacity at KP72 in 2006 and is now located at a private company facility and heliport in Croydon, Pennsylvania. VAI Member Spotlight is a free service VAI provides its small-business members to help increase their visibility. If your company would like to be considered for a VAI Member Spotlight, please sign up here. Jen Boyer is a journalist and marketing communicator specializing in aviation. She holds commercial, instrument, flight instructor, and instrument instructor ratings in helicopters and a private rating in airplanes.
