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Staff and Instructors

The Heliwest Flight School comes under the guidance of Chief Flying Instructor and Approved CASA Testing Officer, Andrew Wilson.

Andrew is joined by an experienced team of flight school instructors and staff. Please feel free to contact any of the Heliwest team for advice on how to proceed with your helicopter training.

 Andrew Wilson (Chief Flying Instructor)
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Andrew joined Heliwest full time as Chief flying instructor after having been associated with the company for the last 2 years. He is also a CASA Approved Testing Officer, giving the Heliwest Flying School the advantage of now conducting tests as required within the company. He has been flying for over 10 years and after having spent a few years instructing in Sydney, moved to the Gold Coast where he took on a Chief Pilot role for Gold Coast Helicopters. In 2006 Andrew went to work for Great Barrier Reef Helicopters in Cairns where he flew charter and tourism flights in AS350 and Bell 206 aircraft and the past 18 months has seen him working as a contract pilot for many major companies around Australia. Andrew is excited to be part of such an experienced group of instructors and believes Heliwest will give a prospective student the best start to their career because of the variety of work undertaken by Heliwest.

Tim Hand (Chief Ground Instructor)
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Tim started flying aged 14 as an Air Force Cadet and continued his training to achieve his CPL(A). He holds a Multi-Engine Command Instrument Rating, Instructor Rating and a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation. After several years working for Heliwest as a helicopter crewman and ground crewman, Tim decided to complete his CPL(H). In the fixed wing world, his experience consists of flight instruction, formation flying, aerobatics, instrument flight, night flying, scenic, survey and tourist work. His time in and around helicopters includes working as a company line pilot and simulator instructor, theory training, crewing for power line surveys, fire operations and ground support. Tim now works to build and develop the ground school operations at Heliwest. He can guide you through the complexities of CASA theory exams and any ground training you require.

Paul Gibson (General Manager and Grade 1 Instructor)
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Paul commenced his aviation career with the Military in 1987 as a 'flight fitter' on Bell 206 'Kiowa' and AS350 helicopters. After gaining his L.A.M.E. qualifications Paul worked for Lloyd (now CHC), Jayrow and Bell helicopter as an engineer throughout Australia on Bell 412, 212, 407, 206, MD 500 and Sikorsky S76's. The delights of Papua New Guinea beckoned and Paul worked in the jungles of PNG for both Pacific and Island Helicopters before becoming Chief Engineer at Sea World Helicopters on the Queensland Gold Coast. He became a pilot and with dual qualifications he worked at Uluru and Melbourne. He joined Heliwest in 2003 as a flight instructor. Paul has since held the positions of Operations Manager, Chief Engineer and now General Manager. He has been part of the Heliwest growth since day one and has intimate knowledge of the various facets and clientele of the company. Qualified on all the Heliwest fleet as both pilot and engineer, Paul offers his twenty years of experience to any of our students and despite his GM door often being closed, do not hesitate to track him down for advice.

 Simon Barton (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Before moving back to Australia, Simon spent the last few years in the USA where he completed his training at the Bristow’s Academy. Simon has over 900 instructional hours at the Academy before moving into the Charter Airwork sector. He then flew around the Dallas area of Texas for Sky helicopters and Fox Network in some of the world’s busiest controlled airspace; his experience in the radio work required for such airspace makes even Jandakot seem like a sleepy airfield. Simon conducted Aerial Photography, traffic watch and flew news crews around for the Fox 4 network. He thoroughly enjoys working at Heliwest and is keen to pass on his extensive knowledge to all students.

Andrew Denny (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Andrew Denny began his initial training at Bankstown Helicopters in early 2003 with the dream to escape the unforgiving and alcohol soaked world of the hospitality industry. He completed his commercial licence in late 2004 and promptly ditched his work as plate chucker (ie function manager and waiter). He then began work as a charter pilot and hangar rat for Bankstown Helicopters for the next couple of years, building experience with aerial photography jobs, harbour flights, helicopter deliveries. In May 2006 he spent a month in Los Angeles completing his FAA Commercial Rotary conversion before returning to Bankstown Helicopters to gain his Grade 2 Instructor Rating and instructing for the next year there. Now he’s broken through the rabbit proof fence and is ready to settle in Perth.

 Leigh Wilkinson (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Leigh began his helicopter career at Helicopter Transport and Training at Bankstown Airport in Sydney. From there, he moved to Victoria to join Geelong Helicopters. Over the next couple of years he gained a great deal of experience in charter work, aerial photography and media work. In addition to this, he gained a float endorsement and accumulated over 1000 hours R44 float. In 2007 he moved back to Sydney to gain his instructor rating and start passing on some of his knowledge. After a year honing his instructor skills, he decided to move over to Western Australia and join the Heliwest team.

Elaine Cadzow (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Elaine, who is a qualified Chartered Accountant originally from Scotland, completed her flying training at Professional Helicopter Services, Melbourne in August 2003. She then worked at Heli Scenic Hope Island and Gold Coast Helicopters conducting Tourism and Airwork operations in R44’s. Elaine has also completed her AS350 and B206 endorsements. Elaine joined Heliwest at the start of 2007 as an instructor and after gaining a great deal of experience shaping the pilots of tomorrow, she became a Grade 1 instructor. Elaine also flies the B206 Jet Rangers on many of Heliwest’s varied charter operations, including powerline and gas pipeline inspections. Elaine prides herself on being a disciplined and accurate pilot who enjoys ensuring her students start their flying careers with the same discipline and accuracy.

 Peter Ayre (Grade 2 Instructor)
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Peter’s obsession with flying began in 1978. At 5 years of age he was given the jump seat of a Cessna 182 and allowed to “control” the aircraft. That sealed the deal. However it wasn’t until 2002 Peter started flying helicopters, completing the commercial course in Bell 47’s on Australia’s east coast. After visiting Heliwest with the ink still wet on his licence he decided to come back and work there once he had the experience required. At that time the Heliwest fleet was mainly B206’s and the company required more experience. So his first job was flying 44’s around a big red rock in the big red centre; high wind, heavy loads and high density altitudes are the norm there. His next task was to run a single pilot, single machine operation on the Fraser Coast servicing Fraser Island and the local community in tourism and aerial work. Palm fringed beaches, world heritage scenery, over water ops and plenty of confined areas provided hours of challenge and entertainment. Peter joined Heliwest in early 2005 and started flying the company’s B206’s on the company’s many varied operations. Other accomplishments include the development of the Burswood Helipad, (infrastructure which has seen Heliwest win a gold medal in the state tourism awards). Peter completed his instructor rating in 2007 at Heliwest and enjoys working with students to develop their skills and techniques as safe, capable pilots.

Andrew Menzies (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Andrew was a late starter to the world of aviation starting his flying in 2001 at Fleet helicopters after being a farmer for 15 year in Scotland. He has worked over much of Australia conducting Charter, Tourism, Filming and Power line survey work, prior to completing his instructor rating at Precision Helicopters. In addition to this, Andrew has operated in the mustering industry and is more than happy to pass this experience onto new pilots keen to follow that path. Andrew has been quoted as saying “I want to be the CFI one day” to the CFI that is!

 Connie Heggo (Grade 1 Instructor)
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Connie Heggo started flying in 2004 at the Bristow Academy. She completed her training within a year, including instructor’s licence and instructor instrument licence. She was then hired as an instructor at Bristow and spent the next year flying with students, landing at busy airports like Orlando international and flying amongst the skyscrapers in Miami. Returning to Norway she worked for Scanaviation, a medium sized company off the west coast, in a city called Stavanger. She did flight instruction, photo and charter flights and even got to fly the original Airwolf, the Bell 222, for a few hours. She really likes WA and is happy to be part of a growing company like Heliwest. She is happy to pass on the knowledge and experienced she’s gained to her students and fellow pilots.

Declan Bailey (Grade 2 Instructor)
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After completing his license in 2002 in Queensland, Declan moved into New South Wales and began working in the aerial agriculture industry. While primarily his time was spent on the ground loading, towards the end of the second year he was introduced into the precise low level flying that is required of an agricultural pilot. He took this experience to another company in Victoria where he worked only for a short time due to drought impacting heavily on contracts. During the next few years he spent his time flying in the Northern Territory and Western Australia in varying roles ranging from charter, film & television, survey, sling loading, incendiary dropping, fire attack, light search and rescue and medivac. After completing a geological contract for Heliwest mid 2008, Declan was offered an opportunity to work full time for Heliwest as a flight instructor. Declan looks forward to passing his knowledge and experience on to people who are learning the exciting and dynamic role of commercial helicopter pilot.

George Finch (Grade 1 Instructor)
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George began his flying career on the wet and windy west coast of Ireland building hours on aerial mapping missions before completing his instructor rating with London Helicopters in England. His next few years were spent instructing throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland. After this he gained employment in the corporate world flying a group of Building developers in an R44 and then with a golf tour company flying an EC130. George has now relocated to Perth to instruct with Heliwest and looks forward to a long flying career in WA.

Ali Telling (Ground Instructor)
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Ali Telling has recently joined the Heliwest team as ground school trainer and to assist with course development. Ali’s career in aviation started over fifteen years ago and she spent several years as a fixed wing flight instructor operating her own flying school at Jandakot airport. Ali is passionate about the importance of high standard ground instruction as a vital part of the training process. Upon recognising that many flight schools were failing to offer quality theory, she developed and conducted theory courses for all fixed wing subjects including instructor and instrument training as well as continuing to instruct in the air. Requiring a new challenge Ali moved over to the rotary world, obtaining her commercial license in 2006 and spending the next three years successfully building up the theory departments and conducting scenic and charter flights for two Jandakot based flight schools. Following a year spent combining travel and teaching Ali is looking forward to working with the Heliwest team and benefitting from their support and expertise to develop a world class rotary and fixed wing theory program.