Helix Precision was founded in 2008 by a former Pratt & Whitney manufacturing engineer who got tired of watching aerospace primes ship critical hardware to shops that didn't understand GD&T. Eighteen years later, we still hire that way.
REF · TURBINE STAGE-2 · Ti-6Al-4V
David Cho spent twelve years at Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford plant qualifying turbine blade suppliers before he started Helix. The pattern was always the same: a great print, a marginal shop, and three rounds of rejected first articles before anyone admitted the tolerances were unrealistic for the process.
Helix opened in 2008 with one Mazak Integrex i-200 and a corner of a leased hangar in Groton. The deal with the first customer. a Tier 2 supplier of compressor stators. Was simple: we'll read your print before we quote, and we'll tell you which features we can hold and which ones you've drawn too tight. We're still that shop, just with 42 more machines.
In 2019 ownership transferred to an ESOP. The original investors got out clean, every machinist on the floor is a beneficial owner, and the people running the spindles have a direct stake in the quality system. It changed how the shop runs in ways we still notice every day.
Everything. Programming, raw material, machining, finishing, inspection, and shipping. Runs out of the same 12,500 sqft facility on Drydock Avenue in Groton. Nothing leaves for a second supplier.
Climate-controlled, ITAR-secured, single-tenant.
Mazak, DMG Mori, Makino, Citizen, Kern.
NIST-traceable, logged hourly, audit-ready.
Lights-out machining on 14 of 42 cells.
Four of the five people you'll work with came out of aerospace primes or Class III medical device OEMs. Two are licensed PEs. All five sign off on AS9102 first-article packages personally.
Founder · CEO
Twelve years at Pratt & Whitney qualifying turbine suppliers. MS Mechanical, UConn. ASME Y14.5 certified GD&T senior-level. Still personally reviews every first-article package.
VP Engineering
Eight years at Stryker Spine on Class III implant manufacturing. Runs the medical device side of the QMS. Lead on every ISO 13485 surveillance audit since 2021. Mastercam and Hypermill certified.
Director of Quality
Twenty years as a NADCAP auditor before joining Helix in 2018. Owns the AS9100D quality system end-to-end. Zeiss Calypso, PC-DMIS, and Hexagon Inspire Inspection trainer-level.
VP Operations
Came up through the floor as a Swiss-turn programmer. Now runs scheduling, raw material, and the lights-out program. The reason 14 cells run unattended overnight without breaking anything.
Director of Programs
Your day-to-day contact on any defense or aerospace program. Handles Exostar, ITAR document flow, supplier scorecards, and the awkward conversations that come with rev changes. Ex-Sikorsky.
Chief Machinist · Shop Floor Lead
The person who decides what runs on which spindle. 22 years on 5-axis Mazaks, knows the harmonic of every cell by ear. Owns the in-process probing and CAM-side risk reviews.
Every job, every time. The same nine controlled steps from incoming purchase order to gamma-sterilization-ready packaging. AS9102 Form 1, 2, and 3 generated at step seven and signed by an engineer, not auto-stamped.
Engineer reviews drawing against ASME Y14.5-2018. Flags any datum scheme, GD&T callout, or tolerance stack that needs clarification before a number goes back.
Mill test reports verified against AMS / ASTM specs. Heat-lot serialization recorded in our SAP-linked MES and tied to every traveler through delivery.
Mastercam, NX CAM, or Esprit programming with full tool-path simulation. Cycle-time and Cp/Cpk targets locked before steel meets cutter.
Renishaw on-machine probing dials in work-offset and tool-length. CMM verifies a single piece before the cell starts a run.
In-process probing on every spindle. Out-of-spec readings halt the cell and notify a programmer through MES. SPC charts updated in real time.
Hand deburr per IPC standards, electropolish or passivate per AMS 2700 / ASTM A967. Optional PVD or anodize through certified out-of-house partners (NADCAP).
Zeiss Contura with VAST XXT scanning. Every critical feature probed; AS9102 Form 1/2/3 generated via Inspire Inspection and signed by Director of Quality.
Class 7 cleanroom for medical implant packaging. Double-bag and gamma-ready per ISO 11135. Aerospace packaging per customer flowdown.
CoC, mill certs, AS9102, inspection report, and any DD forms required for defense work. Shipped UPS Ground, FedEx Priority, or customer's freight account.
Helix has been employee-owned since 2019. Every machinist on the floor is a beneficial owner. Pay scales with skill and certification level, not seat-time. Three open requisitions as of this week.
5-axis programmer (Mazak / DMG Mori), Swiss-turn machinist (Citizen L20. Second shift), and a CMM inspector with PC-DMIS and Calypso experience. ESOP shares vest in 36 months.
Engineers, not sales reps, answer every quote. DFM review inside 24 hours, FAI inside 14 days, production runs in three to five weeks. Send the package. We'll read it before we price it.
Skip the form, send a calendar invite. Erin Becker (Director of Programs) holds three 30-min slots a day for new-customer prints.
Replies inside two business hours, EST.
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