A mechanic is working on an engine part in a massive but plain-looking building off Highway 126 in Fillmore.
Fillmore doesn’t have an airport, but the town contains a fleet of more than 30 aircraft. It’s home to a company that maintains and repairs helicopters from around the world.
"Rotocraft Support is a helicopter repair station in beautiful downtown Fillmore," said Teri Neville, Vice President of RSI.
They're a big name in the helicopter business, but many people don’t know the company is based in Fillmore.
"People are really shocked, because we don't do a lot of flying in and out, so it's not like there's a lot of helicopter activity," explained Neville. "We're just this white building in the middle of nowhere, and every once in a while, a helicopter will fly in. But people think it comes from Santa Paula Airport. No, we're here, and we repair lots and lots of helicopters."
The 80,000-square-foot facility has a helipad with spots for six helicopters. Inside the massive main building, more than two dozen helicopters are in various states of repair or maintenance projects. Many of them are used for public safety, like law enforcement or firefighting. But there are also some high-end helicopters here, ones with luxurious interiors, used by business executives.
A mechanic standing on top of one of the helicopters works on the base of a rotor. He shouts to fellow mechanic Russ Reale, who talked about the helicopter they're servicing.
"Scheduled maintenance, unscheduled maintenance, and inspections," said Reale as he motioned to the craft they're working on. "That's what this is, a scheduled inspection. We're changing filters and oils, and stuff like that."
Reale is a helicopter mechanic who started in the military three decades ago. He loves the variety of working on different types of helicopters. Reale walks us outside and shows us a Huey, a helicopter famous for its use in the Vietnam War.
"This is a UH1H, with a 703 engine in it," said Reale. It dates back to 1964. They're now used as a utility helicopter, for everything from moving telephone poles to firefighting. It can lift up to 4,500 pounds.
Does he ever get to go for a ride on the helicopters he repairs?
"I fly in these all the time, for what we call a functional check flight, he confirmed. "Certain maintenance items require that we fly it to make sure we didn't change the flight characteristics of the flight controls or the engine governing system."
He admitted that it's the fun part of the job. "I'm never going to turn down a helicopter ride," he said.
Rotocraft Support was located at Van Nuys Airport for decades. But it outgrew the available space.
"Fillmore is perfect for helicopters," said Neville. "Helicopters fly by visual flight rules, so they need something on the ground so they can navigate. Fillmore has the Santa Clara River, it has the railroad tracks, and it has [the] 126," said Neville.
"We'd been looking at this area for some time," Neville continued. "We bought 10 acres of land in 2016. We got our conditional use permit in 2017, broke ground later that year, and moved in in 2019. It's been perfect ever since."
She added that more than 70 people work at the Fillmore facility.
They're a factory-authorized service center for most helicopter models and can do almost anything except repair rotors. The company also has a machine shop where it can repair, refurbish, or fabricate new parts.
While RSI focuses on repair and maintenance, it also has a sister company, Guardian, which offers flight services and has contracts with government agencies for airborne firefighting.
So, if you see a helicopter flying low through the Santa Clara River Valley, it might not be on a search and rescue mission or headed to a fire. It may just be going for an oil change and lube job in Fillmore.
