 | Ron Carroll was introduced
to
helicopters as he
and his fellow infantrymen were transported onto the front lines in the
jungles of Vietnam. Chances are Ron Carroll never
dreamed that he would one day not only fly and own his own helicopters,
but train new generations of helicopter pilots.
Whether
training student pilots or ferrying passengers, when you’re in the air,
experience counts. Few Georgia helicopter training companies can match
the 40 years combined experience
of Blue Ridge Helicopters’ team of
pilots. This Lawrenceville-based full-service company is owned by Ron
Carroll, whose experience with helicopters goes back two decades.
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| An
Atlanta native, Carroll spent his early career in the printing
industry, initially in production and later in management with companies
such as Foote and Davies and Dittler Brothers. “During the last five
years of my printing career, I began taking flying lessons,” Carroll
says. In December 1984, he received his private pilot’s rating.
“The
following spring, I read a Flying Magazine article about
helicopter flight controls. I had been drafted into the Army in 1966 and
went to Vietnam, where I served in the infantry. I rode back and forth
from the field in helicopters and had always been intrigued by them.”
Carroll
served in the
United States Army from 1966 until
1968, driving
armored personnel carriers. He was wounded twice and awarded the Purple Heart
twice, attaining the rank of
staff sergeant E6
with a good conduct
medal |
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“When I read that
article, my interest was piqued. I
had recently completed my fixed wing flight training and was eager for
more knowledge,” he says, “so I took a helicopter discovery flight. I
loved it. I then started flying helicopters on a regular basis with
Prestige Helicopters.”
Through Prestige,
he received his
commercial helicopter pilot’s
license in May 1986, and with a partner,
purchased a Robinson helicopter. A year later, Carroll received his
flight instructor’s certificate. “We had a helicopter, and I was now a
certified flight instructor,” he says. “A month later, I incorporated as
Blue Ridge Helicopters and soon I had three Robinson R-22s flying out
of Gainesville.”
Only a
year later, as fate
would have it, “I
received a call from Prestige’s owners who wanted to know if I was
interested in purchasing the company,” Carroll says. The purchase was |
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 | completed in October 1988; it was a company that he would own and
operate for 10 years. “Prestige was an R-22 dealership for Robinson,” he
says, “so we moved away from the Gainesville area, putting the emphasis
on Prestige at Peachtree DeKalb, while
Blue Ridge was
more or less on
the back burner.” During his ownership of Prestige, Carroll operated
nine aircraft out of three airports in the Atlanta area.
Two
years after selling Prestige to Mike Russell, who was one of his former
students, he returned to flying again, “originally on a part-time basis,
then full-time, as a flight instructor.” In 2003, he decided to revive
his original entrepreneurial venture, Blue Ridge Helicopters, this time
at Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field. “Since then, the story of Blue
Ridge has continued
uninterrupted,” he explains.
It was a
busy year for Carroll. “During 2003, I added several ratings. I’ve
always been airplane-capable, and I’ve had commercial
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| and flight
instructor helicopter ratings,” he says. “Then I added an instrument
helicopter rating and added an instrument flight and instrument ground
instructor rating.
I also
added my A&P
rating. My additional flight
instructor rating allowed me to become a Gold Seal helicopter flight
instructor.” Gold Seal
CFI certification is the seal of approval
that
the FAA offers exceptional instructors. Carroll also added a Robinson
service center, making Blue Ridge Helicopters a factory authorized
service center for Robinson R-22s and R-44s. “I’ve been working on them
for 20 years, and know them pretty well,” he says.
Today, Blue
Ridge Helicopters offers new and used helicopter sales, flight
instruction and aerial photography amongst other flight services, such
as business charters, helicopter rides for events, helicopter tours, pipeline/powerline inspection flights, even flights to scatter
the ashes
of cremated loved ones and aircraft maintenance. |
 | “For flight training,
we offer discounts on the aircraft through the purchase of block time,”
Carroll says. Blue Ridge Helicopters is also authorized through the TSA
to train foreign students as well, and the company will soon be Sallie
Mae approved for student loans.
Blue Ridge Helicopters’
facilities now include 800-square-feet of office space inside the
Landmark Aviation FBO, two 60-foot-by-60-foot hangars
(7,200-square-feet) for storage, as well as a maintenance facility. The
company’s fleet is made up of three Robinson R-44 Ravens, one Raven I
and two Raven IIs, and one R-22 Beta II. “We offer all ratings,” he
says, “from recreational pilot to ATP with instrument, we have a
complete line of Robinson spare parts and we’re a full-service
maintenance facility.” Maintenance includes 100-hour aircraft
inspections, annual inspections and all general maintenance and aircraft
repair.
The company’s three
instructor/pilots, Carroll,
his
son, Daron M. |