In December, we had the pleasure of welcoming a group of air traffic controllers from Deutsche Flugsicherung DFS Frankfurt am Main (EDDF) for further training with us. Just like us pilots, they regularly undertake further training to keep their specialist knowledge up-to-date and to deepen cooperation.

After company founder @Klaus Gehrmann welcomed the guests, our pilots @Andreas Rheindt and @Konstantin Schick presented the tasks and procedures at HELI-FLIGHT JLR. Afterwards, the air traffic controllers gave us an interesting insight into their work in the tower of one of Europe's busiest airports. This led to an in-depth discussion – for example, on topics such as flying through the control zone and how procedures between the tower and pilots could potentially be simplified.

Following this, we gave the guests a tour of our hangars, showing them our aircraft up close – including test sits in the Robinson and our rescue helicopters for @Johanniter Air Rescue. The air traffic controllers were able to get their own impression of how challenging it is in the tight cockpit to write down long instructions or clearances. A final scenic flight and a shared lunch in our onboard kitchen concluded the day.

We are delighted about the close and cooperative contact with DFS - whether with the controllers from Flight Information Service FIS, radar control, or tower controllers. In 2024, we were already able to welcome two radar controller groups from DFS at our headquarters at Reichelsheim (Wetterau) airfield, and HELI-FLIGHT also regularly visits DFS for further training. Since the beginning of 2024, we have visited DFS seven times with our flight students, charter customers, and operational pilots. In December, it was finally time for the reciprocal visit from the tower controllers - and we say a heartfelt: Thank you for the collaboration and open dialogue!