Unbiased help with purchasing and running a private helicopter

It’s easy to understand the business benefits of owning a helicopter. What’s more difficult is steering a path through the many complex choices involved in buying and managing one. If that’s a prospect you’re currently facing, Force Aero can help.

Force Aero is a specialist consultancy and management company set up by me, Chris Gerskowitch, to support people with both the acquisition and running of a private helicopter. I have years of experience in both the commercial and operations sides of aviation, and am still a working pilot. This means I’m able to offer you not only the best bespoke management options for your aircraft but also the expert strategic guidance you’ll need on all aspects of aircraft ownership: financial, regulatory and operational. Whatever project I take on, my aim is to prove a helicopter’s full potential as a tool for advancing business.

As a newcomer to aviation you can find yourself relying on professional advice limited by vested interests, generic thinking and a too-convenient focus on only certain aspects of helicopter ownership. I set up Force Aero to offer more transparent and more rigorous guidance to clients keen to make the best strategic choices. Being commercially independent as well as able to draw on a wealth of aviation knowledge and connections, I can look at your options for ownership flexibly and in the round, rather than through the lens of a fixed commercial agenda.

Services

Comprehensive solutions that help minimise financial risk

Being commercially independent and having a broad experience of the aviation industry means I can offer you a genuinely comprehensive perspective on how best to run a helicopter as a business asset. This is not only in the context of financial management but also the more operational spheres of safety, regulation and flight planning. Plus as an experienced pilot, all the very practical aspects of using a helicopter that can be overlooked – weather, loading vs. fuelling, maintenance, etc. – are all second nature to me. I will always be honest with you about friction points, because I know from experience that candour is a powerful weapon in helping avoid expensive mistakes.

I am based in the UK but can also work with clients in Europe and beyond. As needed, I can advise on specific aspects of helicopter ownership or manage the entire life cycle of an aircraft as a commercial asset – each project is led by a client’s individual requirements. I work on the basis of either a monthly retainer, a standalone consultancy fee or, with an aircraft purchase or sale, a transparent commission. Regardless of the kind of help you need, I always prioritise safety and building friendly and productive working relationships. Services include:

Strategic

Cost optimisation and financial planning
Asset management
Safety and risk management
Long-term planning
Auditing and performance reviews
Support with aircraft charter
Contract negotiation

Practical

Helicopter selection, acquisition and testing
Customisation and design
Regulations and compliance
Operational set-up and management
Sourcing flight crew
Maintenance scheduling
Sustainability options
Helicopter replacement

Projects

How I’ve helped clients realise their objectives

Working on behalf of a first-time helicopter owner, I coordinated the acquisition of a Leonardo AW139, then set up a safe and owner-centred charter operation that could be overseen by the client’s private office. The project scope included ensuring the aircraft had the right specification, reviewing the sale contract, regulatory compliance, recruiting and training pilots, and setting an operational culture that upheld the highest-possible standards. I provide ongoing tailored support to this client, helping ensure both peace of mind and operational confidence.

“Chris made purchasing our first helicopter less daunting. He’s into the detail, gave us the full picture and foresaw issues. His ongoing support gives me real confidence.”

The client wanted to integrate their 100-metre-plus yacht with helicopter use for the first time, which meant providing solutions to a long list of safety and operational challenges. The project scope included assessing the task suitability of a Leonardo AW109SP helicopter, auditing and risk-assessing a new heli-deck, reviewing insurance, securing a territory-specific regulatory permit, and leading the training of both pilots and yacht crew. The result was a fully optimised relationship between the client’s yacht and helicopter, which delivered the need for enhanced convenience and flexibility that had originally driven them to seek my help.

“Chris methodically coordinated every aspect of integrating helicopter operations with our yacht. His handling of complex safety and regulatory requirements, and his ability to bring stakeholders together gave us exactly the peace of mind we were looking for on a project that had to be done right.“

The client, who was chartering helicopter flights for business travel, came to me for advice on whether moving to ownership would be a financially comfortable way to optimise their work schedule. Having undertaken an in-depth cost-benefit analysis with the client’s finance team, I demonstrated that two alternatives – continuing to charter or moving to fractional (rather than full) ownership – would offer the best balance of flexibility and cost efficiency. This fully objective assessment saved the client from making an unnecessary investment while ensuring they were able to maintain optimal accessibility to a helicopter for business travel.

“Chris used a friendly yet incisive approach to analysing our helicopter needs, cutting through significant complexity and unknowns on our behalf. His work helped us avoid an unnecessary investment while finding the ideal solution based on our requirements.”

About

The right stuff to meet complex challenges in business aviation

I’ve worked in aviation for over 20 years, with a consistent emphasis on both flying and managing helicopters. I’m an enthusiastic advocate for what a well-chosen helicopter can do to help advance business, and really enjoy solving the complex commercial and operational problems that can prevent them from doing so. A wealth of experience of different aspects of aviation (including strategic financial planning) enables me to strike the right balance between safety, logistical efficiency and the bottom line.

My career to date tells a consistent story. After getting a Maths degree, and four years as a derivatives broker at Man Group in the City of London, I decided to scratch an increasingly insistent itch for adventure and trained for the military at Sandhurst. Leaving with a commission in the Army Air Corps, I served for a decade in the British Army in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America, working in executive strategic roles in organisations including NATO and Joint Helicopter Command. This experience helped hone a wide range of leadership, operational and resource-management skills, as well as teaching me the importance of team work, taking the all-round view and a willingness to ask difficult questions when needed.

After leaving the Army, I worked as a line pilot for Bristow Helicopters, with responsibility for getting offshore oil and gas workers safely to and from sites in the North Sea. I expanded on this role at Saxon Air, one of the UK’s leading providers of private flights by helicopter and jet. Over six years there I worked in a safety-critical role as the company’s Civil Aviation Authority-approved Head of Flight Operations, as well as Chief Pilot, with both commercial and technical oversight on what was then the UK’s largest mixed fleet of commercially available private helicopters. Now with Force Aero I work with a number of private individuals and businesses on both a short- and long-term basis, with the right experience to take an aircraft from operational set up and crewing (often drawing on my military links to source experienced pilots with the very best skills and credentials) right through to replacement.