What was this helicopter doing?

Question

I recently saw a helicopter with the registration "N61NR" flying repetitive patterns back and forth over my house and from my observations, it appears that it was landing in a grass field near a school and that it proceeds to fly directly towards the nearest hospital with appropriate round trip times (I know this because I regularly see medical helicopters flying that way). Any ideas, flight maps, or general commentary about the helicopter itself? It has repeated this cycle 10+ times.

Training for pilots/crews? Its difficult to say without knowing. Can you verify that N number? It says that it is an invalid number on the FAA site. N61NR is a Bell 206 registered to "SWOPE AVIATION LLC". — Ron Beyer, Nov 04 '16 at 18:53
I'm pretty sure that was it but I will look more closely next time it comes by... — dalearn, Nov 04 '16 at 18:54
ok, could be a 1 instead of an I, I suppose... any more about that helicopter? — dalearn, Nov 04 '16 at 18:58
No, "Swope Aviation" doesn't seem to have a website or other online presence. The registered address seems to share a building (or very close address with) Swope Construction. — Ron Beyer, Nov 04 '16 at 19:04
Here is the link for the N-Number Inquiry form where you can type in the N-Number (without the "N") to get registration details. — Ron Beyer, Nov 04 '16 at 19:11

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '16 at 19:30

4

The aircraft N61NR is registered to "Swope Aviation LLC" as per the FAA N-Number Inquiry Site:

_{(Source: FAA N-Number Inquiry)}

Doing a little more research, the business located near the address in the helicopter registry is Swope Construction.

Without knowing more details it is difficult to say what this particular helicopter is doing. The flight is not being tracked on FlightAware as far as I can search. The helicopter's last recorded flight in FlightAware was over a year ago.

Anything I say is going to be pure guesswork, the helicopter could be leased to a crew for training, they could be checking routes, or doing some kind of survey work. Swope Aviation LLC does not have a dedicated website or online presence. If you are concerned about the operations that the flight is conducting regarding the safety to the aircraft or people on the ground, you can always contact the FAA to report the activity and they will investigate.

answered Nov 04 '16 at 19:30

Ron Beyer

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Since it is landing so close to one of Swope Construction's sites, I would assume that it is doing something related to that. Thanks for the great work! – dalearn Nov 04 '16 at 19:33
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Swope Construction, same address. Current and past projects. True aviation lover: "Chandler Swope founded Swope Construction and is also a helicopter pilot. He has piloted WVVA photographers shooting aerial video for the past 25 years.". Good story about WV11, at Swope farm. – mins Nov 04 '16 at 21:05
Nice find @mins – Ron Beyer Nov 04 '16 at 21:11
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@mins And the Google Fu master demonstrates his prowess yet again. Teach us sensei. [bows] – TomMcW Nov 04 '16 at 21:37
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It's interesting that a question closed as "too broad" comes up with detailed information mostly based off the tail number and some dudes on the internet. :) Good job. – Steve Nov 04 '16 at 23:41

What was this helicopter doing?

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