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Built by a pilot, for pilots — and everyone who looks up when a helicopter flies over.
HelipadUSA was founded by Pete McNees, a licensed helicopter pilot and lifelong aviation enthusiast based in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Pete's love of helicopters didn't start in a cockpit — it started as a kid riding along with his older brother on airplane flights out of Rickenbacker Airport (KLCK) in Columbus, Ohio, where the Air National Guard kept their fleet of Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. Watching those Hueys operate up close planted a seed that never went away.
Pete's brother gave him simple advice: if you want to fly helicopters, you either start your own business or join the military. Pete chose the entrepreneurial path — he built his own business and used it to fund his dream of learning to fly.
Primary training aircraft
Four-seat piston classic
Iconic vintage helicopter
Versatile training machine
Pete's passions extend well beyond aviation. He is an accomplished author who has published four books on Amazon under the name Peter McNees — ranging from children's books to a guided prayer book. He is also an avid oil painter and watercolorist who brings the same attention to detail to the canvas that he brings to flying.
An aviation fan in every sense of the word, Pete rarely misses an airshow. His favorite of all time is Rotorfest 2012 — a rotary wing aviation celebration that combined everything he loves most about the helicopter world in one place.
Pete built HelipadUSA out of a simple frustration: there was no single, comprehensive online destination for helicopter enthusiasts. Flight schools were scattered across dozens of websites. Tour operators had no central directory. Job listings for helicopter pilots were buried in general aviation sites. News about the rotorcraft world was spread across forums and blogs with no single home.
HelipadUSA was built to fix that. It is designed to be the one place you come to for everything helicopter — whether you want to:
Pete also runs the HelipadUSA YouTube channel — home to helicopter footage, airshow content, and aviation videos from across the country. The channel reflects Pete's love of being out at airports and airshows with a camera, capturing the machines and moments that make rotary wing aviation so compelling. Subscribe at youtube.com/@HeliPadUSA.
Questions, advertising inquiries, or just want to talk helicopters? Pete reads every email.
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