NAAA recently spent two days at the IEEE PES (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power & Energy Society) T&D Conference and Exposition in New Orleans. IEEE PES is the world’s largest convention for the electrical power industry. NAAA member Tom Wolf from JBI Helicopter Services and NAAA staff member Scott Bretthauer were there to promote the use of Balmoral Engineering’s rotating wire marker, the RotaMarka, on power lines in rural areas in order to reduce the number of wire strike agricultural aviation accidents.
The RotaMarka is designed to increase visibility compared to standard wire marker balls. This increased visibility is because of its spinning movement combined with contrasting blade colors. RotaMarkas are also cheaper and easier to install than other wire marking products on the market. Balmoral Engineering is from Australia, where the RotaMarka is already being used to reduce agricultural aviation wire strikes. RotaMarkas are distributed in the U.S. by Sicame Corp., and NAAA spent two days at Sicame’s trade show display talking with other convention participants about how RotaMarkas would decrease accidents in the agricultural aviation industry and save rural electrical companies the cost of having to repair wires downed by agricultural aircraft.
Attending the IEEE PES conference was part of NAAA’s initial efforts to promote the use of better wire marking on power lines in the U.S. that are most likely to be struck by agricultural aircraft. NAAA has been in communication with representatives from Balmoral and Sicame to work on a strategy toward achieving this goal. Balmoral gave a presentation at the 2021 Ag Aviation Expo in Savannah, Georgia, to start the process of coordinating the effort. The task is more daunting in the U.S., where there are more than 3,300 electrical companies, compared to just 12 companies in Australia.
While talking with attendees at the conference, NAAA also had numerous discussions with Balmoral and Sicame representatives to refine the plan for promoting the RotaMarka. A presentation developed by NAAA will be updated and used at conferences where rural electrical cooperatives can be reached. A one-page handout will be developed for NAAA members to give to personnel from local electrical companies to explain the benefits of marking wires with the RotaMarka. NAAA will continue efforts to reduce the number of wire strike accidents and save lives.
 T&D Conference
and Exposition in New Orleans. IEEE PES is the world’s largest
convention for the electrical power industry. NAAA member Tom Wolf from
JBI Helicopter Services and NAAA staff member Scott Bretthauer were
there to promote the use of Balmoral Engineering’s rotating wire marker,
the RotaMarka, on power lines in rural areas in order to reduce the number of wire strike agricultural aviation accidents.){kind=small}
