There is something truly special about being recognized for a lifetime of achievements. Dana Kerrick certainly felt that when he received the Bell Helicopter Lifetime Achievement Award here at Heli-Expo 2016.
Kerrick is recognized throughout the industry as one of the foremost experts in rotor blade maintenance. He has written extensively for maintenance and aviation publications and blogs, and his course on rotor blade preventive maintenance has been part of the Heli-Expo Rotor Safety Challenge since its inception in 2013 in Las Vegas.
Kerrick served the aviation industry both in the military and civilian arena. He’s been a maintenance specialist, civilian pilot, flight instructor, air-taxi operator, innovator in helicopter rotor blade composites and helicopter inspection authorization (IA) course instructor before retiring as vice president and cofounder of International Aviation Composites (IAC). In all it was a 56-year career in aviation.
The first aircraft Kerrick worked on were B-52s, in the U.S. Air Force in the late 1950s. While in the military he earned his private pilot certificate, which later allowed him to pick up his other pilot certificates, through flight instructor, under the GI Bill provisions of the time. He entered the civilian workforce in 1970, but didn’t discover helicopters until midlife. In 1981, after a successful sales career, he took over sales and management at Composite Technology in Stockton, Calif. He went in whole-hog at that point, becoming certified in rotor blade repair.
“I always tried to find the most talented people and learn from them everything they were willing to share,” Kerrick said at his retirement celebration last year.
During Kerrick’s tenure in the helicopter world he has seen rotor blades evolve from carefully matched wooden blades, to metal-skinned blades, to today’s composite blades.
He co-founded IAC in 1992 with Herman Bevelhimer and Randy Stevens. Originally the company was located in a small facility in Irving, Texas, later expanding to a 25,000-sq-ft state-of-the-art repair facility near Fort Worth Alliance Airport, where it is located today. With his partners and employees Kerrick pioneered innovative repairs for older rotor blades, many of which the OEM once considered unrepairable. Today the FAA-certified repair station keeps a 24/7 AOG team ready for customers, as well as offering a blade exchange program, among other services.
“We do all kinds of non-destructive testing,” said Kerrick, a certified Level II NDT radiologist who is considered an industry expert in all types of rotor blade construction, materials and repairs. Kerrick was instrumental in developing new balance procedures that are now standard practice in the U.S. Army. Bevelhimer said of Kerrick that he is most remembered for “his relentless dedication to the education of pilots and mechanics on the maintenance of their rotor blades.”