2013 Project 365 - Day 239

2013 Project 365 - Day 203

2013 Project 365 - Day 186

Quick hint for you Google Play: Recommending I buy music I already own, isn't a recommendation.
4:38 PM July 17th via TweetDeck
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SoundGecko converts web articles into MP3's. Tjis looks like some cool teh. http://t.co/zT8OFOfQ
4:28 PM July 17th via TweetDeck
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RT @BenWinslow: "SkyWest is fully cooperating with the FBI's investigation of this incident," airline says. St. George Airport closed TF ...
4:01 PM July 17th via TweetDeck
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Looks like the crash at BTF yesterday happened during a practice autorotation. Not a school based at BTF. http://t.co/tCeT2wRH
3:51 PM July 17th via TweetDeck
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RT @BlondHousewife: And as the President tells us, if you are having a great day, thank the collective. You had nothing to do with it, y ...
12:24 PM July 17th via TweetDeck

Fully Articulated

Earlier this week I flew the Enstrom 280FX for the first. Quite a ride for sure. In some ways the thing was a beast, in others it was a dream to fly. The obvious differnces from the R44 were apparent. I sure missed the govenor and hydraulic assist. I also missed being able to see almost 300 degrees arounnd me through the back windows.

On the flip side, I found the floor mounted cyclic to be a dream. The turbocharged four cylinder lycoming seemed to have power to spare even at 8000 feet above sea level. My insturctor also insisted we take advantage of the fully articulated rotor system and performed a push over. I couldn't help but chuckle at the rush of a short (bump-free) dive.

If I can get used to the neuances, this could be a very fun bird to fly.

Busy On The Ramp

Post flight to Morgan (42U) on a hot july day. Lot's of aircraft out on our ramp today. An Enstrom, a 500 and peaking out on the left the R44 I fly.

The New Bird

New school, new airport, new helicopter, new attitude. After flying only four helicopters in my two years as a pilot, adding a fifth is a big deal. The fact that this bird shares a hanger with an MD500, an MD520, a JetRanger and an R22 might make this the coolest helicopter I've ever flown.

Sundance Already?

Ten days ago I helped push a couple helicopters into the hanger. I was completely stunned to find we were sharing the space with a multitude of private jets. Among them were Citations, Hawkers and most stunningly, two Gulf Stream IV's (which barely fit inside the hangers.)

"Am I missing some important event?" I asked.

"Sundance." was the unanimous one word response.

The festival had completely slipped my mind but to everyone else it was obvious why so many fancy fliers were in OGD. They had already looked up info on some of the jets. One G4 (N745RS) was owned by Rolling Stone Magazine others were leased or owned by larger holding companies.

Regardless of who owned them or what Celeb Du Jour flew in on them, the aircraft themselves were stunning, especially the Gulfstreams. It was remarkable to walk into the hangers on level with the forward loading doors of these small giants of air travel. It was remarkable to me how the stunning design of these aircraft can hold me in awe.

Even more remarkable to me was how little desire I felt to fly one. I was flying helicopters because of an initial desire to fly passenger jets and yet here I was amazed by them yet unimpressed by their lack of ability to land on a 20 foot square opening or to rise straight from the ground and launch themselves skyward. Faced with the airplane of my dreams (or close to it) I was more ready to dream of VERTOL than velocity. Amazing how things can change.

"Put Me On That Peak"

That's me in the right seat on a shelf located between Trappers Loop and Morgan airport (K42U) which is actualy located in Mt. Green. My instructor told me to put him on that peak, so I did. We put the skids down in virgin snow so nice a skier would have cried. The site was exhilerating and the approach was energizing. This is why I started flying. Awesome.

Speaking Privately

The JeepCruzer can now also use the moniker Whirlybird. I am now a licensed private pilot. Things are really in high gear now. I've been making a lot of cross country flights and relishing the new freedoms afforded a rated pilot. Save your nickels and dimes and we'll go flying sometime.

Fire on the mountain

Here are a selection of photos I took Sunday, August 12 of helicopters and happenings at the mouth of Farmington Canyon as efforts progressed to fight that blaze roughly 24 hours after it ignited. Video of the live update on KSL can be found on their web site. Aircraft are communicating with each other and ground crews on 112.15 (if you have a VHF airband scanner, it's cool to hear what they're up to.)

Robinson

A few weeks ago I attended Robinson Helicopters Factory Safety Course. Although it's required if I'm going to work for Silver State, I was looking forward to it as I would a vacation. I even plopped down as much money as a vacation, come to think of it, I would still call it a vacation. The family came along and visited Disneyland while I was in class all week, and I got to tour the Robinson Factory, watch fascinating crash videos, and even fly around SoCal in a brand new R44 Raven I.

I was impressed that Frank Robinson would welcome us and kick off the course, I think this speaks highly of him and his company. The window into the Robinson psyche opened a little wider as we toured the factory. Work there is a great example of high efficiency and economy. For example: The lights are seldomly ever on in the factory, replaced instead with numerous skylights to capitalize on the sunny SoCal weather.

We even got a little bit of inside info on the R66 due to debut soon. Our tour was led by Pat, who is head of Tech Support at Robinson and would be familiar to almost anyone who has taken the factory course. He said that the R66 might be flight tested by end of July (due to a bet that some department heads didn't want to have to pay.)

Flying around SoCal was quite an experience. It was fascinating to see LAX, LGB and all the small airports that I fly over and into but never get a good look at. Passing under the approach path for LAX was a bit of thrill in it's self. We flew all the way to El Monte and practiced auto rotations from zero airspeed, min rate decent autos and other emergency procedures.

I had a good enough time to consider returning to take the factory course again (and pay another $500) to renew my CFI certificate. It made me darn proud to fly Robinsons too.

First Solo

My flight training hit several milestones this week, not the least of which was my first solo flight. An awesome experience that was not nearly so difficult as everyone warned me it would be. I expected to be nervous, but I was less concerned and more thrilled. Pictured at the top is a photo of my first pick up as a company helicopter taxis in behind me. Also this week I took my FAA written exam for a private pilot cetificate - rotorcraft. I was stressed to the max over it, taking practice tests galore, but ended up passing with an respectable 87% (The average is 78%.) So the past few months of studying, stressing and practicing have come together in a monumental week of relief... Now we're off to cross country flights, full down autos and more.

Here's some video clips of my first solo:

• First Pickup
• First Takeoff
• On Approach