A Couple Shots From This Past Summer

While flying the SA315B Lama from Boise Idaho to San Jose California, I was in serious need of a pit stop when out of nowhere appeared this perfect stop off point.

Future Seismic Dude, Brannon

This is Brannon. Since I was landing in his yard, he decided to come over and check out the helicopter. Brannon already knows all about seismic and says that's what he wants to do as soon as he gets out of school.

Some Shots From Back in November

Long lining with the Astar.


The crew hooking up some bags.


And more bags...


Up, up and away...

Seismic in Loosyana

I know I promised to post pictures a couple months ago but here's what happened.

Since my camera was not working I borrowed Laura's camera. Then the first day on the job, I dropped the camera out of the helicopter, never to be seen again.

I recently got an iPhone, which by the way has a really cool little app that allows me to take a picture with my phone and upload it directly to my blog, along with a text description.

The quality will not be nearly as good as my old camera, but it's convenient and it'll do until I get another camera.

Cross Country...

Been pretty busy lately. Flew the Lama from San Jose, Ca to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Stopped by for a visit at the Kern County Helibase at Keene just west of Tehachapi, Ca along the way, then continued on to Deer Valley where I spent the night home in my own bed.

The next morning I jumped back in and continued on to Santa Fe. Had a short local flight the following day with some Archeologists. Very interesting.

Then jumped on a commercial flight back to Phoenix, went by a friends wedding party, then home for a couple hours sleep before returning to the airport to head to Montana.

It's 5:10am and I'm sitting at Sky Harbor waiting for a flight to Montana. I'll be there for a few days doing some seismic work and then I fly the helicopter down to LoosyAnna for another seismic job.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Sitting here in Boise and thought I'd put together a short video of some old stuff from when I was working up on Denali.

Elko to Boise

The Seismic job in Elko is all done now and I had a good time with the Heli-Port Drill and Dawson crews.

Now I'm off to Boise for some scheduled maintenance on the SA315B Lama.

A Kodak moment prior to leaving Elko.


Capt. Dalton. She's stuck in "stuck wings", but don't worry, I'm working hard to bring her to the Dark Side!




A couple of cool views of the canyons just south of Boise.

From Fires to Seismic

Well the fire season is over for me and the lama. It was short, but I met a lot of great people and made many new friends.

We're now in Elko Nevada finishing up on a seismic job for a Texas company named Dawson. Since we've arrived we've moved 4 sets of drills, compressors and baskets about 200 times and moved about 300 bags of seismic gear up and down the lines.


This video is not that exciting. Just a short "in cabin" view of a short flight.

IRON 44 TRIBUTE

After being released from the Canyon Complex fire, I flew to Pacific Helispot. I arrived in the afternoon ready to fulfill another CWN contract. The very next morning I was told I've been requested at the Iron Complex in Weaverville and given no more information other than a Lat and Long, a name and a phone number. I called and said I was on my way and gave an ETA.

When I arrived at Weaverville I was approached and asked if I knew why I was there? I had no idea. I was then informed that I was there to provide support for the transport of investigative personnel, and the slinging and recovery of the S-61.

I took several videos and photographs throughout the course of this mission, and ultimately made a memorial tribute out of them.

As you can tell, and for obvious reasons, I've hesitated for a long time before posting this. I did make a couple of copies for select people but for the most part I've kept it to myself. However after very positive comments about my video and the few posted by others on You Tube, I'm willing to give this a go.

This movie was made with the utmost respect, admiration and heartfelt feelings for all those involved in the Iron 44 incident. Many have asked me questions trying to understand just a little better of what occurred that day and of the subsequent recovery afterwards. I hope this video will answer many of those questions.

For me, I was proud to be a part of this and work side by side with such professionalism.

My prayers go out to you all.

Thank You All

Thank you for all the kind comments. It was my pleasure and just a small way of saying thank you to the crew on the line for doing such great and difficult work.

It's obvious how appreciated the fire crews are any time you go in to the small communities and the people are all so thankful that they are here and doing the job they do.

We are all proud of you for the job you do and I am happy to call each of you my friends.

PJ

Tall Trees

Images from the field

A few shots from the field. Stopping to talk with ground crews about fire lines and hotspots.

The Burger King Delivery

The Shasta Lake crew enjoying a hot lunch of Burger King burgers and fries.

Retrieving the Klump Pump

What's a "Klump Pump"?

It's a portable container used by firefighters. It can hold about 1000 gallons of water, has a high pressure pump and about 2800 feet of hose. It can be slung in to remote areas and then filled with water by helicopter. And last but not least, it was designed of course, by Mr. Jim Klump! www.uni-engine.com

This One's For Heidi (MOVIE)

This One Is For Guy!

Canyon Complex Fire

Recent map of California Wildfires

Aspiring Fire Pilot

One day I noticed a gentleman walking around the airport holding the hands of two small boys. The boys were very interested in the goings on of the helicopters and I could tell they wanted to get a closer look. I invited them over and met Morgan and Patrick. Morgan eagerly ran up to me and was very happy to be able to climb in to the helicopter.

Morgan gets his very first taste of what it's like to be a helicopter fire pilot.

Fire Recon

The video begins by dropping off a crew member down on the river in preparation for long line back haul work. It then continues on to a recon for line contingency planning.

Flying the Feather

This was a fun job. It consisted of flying 3 man crews into various locations along the Feather river so they could chop trees and brush to make larger, improved helipads for the other helicopters. There is one spot near the end of the video where we landed near a bridge crossing the river. Under the bridge there was a rope so you could swing out and land in the water. This mission took several hours and you can see in the video how the smoke gets thicker and thicker throughout the day.

Spanish Peak

Installing a remote repeater site on Spanish Peak for the Canyon Complex fire near Quincy, California.


SA315B Lama helicopter sitting on top of Spanish Peak, California.


Grey skys and low visibility from the forest fires makes for an interesting flight back to Canyon Helibase in Quincy CA.

Below is a video of our trip flying the Lama helicopter from Spanish Peak and returning to Canyon Helibase at Gansner Airport, Quincy, CA.

Bishop California

After Springville, I flew the Lama helicopter to the Canyon Complex fire in Quincy California. I landed for fuel in Bishop Ca.



The guys at the Bishop Airport were very friendly.

Springerville Arizona

After working with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, I was assigned to Springerville (7000') for a week. There wasn't too much flying, due to afternoon thundershowers, but for the summer time the temps sure were cool.

The SA315B Lama helicopter parked on the helipad at Springerville AZ.

Fancy Artwork

Check out the fancy feathers on my Helicopter helmet. Thank you to Delrel for your electrical tape artwork. I had a really good time working with the Fort Apache helicopter crew and consider them all my friends. I hope I'm able to work with them again in the future.

Maverick Camp

Maverick Camp is a now defunct fire camp on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It's a beautiful spot and offers good placement of crews. I heard recent talk about the possibilities of re-manning it. You can see the SA315B Lama helicopter sitting on the helipad.



A close up of the SA315B Lama helicopter parked at Maverick Camp.

Reservation Lake - White Mountains AZ

This is Reservation Lake in the beautiful White Mountains of eastern Arizona. I used this lake to fill my bambi bucket while flying the Astar B3 to drop water on a fire at 9,000 feet.


Another view of the Bambi bucket with the B3 Astar.

Fort Apache Helitack Crew - Whiteriver AZ

The Fort Apache Helicopter Initial Attack Crew.

BIA Longline Training

Bear demonstrating the helicopter's "Remote Hook".


Helicopter long line fire crew training for the Fort Apache and San Carlos fire crews.

The Solano Fire - Tucson AZ

Looking at the fire on the East side of the ridge.


The Astar 350 B3 on the Salano Fire southwest of Tucson Az.

The Astar and the Kmax.

Tahquitz Rock, Idyllwild, Ca

Aproaching Tahquitz Rock near Idyllwild Ca while on my way back to Santa Fe, New Mexico.



Sunset on the desert just east of Phoenix