Despite the challenges of 2020, Helicopter Specialties, Inc. (HSI) has finished its 21st year in business on a strong note. 2021 is proving to be a buoyant year for HSI, with helicopters arriving at a steady pace at the Southern Wisconsin Regional airport from air medical, government, corporate, private and international customers.

Jim Freeman founded Helicopter Specialties in 1999 in a hangar on the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville, Wisconsin. The business has grown over the years and now encompasses two fully equipped hangars at the airport.

HSI serves national and international customers utilising the most up to date tooling, training and technology available in the industry. The work it provides includes custom interiors, heavy maintenance, avionics, engineering, structural repairs and painting for helicopters of all types. It stocks an inventory of parts and components for a wide range of helicopter models. It also provide avionics services for aircraft.

Some of the work it performed in 2020 includes: Airbus EC145 EMS Medical Completion for a national EMS program; two corporate Bell 407 major avionic upgrades and heavy maintenance; two designed and custom fabricated isolette stretcher systems for a national EMS programme; Airbus AS350 heavy maintenance, repairs and upgrades for a company based in Thailand; and Airbus BO105 heavy maintenance, repairs and export for a security company based in Trinidad, Tobago.

HSI is also proud to have been selected to perform air medical completions for two new Leonardo A109S Trekker helicopters for Life Link III, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. These two aircraft will receive exterior and interior paint, medical interiors, external lighting and avionics upgrades to meet mission requirements.

Helicopter Specialties is an FAA certified repair station with 24 helicopter models on its FAA repair station certificate, including Airbus, Bell, Enstrom, Robinson, Leonardo and MD. It is an authorised customer service facility for Airbus, Bell, Enstrom and Robinson Helicopters and Safran Helicopter Engines.

Now entering its 22 year of business, HSI is proud of the long-term relationships it has developed and continues to maintain in the helicopter industry. Over the years HSI has been recognised by the Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association as ‘Aviation Business of the Year’. It has received multiple FAA Diamond and Gold Awards for aviation technician training and the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce Economic Development EDDY Award.