Leading Edge Aviation is the South Africa distributor of Van Horn Aviation blades. After meeting VHA CEO James Van Horn and president Dean Rosenlof at the 2009 Heli-Expo, Mark purchased the first set of 206 tail rotor blades produced by VHA immediately after the blades received FAA approval. The helicopter with those blades is still flying in South Africa, mostly doing anti-poaching work.
Leading Edge Aviation has flown in excess of 3000 hours using the VHA tail rotor blades on its Hueys with outstanding results. Firefighting most often occurs in hot and windy conditions, and Mark recalls times where he would be at limits with the anti-torque pedals when lifting in difficult fire conditions.
“Quite often, lifting water from a dam or river, there are tall trees in the direction that you need to go, but due to the wind direction one finds that you have to fly slightly out of wind, meaning full left pedal to keep flying into the headwind,” Mark said. “Since flying the VHA blades, we have never ‘run out’ of left pedal, meaning a safer take off in the most trying circumstances. Flying VHA blades has always brought me comfort and subsequently peace of mind. Operating ‘legacy’ helicopters comes with obvious challenges but being able to upgrade by installing new efficient VHA blades is a welcome modernization step forward, allowing the older aircraft to keep up with newer technology.”
Almost all UH-1H Hueys in South Africa are now fitted with the VHA tail rotor blades supplied by Leading Edge Aviation.