The editorial desk

Zachary Jester

Writer and Senior Editor, AHLH Editorial Desk. Senior AI developer at SputnikFX.

Zachary Jester is a writer and Senior Editor at American Heavy Lift Helicopters. His background includes coordinating commercial helicopter lifts and flying unmanned aircraft in the field. He joined Fair Lifts Helicopter Services in 2021 as a Senior Logistics Supervisor and later became Chief Pilot of its Unmanned Division, leaving the company in late 2025.

He helped launch the unmanned services operation and worked in the field flying and managing its drone projects. That work included agricultural spraying and aerial surveys. He holds a Private Pilot License and an FAA Part 107 commercial remote pilot certificate.

His helicopter logistics work included negotiating lift projects and contracts for corporations and government agencies, from RFQ responses through aircraft and crew mobilization. At AHLH, that experience informs his coverage of lift planning and the costs contractors need to compare when choosing between a ground crane and an aircraft.

He writes and edits the technical library, with a focus on ground crane operations and crane-versus-aircraft economics. He is also a senior AI developer at SputnikFX, where he helps build and manage the systems behind Sputnik Signal.