Staff and Fleet

Dave Harmon is the president and CEO of Ocean Helicopters. After working as a flight instructor at a leading school in England, he decided to invest in his own business in the United States. With the help and support of his wife Gill and family they moved to Florida and established Ocean Helicopters in November 2000.

Dave is very excited about the future of Ocean Helicopters and is confident that with the continued support of his team at Ocean, the company will go from strength to strength.

Gill Harmon, Dave's wife, is our Operation Director. She worked as an optometrist for 20 years in England before the family made the move to America in 2000. Deciding not to continue work in the optometric field, Gill has thrown herself into her new job and now really enjoys working in the aviation industry.

Gill is the person who will answer all your emails and telephone calls, and will make all the arrangements for your training at Ocean Helicopters.

Pam Landis is our Vice President and Chief Flight Instructor of our FAA approved 141 Flight School. Her main goal is to make sure that each of our students receive the very best training possible. She is proud to be a member of the team and is excited about the future of Ocean Helicopters.

She has been flying since the early 1990's here in the beautiful South Florida area. Pam is a "Florida girl", so feel free to ask her about this great area.

Daragh Woodcock joined the team in March '08 having started his career as an instructor in Dallas. He has a keen interest in all water sports so a move to Florida was called for.

Having traveled and worked his way around the world for 5 years Daragh began flying in 2005 in England. After completing his JAA PPL and the ATPL knowledge exams he moved to Florida to complete his FAA training.

Mike Berlin is ex-Military with an A&P license from the cold state of New York. He moved to Florida to thaw out and enjoy what Florida has to offer.

Mike is a graduate of Ocean Helicopters and is proud to be part of the team. He is always happy to answer questions regarding flight training or the maintenance of the helicopters.

Grant Hearn originally started his flight training back home in Queensland, Australia. Having been living and flying around sunny Oz, he fell in love with the south Florida lifestyle.

He came to Ocean in July 2007 to complete his training from Private to CFII. He is now proud to be part of the instructing team here at Ocean helicopters.

Ken Gestal moved to sunny Florida to learn to fly helicopters after 3 frigid winters in Alaska flying airplanes and a year in Half Moon Bay, CA working with race horses. Now, after graduating from Ocean with his CFII, he is teaching others to respect and appreciate the helicopter as much as he does.

Ken was happy to join Ocean Helicopters and be part of such a fun and knowledgeable team!

Heath Folkedahl is originally from a small town in the Northern State of Wisconsin. He came to Florida in 2008 to pursue a career in helicopters. Having completed all his training at Ocean Helicopters, he is now a proud part of the Ocean Helicopters team.

When Heath is not flying you can find him hunting, fishing, boating and enjoying most sports.

Skip retired from the underground Dachshund racing ring in the summer of 2003 after being hit by a car and sustaining injuries severe enough to put an end to his illustrious career. Down on his luck, he joined Ocean Helicopters in November 2003 to start anew. He now works in the Public Relations department, meeting and greeting new students and welcoming them to Ocean Helicopters. He is also head of the Security Department, and is enjoying every second of his new life.

Skip can often be found chasing along side (and in front of) the golf cart, reminiscing about days gone by...