Achieving a world premiere in nine months, and with a minimum budget, is impossible...
When Xavier, who leads the company Headland Helipads, contacted me through the company Diamond, he asked me if it was possible to produce a functional demonstrator of a retractable Helipad (a world premiere) before the Paris Air Show, just starting from a specification of needs. We must therefore design and manufacture the full scale demonstrator (60m² deployed) and land with several helicopters on it in order to validate the feasibility, and produce a film, all in nine months. The mission already seemed impossible, but when he announced the available budget, I quickly understood why no one dared to take the plunge.
We must therefore analyze each need listed in the specification, possibly agreeing to reduce some ambitions to concentrate on the objective. I need to set up an organization, put in place the best “Make or buy” strategy in order to meet costs and deadlines. Then, the management of the project will be done very precisely from the start in order to ensure not to fall behind, and even if possible, to get a little ahead to cover possible hazards. And when we work with this type of deadlines and costs, there will inevitably be hazards…