From our friendly and professional customer service agents to our highly experienced pilots, everyone at Sweet Helicopters is committed to sharing our passion for flight with you. We want to show you how fast, easy, and comfortable it is to travel by helicopter. Whether you’re a busy professional or just looking for a unique vacation experience, you’ll love working with our crew. We have the warmth and personal touch of a small-town company, with the professionalism and reliability of a major operation. We look forward to showing you how fun it is to fly with us!
Our dedication to safety starts with a meticulously rigorous maintenance schedule that keeps our fleet in peak flying condition. Our friendly crew will make sure that you are completely comfortable and informed, and our experienced pilots will make even the most time-sensitive flights a carefree experience. Our perfect safety record is representative of our commitment to your well-being.
Our pilots are highly trained professionals that far exceed FAA standards. We take pride in the fact that two of them are Designated Pilot Examiners (DPEs), and there are only four DPEs in our region. In addition, we operate on a 135 Air Carrier and Operator Certification that requires us to abide by stricter training regulations that assures our clients of a higher level of safety when compared to other operators. All training, approved by the FAA, executed and overseen by in-house FAA Designated Pilot Examiners.
You may recognize Chuck Surack as the Founder of Sweetwater Sound, Surack Enterprises, the owner of Enstrom Helicopter Corporation, or as a community leader, serving on the boards of many local non-profit organizations.
What you might not know is that Chuck is a helicopter pilot and aircraft enthusiast. Inspired by his aviator father, Chuck has loved flying since childhood, even keeping his Boy Scouts Aviation merit badge to this day. His first flying experiences were in his dad’s Aeronca Chief based at Smith Field. Chuck would go on to own many other airplanes and helicopters, such as the Cessna 414, Cessna Citations, and the Airbus H130, just to name a few. He loves flying and can often be found at the helm of a helicopter.
In addition to Sweet Helicopters, other aviation related businesses under the Surack Enterprises umbrella include Sweet Aviation, which provides charter flights, training, and rental for fixed-wing aircraft from both Smith Field Airport and DeKalb County Airport and Aviation Specialty Insurance, which insures the aviation industry including corporations, light aircraft, flight schools, drones & UAVs, and more.
He and his wife, Lisa, have two sons and a daughter.
Rated as a dual Airline Transport Pilot, Randy Sharkey has accumulated over 13,000 hours in both airplanes and helicopters. Randy began his aviation career in 1985 flying business jets for large corporate companies. In 2013 Randy was hired as the first full time pilot for Sweet Helicopters. In addition to overseeing our team of professional pilots, Randy still flies many VIP trips for Sweet Helicopters. As a commercial helicopter flight instructor, Randy has conducted over 1,000 flight hours of dual flight instruction and represents the Federal Aviation Administration as a helicopter Designated Pilot Examiner.
Randy is the director in charge of our satellite base at the Goshen Municipal Airport where he also serves as the Airport Manager. Randy is active on many board positions including the Enstrom Helicopter Corporation, America’s Freedom Fest, Rotors ’n Ribs, and Friendship Flights Foundation.
Randy and his wife Elaine have three grown daughters and four grandchildren.
Keith Shivers retired from the US Army as a Chief Warrant Officer Four with twenty years of military experience, nine of which he spent with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky. He first found his passion for aviation as a 13-year-old kid, leading him to work tirelessly and complete his student pilot license the same week he received his driver’s license. Keith most recently served as Chief Pilot for a worldwide defense contractor company, and before that, as the Program Manager for a large hospital-based Helicopter Air Ambulance in Ohio.
As much as Keith loves flying, he’s equally gifted in leadership. He now focuses his attention on leading Sweet Helicopters’ dynamic team to become the best it can possibly be. He brings with him a BBA from Austin Peay State University and an MBA from Embry Riddle University. As Director of Operations, Keith is responsible for managing day to day operations, representing the certificate and operational control to the FAA.
Outside of work, Keith and his wife Tracey enjoy attending professional and collegiate football games. They have two children together and six grandchildren.
Josh is a second generation United States Marine that started his career in aviation as a Sikorsky CH-53D heavy helicopter flight line mechanic. Following his military service, he obtained his FAA Airframe and Powerplant Certifications and began his civilian career. He has over 25 years of aircraft maintenance experience to include 145 repair station work, helicopter air ambulance (HAA) operations, U.S. military contracting, commercial airlines, and corporate aviation. He is factory trained by Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopters, and Safran Helicopter Engines. Josh manages our maintenance department and ensures airworthiness of our helicopters and compliance requirements for our 135 certificate. He is very dedicated and passionate about his career and position with Sweet Helicopters and is excited about the company’s growth and future. At the end of the day, Josh looks forward to spending time his with family, friends, and his dogs.
Bob has had an interesting career. He’s worked at Sweetwater Sound where he managed GearFest and Sweetwater Academy of Music, was the director of BOSS US where he was responsible for sales and marketing for all Roland/BOSS guitar products in the US, and for several years now has been the Director of Business Development for Sweet Helicopters. In this role Bob seeks out new clients and makes sure that Sweet Helicopters is providing concierge level services to all our existing clients. Bob holds a private pilot certificate and on the weekends loves playing in the band the Sweetwater All Stars.
Kyle Roth always had a desire to fly. His grandfather was a radio operator for float planes during WW2 and Kyle would follow in his steps joining the Marine Corps and serving three deployments in Iraq. In addition to receiving a BS in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Kyle has worked in line service, refurbished WW1 cloth-era biplanes, flown gliders, and became dual-rated in both helicopters and single engine aircraft.
California born, but Ohio raised before Sweet Helicopters, Jeff spent 29 years as Chief Pilot/Director of Training for a large Midwest Air Medical program. With years of aviation consulting experience, Jeff also has spent the last 30+ years as an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner. Dual rated in both helicopters and airplanes, Jeff spends his days at Sweet Helicopters administering the day-to-day management of the business, and overseeing FAA operational control.
Ken can remember back when he decided he wanted to be a pilot. “I took a helicopter tour in 1994 and knew this is what I wanted to do the rest of my life,” he said. In addition to being a senior pilot with over 10,000 hours in helicopters, Ken is also a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and acts as an aerial film pilot for Sweet Helicopters. He has flown in such movies and TV shows as Contagion, The Dark Knight, Prison Break, Finding Bigfoot, and Power Book IV: Force as well as working for Fox Sports. He is one of our company’s instructor pilots as well as a check airman. He has been a flight instructor in helicopters for over 20 years. Ken has also owned a helicopter company that was an exclusive charter operator for NASCAR races all over the country. He would trailer two helicopters to 30 out of the 36 races each year and would fly the drivers, owners and sponsors to and from the race tracks.
Elizabeth’s interest in flight runs deep. She attended the Army Aviation Flight School at Fort Rucker as a commissioned officer where she learned to fly several different types of helicopters including the Blackhawk. Then, after a deployment to Afghanistan, she took the Captain’s Career Course back here in the US before ending her military service with a deployment to South Korea. Currently, she’s a flight instructor for Sweet Aviation where she helps our students learn and achieve their goals. When not flying, Elizabeth enjoys spending time rock climbing and mountaineering with her husband Daniel.
Originally from Cloverdale, Indiana, Michael graduated from Manchester University, later working in Indianapolis in international logistics.
That all changed for Michael after a helicopter tour around the San Francisco Bay Area. After that, he felt destiny pull him in the direction of aviation which led him to training at Sweet Aviation. He has since obtained his fixed-wing private pilot certificate and helicopter CFI rating.
When Michael has his feet on the ground, he operates a non-profit sports foundation as well as several other community focused ventures in Fort Wayne.
Chris Heiter is a 3rd generation aviator. He’s a dual-rated fixed wing and helicopter pilot flying corporate business jets and helicopters. Chris is also an airframe and power plant mechanic with Inspection Authorization specializing in helicopter maintenance. He is factory-trained, both pilot and maintenance, on numerous helicopter and jet types.
For Chris, aviation is in his DNA. His father was a pilot during the Vietnam War and flew helicopters for 20+ years. Chris graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s in law and society where he learned to fly as a student. When he’s not flying for Sweet Helicopters Chris is also a pilot for the Memorial Hospital Medflight Air Ambulance program.
Chris has three sons, one of which is a Marine, and when not flying enjoys working on his house and Jeep Wrangler.
Jonathan Saxton grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and loved helicopters from when he was a little boy. “Any time I would see a helicopter fly over, I would just stop what I was doing and just watch it until it was out of sight,” he said. After school, Jonathan spent five years in the Marine Corps as a CH-53E airframe mechanic and then became Sikorsky factory trained too. At Sweet Helicopters, Jonathan spends his days doing regular checks on the aircraft and also doing scheduled maintenance and inspections. When Jonathan’s not working he enjoys hunting and fishing and spending time with his girlfriend Tabitha and son Ryder.
Bio coming soon!
Bio coming soon!