NOTHING SOUNDS QUITE like the whine of a Bell 206 starting up. The high-pitched squeal is followed by the whirling, building rhythm of the rotor blades, which accelerate and eventually settle into a cacophony of whipping wind and fast-moving parts. It's the sound of industry at work-and music to Lance Panepinto's ears. He is the owner and founder of Panther Helicopters in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. Panepinto started Panther Helicopters in 1981 as an offshoot of his father Phil Panepinto's seaplane business, Southern Seaplane Inc. (see "Fisherman's Paradise," November 2022 AOPA Pilot). The elder Panepinto had served the oil industry with his seaplanes since the late 1950s, but helicopters became the more viable mode of transportation for workers and others needing to fly out to the offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Based in a suburb of New Orleans, the company was perfectly positioned for the job, and the younger Panepinto based his helicopter business down the street from his father's operation (his father was not interested in expanding into helicopters).
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