A fascinating career with helicopters emerged from the thesis work

Jaakko, who studied mechanical and aeronautical engineering at Tampere University of Technology, joined Patria as a trainee to work on his thesis about integrity management for the mechanical systems of NH90 helicopters.

In 2020, Jaakko was made a permanent employee at Patria as a structural analyst. Over the next three years, he continued to refine the plan for condition monitoring and usage improvement of military helicopters, which he had developed in his thesis, through various development projects. From the beginning of 2023, the plan was put into practical use for the customer.

Patria had already previously applied integrity management to Air Force fighter jets, and several studies had been conducted for NH90 helicopters. Jaakko made use of all the data collected earlier when developing solutions tailored to the needs of NH90 helicopters.
– I’m a true helicopter guy. My career at Patria has been strongly tied to putting into practice the plan I created in my thesis, Jaakko says.

In helicopters, integrity management means understanding usage, condition, and reliability of the equipment. This ensures that the mechanical parts and systems remain safe and in good condition throughout their lifecycle.
–With integrity management, we can continually improve the use and maintenance of equipment. Data collection and its analysis play a central role here, Jaakko explains.

Helicopter integrity management requires an understanding of the physical phenomena affecting rotors and structures. Patria’s operating model combines engineering expertise and data science, offering a customer-oriented solution for military equipment maintenance, which is also provided internationally as the Patria OPTIME service. Jaakko recently presented this approach at a NATO seminar.

Much benefit from data analysis

Jaakko started at Patria as an analyst and now leads the team that implements the NH90 helicopter integrity management plan in practice. These are medium-lift multipurpose helicopters used by the Finnish Army, and Patria is responsible for their maintenance, repair, and modification as a strategic partner of the Defence Forces.

Predictive maintenance of helicopters ensures flight safety and high operational availability.

Jaakko is based at Patria’s Tampere office and regularly travels to Jämsä Halli and Kouvola Utti to oversee helicopter maintenance operations. His work involves a variety of tasks, such as analyzing test flight data and other operational data related to the equipment.
– Helicopters are like flying laboratories. With the data we get from them, we can reflect aviation theories against measurement results. It’s truly rewarding.

Effective integrity management offers many advantages to the customer. Predictive maintenance of helicopters ensures flight safety and high operational availability. It also reduces costs, as proactive measures save on major and expensive repairs.

Patria a pioneer in data utilization

Integrity management in helicopters requires understanding physical phenomena affecting rotors and structures, for example. Jaakko says Patria’s operating model combines strong engineering expertise with efficient data utilization.

Patria’s operating model combines strong engineering expertise with efficient data utilization.

Few in the industry offer such a comprehensive and customer-oriented solution for military equipment maintenance. Accordingly, Patria is extending its proven Finnish model to international markets via the Patria Optime service.

In connection with this, Jaakko recently attended a NATO seminar with a colleague to present Patria’s helicopter integrity management system.

Great work community is number one at Patria

Jaakko completed his military service in Finland’s international readiness forces and served in a peacekeeping operation in Lebanon. It felt natural for him to apply for a job in the defence industry, where he also collaborates with the military.

Jaakko has now worked at Patria for seven years and is happy with his career choice. For him, the best part is the pleasant and motivating work community.
– Our team has a wide range of expertise and strong experience. For example, we have mechanics who have been responsible for helicopter maintenance for decades, and discussions with them are eye-opening. There are also top professionals on the Defence Forces side.

Aviation interests Jaakko in his free time as well. He is currently working on his private pilot license (PPL(A)), which entitles him to fly an airplane solo.
Jaakko plans to start with small aircraft, but his flying hobby may eventually expand to helicopters too.
– Flying is fascinating, because in the air, you get experience in practice the flight mechanics theories and analyses that have become familiar at work.