Officially Licensed HT-28 Hellions PVC Squadron Patch — Where Student Helicopter Pilots Earn Their Wings of Gold The Hellions take unruly student pilots and turn them into military aviators. The callsign is Lucky — but it's not luck that earns the wings. Helicopter Training Squadron 28 (HT-28) — the 'Hellions' — is one of three advanced helicopter training squadrons at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, responsible for training Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and allied nation helicopter pilots. Established on May 25, 2007, HT-28 was created by redistributing one-third of the instructors from each of its sister squadrons, HT-8 and HT-18, to meet the increasing demand for helicopter pilots. The Hellions fly the TH-73A Thrasher and train student aviators through the basic and advanced rotary-wing flight training syllabi, including the shortened helicopter syllabus for prospective MV-22 Osprey pilots. The squadron's name is an allusion to the word 'helicopter' — and its connotation of an unruly child is an amusing nod to the student pilots being refined into military aviators. The Chinese dragon motif on the patch is carried over from the only other squadron to bear the Hellions name: VMF-218, a World War II Marine Fighter Squadron that saw combat in the Pacific, and which counted Colonel John Glenn among its ranks. Successful HT-28 graduates earn the prestigious Wings of Gold, designating them as qualified rotary-wing pilots ready for the fleet. This PVC patch represents the Hellions and the path from student to aviator. Perfect For: HT-28 Hellions students and instructors, NAS Whiting Field personnel, Training Air Wing Five members, helicopter training pipeline graduates, and anyone who earned their Wings of Gold with the Hellions.
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