First Aviation Services is acquiring Heliblade, an Anderson, California-based maintenance provider for Bell, Airbus, and Leonardo helicopter main and tail rotors. The company has also simultaneously formed the First Aviation Rotary Wing Group to fold in Heliblade with its existing helicopter MRO capabilities to create a national footprint for rotor blade and dynamic component repair.
Heliblade joins First Aviation’s two other helicopter rotor blade centers of excellence—Aviation Blade Services (ABS) in Kissimmee, Florida, and Piedmont Propulsion Systems in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The trio of shops covers repair for main and tail rotor blades, as well as dynamic components, for the most popular Sikorsky, Bell, Airbus, and Leonardo helicopter models.
John Brennan, currently ABS’s general manager, along with First Aviation Services COO Paul Bolton will oversee the company’s new rotary-wing division. Heliblade founder Pablo Martinez will remain part of the company during the transition. All employees of Heliblade have also been retained.
When the deal closes, First Aviation Rotary Wing Group will have more than 100,000 sq ft of space dedicated to rotor blade repair and related services.