DawnWolf Technologies founder Wolf Zon applied lessons learned from his experiences as a charter pilot, operations director and A&P mechanic to develop the 135 Air Carrier Management electronic record keeping software. Just before Heli-Expo 2014, the software earned FAA approval for 135ACM’s use by operators.
“So often companies must deploy the only thing available, unfortunately, often not designed nor developed for their purpose,” said Zon, who likened that approach to using a wrecking ball to open a door, versus the custom-cut key that 135ACM offers to unlocking a company’s specific needs.
135ACM tracks user-controlled parameters that can be tuned to a specific company or job position. Maintenance operations can use 135ACM to log mechanic duty time and training requirements, for example, while flight departments can track preflight planning information and mission-specific data, including flight log information.
Results are color-coded based on compliance with measured parameters, and aircraft equipped with any one of several satellite transceivers on the market can also automatically upload in-flight metrics into the program in real-time.
“The software is about simplicity, ease of use, accuracy, cost-effectiveness and doing more with less,” Zon told AIN. “When an aircraft returns from a mission, that information is already automatically in the system, live and continually updating, and accessible through the cloud.”
Zon also emphasized the system’s weight-and-balance feature, which tracks user entry of weights at each station of a particular aircraft and automatically computes whether the aircraft would be within its CG envelope.
“When a pilot assigns himself to an aircraft, the program loads [the weights] and performs a weight-and-balance calculation for him,” he continued. “If [the aircraft is] in CG, the program goes to the following page and an email is sent to the pilot and to operational control. So before he departs, the aircraft is confirmed to be in CG.”
The company also continues to develop additional versions of 135ACM, including a 911MCM system for use by EMS providers and air medical carriers.
