Capt. Ken's comments

By Ken Armstrong

There is a small, active helicopter operator quietly minding its own business at London Ontario’s International airport.
Its owners approach the business in a very professional manner and have acquired a great deal of experience along the way before launching their own business. They aren’t "spring chickens" and they aren’t roosters about to "crow" about their successes neither.
They are simply two straightforward, honest individuals who believe that determined effort will eventually succeed.
Their company, Modak was formed in July 7 1992 by Maureen McGraw and Keith Comyn at their airstrip in Mount Albert as a maintenance facility dedicated to helicopter maintenance. However, this AMO was destined to follow a somewhat different course during its evolution.
Keith had been employed as an AME by other operations; however, their maintenance methods were not desireable in Keith’s opinion. His observations proved correct as those operations slipped into obscurity while Modak’s operation has grown steadily.
Keith and Maureen have followed basic principles by adhering to published maintenance schedules and by not cutting corners. Those clients who have demanded cut rate servicing have been asked to take their business elsewhere. Modak’s belief is that safe efficient maintenance isn’t cheap, but then neither are equipment losses after accidents or the loss of human lives as determined in post crash court cases.
Has their policy made it easy for them? Keith puts it this way, ""Progress has been a slow grind of back breaking labour with occasional pulses of success."

Evolution of a The "Pack"
When Keith left the questionable companies, he joined Leggat where he very much enjoyed his years working as a production maintenance man. Meanwhile Maureen McGraw was working there in the service department.
During their time at Leggat, Maureen took a sabbatical and when she returned, the business slow down made her position redundant. While Keith had enjoyed his work, he felt life with the departing Maureen would be more "scintillating"– so they married and started up Modak at Maureen’s home/airstrip.
Helicopter maintenance contracts grew slowly but surely as pressure from a number of their previous fixed wing clients pressed Modak into supporting a broad selection of operations.
One of these customers was very competent about flying their Malibu into Maureen’s 2400 foot grass strip with obstacles at each end; however, Modak decided to move to a larger facility to avoid liability and potential catastrophic consequences at the airstrip.
Avoiding problems before they occur seems to be another of their excellent planning techniques.
On moving to London in 1996, their primary plan was the beginning of a helicopter flight school. Until they could achieve this goal Modak continued to service fixed wing aircraft while they built a respected name through their quality service. In 1997, Modak entered negotiations with Heli North and eventually reached an agreement to provide services for a police helicopter operation for London, Ontario using a Schweizer 300C.
When Heli North fell upon difficult financial times, they asked Modak to work directly with the police force in taking over the entire program. This included supplying crew, helicopter, maintenance and office space.
Initially this was a one-year trial program funded by private industry as well as federal and provincial government grants.
From the helicopter operations point of view, the police contract was very successful, "basically flawless" according to Comyn. The pilot, Serge Cote did a "marvelous" job over the 1000 hours of flying in the calendar year between June '99 and June 2000.
Serge subsequently obtained his ATR and IFR ratings and went on to flying more complex equipment. It’s significant to note that more than 80% of the hours were flown single engine piston over the city at night - all without incident or accident.
When the experimental contract ended, Modak was pondering what to do with the helicopter and considered starting that flying school they had been dreaming of. However, they needed a Chief Flying Instructor to meet the Operating Certificate requirements.
But, you can’t apply for the certificate until you have the instructor and you can’t have the instructor until the OC is approved. This lead to a "chicken and the egg" conundrum. As a result, the helicopter sat for a year until a quality instructor could be found.
Maureen points out that Transport Canada was very helpful and "superb to work with" during the paperwork requirements. Lest you surmise that Maureen "kowtows" with a comment like that about TCA, think again as she is firm and forthright when dealing with the legislators and knows the regulations by wrote.
Securing CFI Gerard Palmer, was a turning point for Modak. Once the school was up and running there was almost immediately an obvious need for an additional helicopter and instructors to meet the growing demand.
This time fate smiled kindly upon them as Angelo Orsi arrived on their doorstep with his own 300C seeking maintenance work after Modak was recommended as a Schweizer service center. Subsequently, a contract was entered whereby Angelo leased his helicopter to Modak while he joined the company as a charter pilot/flight instructor.
Meantime, back at the hangar, the very sympathetic and understanding management realized their client base and instructors needed a turbine helicopter for continued growth of each.
Subsequently, Modak entered a lease agreement with Eagle Copters and acquired a 35-year-old Bell JetRanger. Make no mistake, this black with white striped helicopter is a creampuff and Modak is absolutely delighted by the service level from Mike and Mel O’Reilly’s operation.
Black and White you ask? Isn’t that unusual – you might ask? When Keith told his chief pilot they were going to acquire a turbine, he asked the aviator what colour he wanted. Gerard replied Black. Although many had their doubts, the colour turned out "quite spectacular" (to quote Eagle Copters).
Coincidentally, Maureen and Keith have always had lifetime policies that things are either black or white – or right or wrong – there is no in between. This attitude works in the shop and can on the flight line as well.
They point out that Gerard’s professional attitudes are exactly the same as theirs which allows theses pack members to run towards the common goal.
Cooperation makes the job easier for everyone as there is no waste of energy as often occurs when egos abrade one another says Keith, adding, "Because of the nature of a flying operation, there are often disagreements that lead to verbal discussion, however, Maureen is always right and must be obeyed."
Seriously, he points out, there is always room for personality quirks and in this pack of alpha wolves a spirit of cooperation and the desire to meet the goals results in an amenable solution to all disagreements.
Maureen adds that when they started the flight school in August, the September 11th bomb burst immediately followed and "virtually everyone stopped flying as insurance rates went berserk."
Modak personnel had been with British Aviation since 1979 and found their company allegiance had meant nothing and therefore changed underwriters. They have been delighted with their new broker, Anthony Stamos with Willis Coroon Aerospace in Montreal.
Even after the collapse of the Twin Towers, business slowly picked up and a year later Modak’s three-helicopter school is fully booked with 17 students - and has a waiting list to boot. Additionally, one student is taking the full course on the JetRanger.
The fleet course load includes three students from Japan and others who travel from distant homes throughout Ontario to obtain quality training.
The JetRanger is also operated on charters and business as it is the only commercial turbine helicopter physically based at London full time.
With Modak’s continuing growth, Keith was just about to place an advertisement for another helicopter engineer when Daniel Jaeger, a long-time helicopter maintenance engineer, walked into the shop looking for a position.
Finding suitable personnel is now easy with the dedicated core attracting like minded pilots and engineers to the pack.

On the "Prowl" With The Alpha Male
Modak offered me an excursion in the Jetranger with their CFI and after more than an hour of nothing but emergencies I felt I had been pulled through a wringer washer backwards and hung out to dry.
The flight began with an unanticipated engine chop in the hover, followed by numerous down autorotations, hydraulics failures, fully stuck pedals both left and right and multiple emergencies. Afterwards, it was refreshing to once again step onto ground that wasn’t rushing up to smite me or gyrating in circles!
Gerard Palmer, a student of Nick Mulikow, believes that far too many emergencies lead to accidents and has a vendetta to train students to handle any possible emergency. His skill level, professionalism and instructing skills were as good as I have seen in 37 years of professional flying and I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to have him hone my skills. No wonder students and management are so impressed by their CFI.

Safety in the Modak Den
Visiting Modak at London, Ontario is akin to finding a quiet safe haven in the aggressive, challenging helicopter world. We all talk about safety, professionalism, CRM, dealing effectively with customers and currency training – almost incessantly. But, here is a company that has started with the highest standards and absolutely will not waiver in the drive to achieve them.
You can contact them at 519-659-2332 or e mail maureenmcgraw@modak.ca or visit their web site at www.modak.ca