Promote your company to the global vertical aviation industry through the VAI Member Spotlight, a free benefit for VAI member companies. Want to be featured? If you’re not already enjoying the many benefits our members receive, join VAI today! VAI Member Spotlight: Orbic Helicopters, California, USA Led by a VAI Salute to Excellence Award winner, the flight school provides charter, air tours, filming, and other services using Robinson R66, R44, and R22 helicopters. By Jen Boyer Orbic Helicopters is a fixture of helicopter flight instruction, charter services, air tours, aerial filming and photography, sales, and maintenance, repairs, and modifications in Camarillo, northwest of the Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California. Ken Obi founded the company in 1990 based on his love of aviation and a deep sense of responsibility. A little over a year after coming to the United States from Japan in 1979, Obi took a demo flight in a helicopter and became hooked on vertical aviation. He slowly earned his ratings over six years while working full time. Obi’s break came in 1987 when his flight school called him with an offer. Japanese student training was booming, and the school needed a Japanese-speaking instructor. The school offered to cover the costs of getting his flight instructor rating if he agreed to work for them full time. Obi jumped at the offer. Focus on Safety Flying almost every day, Obi fell in love with instruction and developed a passion for instilling a safety mindset in students. When his employer, an Australian national, was deported on an expired license, suddenly the flight school was left rudderless with an empty bank account. Obi stepped up, including paying student bills out of his own pocket, to keep the school open for a short period before starting Orbic. Obi has remained at the helm ever since, growing the company with one overlying philosophy—safety. “A flight school is not an easy way to make money, though it is important for supporting the industry,” Obi says. “Everyone has to start somewhere, and to keep our industry safe, it’s important to have good flight schools with a safety mentality and that teach safe habits.” Salute to Excellence Award Winner Obi received the 2025 VAI Salute to Excellence W.A. “Dub” Blessing Flight Instructor of the Year Award for his years of dedication to flight instruction and his students. Today, Orbic offers flight instruction in the Robinson R22, R44, and R66, as well as the Magni M16 and M24 gyrocopters. The company also provides FAA Part 135 tours and charters, aerial filming, and flight training. The company’s other aircraft include a Leonardo AW109 and a Bell 47. Orbic Helicopters is also a Robinson authorized dealer and service center and Magni Gyro authorized dealer. The company operates an FAA Part 145 repair center and offers sales and service support. Jen Boyer is a journalist and marketing communicator specializing in aviation. She holds commercial, instrument, flight instructor, and instrument instructor ratings in helicopters and a private rating in airplanes.
