All the pretty lights

Last night everywhere I flew over L.A. there were so many lights drawing me in. For those who have never seen L.A. from above it's worth doing once in your life, renting a helicopter or a small plane and cruising L.A. at night of course on a clear night like last night. From Hollywood's lights, to downtown L.A., to the Santa Monica Pier, the entire city looks like one big ride at a carnival with all the flashing lights and colors. I really can't put it into words to completely describe it. Even something as crazy as a sheared fire hydrant in the valley last night that LAPD lite up with their chopper was cool to watch. The arching of the power lines and the geyser of water shooting out of the ground with the police helicopter night sun illuminating it was amazing to stare at. It looked like a Christmas tree of water, one of those super tall mall ones. Actually this one was higher than any tree I've ever seen.

Community Pitches in.........litterally!

As we were flying back to VNY we cruised through Hollywood and got to see this blimp that does tours over Los Angeles(based out of LGB)

La Canada homes destroyed by Mudslide below Station Fire burn area.

A cool shot I wanted to share, two different types of jets painted similar colors just north of our Heli Ramp. Love them both!

Neighbors of the mudslide residents in the La Canada community pitched in today to help their neighbors clear mud and debris from their yards and homes along with a local church group that helped out also. As soon as I heard there were hundreds of these neighbors that lived below the residents affected by the mudslides yesterday that pitched in and brought shovels and wheel barrels to help out I was so touched. It warmed my heart to hear of such kindness from these residents who were not affected by the disastrous mudslides that destroyed many homes and made complete messes and chaos in the La Canada community. We flew out to get the birds eye view. By the time we arrived in the late afternoon most of the residents were already wiped from the hard work and being that it is Super Bowl Sunday, we did manage to spot some residents making light of a horrible situation by celebrating the game in their driveway with fellow neighbors.

Mud Chasers

Spent the day flying around chasing all the mudslides here in SoCal. We are usually chasing the rain, but today it was the mud from the hard rain we had early this morning. At 4am I was woken by the hard downpour in my neighborhood. I couldn't sleep not just because of the noise, but because I knew a rain that strong was going to cause horrific mudslides we have been anticipating. Sure enough, we saw the destruction below mostly in the community in La Canada just below the Station Fire burn area. Despite the disaster going on below, the many of us flying above had fun flying together for hours on end over this event. The clouds moving in and around the area made for some interesting scenery and fun flying for us. The day was long, lots of flying, but in the end, always fun. So saddened by the destruction of those who lost their homes in the mudslide.

Hovering with friends and the Chopperazzi

There's just something indescribable and special about hovering with friends. Pretty much it's the same news pilots that fly in L.A. that have been flying here for ten or twenty years. The new ENG(electronic news gathering) pilots never seem to last. No offense to them, they just seem to use flying news as a stepping stone or a job to pass the time until they move onto the next. Those of us who were flying this morning, we will always be flying news. Lol. So having said that, we all know each other really well. We've been friends for many years and have hung out outside of work when we have the time, which seems not too frequent. lol. One of the pilots I've known for twenty years. He was one of my instructors back in the day. Sitting there this morning shortly before 5am we all sat over a vehicle that had gone off the side of Mulholland Drive in the Sherman Oaks Hills. Our conversations were short but the little we talk always is fun. Just sitting there in the sky all huddled together even though we cannot see each other up close, felt like we were sitting around hanging out together having some food and conversation. lol. I really don't know how else to describe it, but every time we get together in the sky for a group hover for hours on end, there is connection we all have to each other. Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way, but I like it. lol. So now, mentioning the car over the side, reportedly was Charlie Sheens Mercedes. I guess Charlie Harper doesn't really live in Malibu after all. All that making fun of poor Alan who works in the Valley. lol. By the way, Charlie has a very nice house in Sherman Oaks. We spent the entire morning hanging out over the area just like the paparazzi.

SkyFox interacts with the world below

I'm sure you are all getting sick of me saying as always it's a blast to fly SKYFOX, but it is. lol. We had so much fun today. After being serious and flying over traffic accidents, one which was kind of funny as everyone appeared to be fine as they all walked out of the vehicle they were trapped in. The reason it was funny....the mini van they were trapped in reminded me of a clown car as we did not know how many were trapped. As Anaheim Fire cut away at the vehicle freeing the trapped victims it was as if they were going to keep coming out, one after another after another. We were amazed at how many people were trapped in the van that kept walking out of it. Thankfully as bad as the crash was, they all seemed to not have serious injuries. From there we covered more wrecks, then of course flew the coast most of the morning checking out the beautifully calm waters(as compared to the storm week surf)and the surfers, and many many flocks of dolphins everywhere. Passing the L.A. harbor on our way around the point where The Trumph Golf Course is, we noticed fishermen off shore. They waved as we flew by, so of course we went back and waved and circled, then took an interest in their fishing. We parked high above to give them some piece and filmed them at work. As they pulled in the cage of fish, the one fisherman pulled the flapping little fishy out and held him up high for us to see!!!! lol. Proud of what they caught we were just as excited to share in their moment! It was awesome! It's always fun when the people on the ground know we are watching them and love it back. Thanks fisherguys! Later on that day we had more flights after our show, pursuits, shootings, etc. etc.

Los Angeles's skies sparkle not only with the gorgeous city lights.....

They sparkled with police cars rolling code 3 every which direction. After watching the full moon rise over VNY we took to the skies later on for a Saturday night pursuit in Long Beach. At first we almost couldn't find the pursuit termination as there were so many police lights everywhere in Long Beach. Then coming back through just north of LGB there were even more police lights. Flying up through South LA the police cars continued to light up the city below. Must be the weather, or it's Saturday night normal. Either way it was fun to watch. Downtown LA was sparkling with the Nokia Center and Staples Center lights as well as the new Ritz Carlton Hotel gleaming in the way. Just like a moth to a flame or an annoying bug to your outside patio light, there we were, circling the beams of light shooting up into the sky as I was drawn in by all the pretty colors. lol.

Finally, I have internet back at home! Yay!

I received my modem and set it last night after work. Now, I just need some time to upload sooooo many photos I've taken over the past couple of weeks of flying. Yesterday was one of those days at VNY that show's how diverse VNY can be. I have a photo of several fixed wing lined up for 16R and they were all different types of planes, from jets, to simple airplanes, to bi-planes and old war birds, all in the same spot. It was really cool. We also had a blast flying the morning show as always. I'll get the photos up soon I hope. Have lot's of yard work to tend to first. Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for reading. :)

Action packed week, flying, hiking, gardening?

Yes, gardening as well. I love walking outside in my backyard to lots of tropical and lush plants. It's especially hard this time of year to keep things green around here. Actually, it's always tough to keep things green in SoCal. Anyway, been flying here and there with FOX which is as always adventurous and always so much to talk about, but without internet for this past week or so I haven't been able to get online except for a little bit when I'm about to leave work for the day. I went hiking earlier this week with my mom and her gorgeous new husky Stoli. I've been doing alot of work around the house, projects and improvements.

From the surf to the slopes

As always a blast flying for FOX with Rick and Vince in the mornings. We cover the amazing surf and then fly into the mountains moments later after checking out waterfalls in Malibu, up to the Station Fire burn areas to see the snow covered mountains. Surprisingly the snow is still there even with our warm temps the past days after last weeks storm that covered our local mountains with snow. After leaving the snow we discovered another amazing three tier waterfall in the mountains below the snow. Waterfalls in California, especially SoCal, the Los Angeles area which has been suffering a severe drought for many years are quite the site to see. We get excited over the little things. They certainly aren't anything in comparison to falls I've seen in Central and Northern California and other northern states as well as the Hawaiian Islands, but they have their beauty here in L.A.

I haven't had internet at home for the past week. My modem died after 7 years and I haven't had the time to sit on the phone and get passed around and put on hold for an hour till I get to the right department to replace it until today. haha. So now it's on it's way, but still several days out, so for now, internet at work.

Back to gorgeous warm sun with snow covered mountains

It's been a busy week of flying. Lot's of unique and rare storm activity in SoCal making for some fun flying and beautiful scenery afterwards. Flying again today on Saturday and wow, VNY is busy busy busy. A gorgeous warm day out and the skies are clear as far as the eyes can see. Everyone is flying today.

After the storm..................

I have so many great photos of rainbows and waterfalls we chased after storm chasing all week. I'll try to post these when I can. Oh so beautiful always after the rain. :)

Storm Chasers of L.A.

Wow, what a busy day of flying. Despite the nasty weather it is always fun flying with Rick and Pat. We saw so many unique and rare weather issues that SoCal experiences from time to time. Pretty much we spent our whole shift chasing the storm. So many times different air traffic controllers asked why we were up flying in the bad weather, my answer, chasing the storm, looking for the worst weather within reason of safety.

After a day of chasing the rain, I couldn't get the images and thoughts of all of the people of Haiti out of my mind. It's been bugging me since the day of the dreadful quake. I wasn't going to talk about it but since people I know are flying down there with helicopters to help, I thought it was worth a mention. A friend of mine took off yesterday to go down there to help out with the rescue and relief efforts. He is flying a ship(helicopter) from the states all the way down. I wish I was part of that trip. I would love to be going down there to fly and help out in any way I could. That is truly the kind of flying that is most rewarding. I know it seems small in comparison to other things that they need down there, but all I could think about was if I had a big helicopter to fly down there, I would fill it up with toys for all the children to help them forget about what they are going through for just a second, to see a smile on their faces. The photos online and on TV are just so heart wrenching.

Trying to put those images out of my head so I can rest before another busy day of Storm Chasing tomorrow. Good night. :)

******Just posting this video now on Jan. 26, 2010, as I've been so busy I haven't had much time to blog. I found our video of Rick Dickert from the storms when it hailed here at VNY shortly after we had landed on one of our storm chaser days.******

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JKqyG_kMBw

Horrendous Storm approaches SoCal(that's what the news is saying)

Looks like L.A. has it all, earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes(yesterday), and massive storm cells moving through SoCal all week. Flying around in the storms today navigating between the bad weather had been interesting and fun to see all the crazy destruction and so much in such a short time. More to come.......

It went from raining sideways in Chatsworth to sunny

Pedro's bored after doing a lap around the spa rim

Pedro takes a walk around the spa

Pedro always hangs out with me when I'm in the spa, he's a cool cat!

Pedro taking in the fresh air after the rain. Lou was camera shy and frisky.

My stray Orange Kitty

The gorgeous blue sky after the rain this afternoon.

It's hard to believe we are having mass power outages and flash floods with evacuations here in L.A. in so many areas throughout the city. Freeways are flooded, mountains are coming down. What a mess. L.A. just isn't capable of handling alot of rain all at once. It's been a steady rain most of the day here, hard at times, windy, but now it's let up in the past hours with a little bit of sun shining through into my yard. My boys including my stray cat have been staying in all day. Wow, no sooner did I type it was a bit sunny, the sky opened up and it was blue here in Chatsworth.

From Snow to Rain

The drive back home

Leaving just before the big storm rolled in

Goodbye Wooly!

Me after two days of riding the Mt.

My last run on my last day up in Mammoth heading back to Main Lodge from Eagle Lodge, oh so fun. Was sunny at Eagle and Canyon, then starting to get cloudy at Mill, always a storm at Main(the North Face of course)

Sunday's weather called for a helmet as it was chilly and snowing. The helmet not only is safe and gives me peace of mind if I fall, but I get to listen to my music built into the helmet earpiece system, makes for easy listening and no fuss with wires.

One of my favorite little canyons, Snow Creek. The past two years there's now a cross creek at the bottom, which I wipe out on every time. I can't seem to jump across it yet. Ouch!

My friend John and I taking a breather, snowboarding is exhausting at 9000'

Looking towards Main from Mill, completely clouded over to the north.

The middle between Canyon and Main as viewed from Mill. Always amazing how much different the weather is on the same mountain from south to north.

From Mill looking towards Canyon and Eagle. Heading that way for the warmer less windy conditions. lol

Back at Main

Riding the Gondola to McCoy for breakfast

Relaxing at Mill on Saturday an Erickson Skycrane flies overhead.

From Mill on Saturday it's gorgeous and sunny everywhere but you can see the winds picking up on top! Brrrrrr.

First day, I know, no helmet, it just was too hot. I took it easy and stayed away from the crowds since the only time I took a hard fall on the mountain was when a snowboarder crashed into me on a low vis day and just about knocked me out.

The pipe park at Main Lodge, always fun to watch.

View from my room at the Main Lodge

What a great trip!!!! I left for Mammoth to go snowboarding on Friday after my shift flying news. Had an amazing day flying. I normally don't like going up there on weekends as it's not only more expensive but way crowded and dangerous on the mountain with too many people, but I haven 't wanted to miss out on any work flying during the week lately so despite the big storm for casted for the weekend, I was so excited to go! Mammoth was gorgeous and sunny and warm on Saturday. Perfect weather for boarding. Then Sunday a storm rolled in later in the day with some wind and fresh snow falling. It was really really fun. I had a great time as always up in Mammoth. Sunday afternoon as I drove off the mountain and said goodbye to the falling snow, I took in the beauty of the Inyo and the Sierras till the sky went dark and it started to rain as I approached L.A. Finally Los Angeles is getting their much needed rain. The news is calling it a big storm. Maybe for us sunny SoCal residents it is but I've seen real storms back east and in the midwest, so this is just rain as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure folks who live everywhere else in the U.S. laugh at our weather here in Cali. My lawn is already bright green from the rain and my hard work reseeding and fertilizing a couple of weeks ago. lol. After being in Mammoth it doesn't even seem cold here in L.A., being back home feels nice and toasty.

Everyone having to drive in this stuff, please be careful, slow down, and most of all, be courteous to fellow drivers on the road. I've noticed a huge difference in certain cities alone here in L.A. where drivers are more impatient and rude than other cities. Be nice even if someone else isn't, it will always come back to you some other way. :) Also, not tyring to downplay the rain, I hope those who live in the burn areas are going to be okay. It's unfortunate that after our big fires we always have the rain that causes mud slides. But it's all part of nature taking it's course as we choose to live in those gorgeous areas.

Happy MLK Day to everyone! Happy Birthday Martin Luther King!