The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: Rumor has it......

Friday, December 30, 2005

Rumor has it......

Okay, I hate spreading rumors but my sources are very good and I believe this to be true myself......the new face in SKYCAM may possibly be Chuck Street, the pilot/reporter for KISS FM 102.7 He is an amazing man. Very well suited for the job more so than I, he is funny and quick witted which is what ktla is looking for. He also has years and years of experience reporting traffic over our southland freeways from a helicopter 5 days a week. As I said, this is just what I have heard around the airport and I have no confirmation of it from any reliable sources, but it would be really cool to see Chuck up there! I just had to share that!!!! Talk to you all next year!

12 comments:

FlyGuy172S said...: Hey Desiree...

Too bad you will not get the nod for it. Yes, Chuck knows these airways quite well, but I think you''d be great! I also wanted to let you know you did great in One Six Right. They should have used more footage of you and Stacy in it!; 3:44 PM
GC said...: Chuck's been around forever, yeah.

BUT C'MON!!!!; 6:40 PM
SD said...: Desiree...we don't care about Chuck Shmuck! We all adore YOU! Nice of you to give him the recognition though ,if you say he's good, he's good.From where we sit,you're the TOP DOG! Let's see what Chuck can do with 2 1/2 tons of "H2O" dangling from his bird at 60kts with "0" visibility and sudden updafts choking on smoke huh? You're our Star Desiree, just go ahead and Shine!
SD; 12:34 AM
Brian said...: You mentioned Chuck is:

" ... Very well suited for the job more so than I..."

Yeah. Right. A classy post, but it can only be true if Chuck is your obsequious twin sister. Which I'm sure we would all welcome and appreciate, but ...

Otherwise, Desiree, you continue to be the fly-gal choice of successful, demographically-important intelligent adults.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!; 8:38 AM
Richard Gutmann said...: Hi Desiree:

Below is the letter I just sent to KTLA management. They probably won't listen, but some bright station manager will hire you--hopefully soon.

Richard
------------------

Dear Sir/Madam:

Recently, I've seen a number of web sites where people stated they used to get up and watch the "Morning News" on KTLA just to see Desiree Horton do the traffic report.

I did that myself--even when I wasn't going anywhere that day. Some people just "connect" with viewers, and Ms. Horton certainly is one of them. Sure she's very attractive, but you've had lots of attractive guests on your morning show--none of whom could repeatedly lure me out of bed at
5 a. m. to watch TV.

Please reconsider your decision and renew Ms. Horton's contract. It might be a little hard to admit you made a mistake by not keeping her, but it would be good for your show. And how embarrassing could it really be? After all, you DO broadcast "The Jerry Springer Show."

Seriously, if you review the tape of the "car chase" last June 16 from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara on the Ventura Freeway, you'll see what an excellent job Ms. Horton did over a long period of time (an hour or more).

From everything I've seen and read, it appears you thought Desiree was just not "chatty" enough. Many of us like not being bombarded with inane and incessant commentary, whether watching traffic reports or "car chases." I've actually turned off some of your competitors because of the non-stop, overly-excited, insult-your-intelligence comments.

If you feel it is safer not to have the pilot do all of the reporting, couldn't you have Ms. Horton as pilot and just go to her when flying duties permit?

Please bring back Desiree Horton. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Richard Gutmann
A "Chopper Chick" fan; 10:54 AM
amulbunny said...: I just stumbled upon your blog and I have to tell you that I always enjoyed your reporting from the bird. You were serious and entertaining at the same time.

I met Willa's mom at Christmas party and she told me that Willa said the best thing about doing the sky 5 was not having to drive all the way to Hlwd in the AM.

I might have to cruise over to Fox to see if you're up in the sky above Redondo some day.

Best of the best in 2006 to you!; 5:29 PM
JERRY said...: Hi Desiree...I just wanted to say getting ready for work isn't the same without you.One day I turn the TV on and your gone.You were the only reason I watched the news in the morning.But i admire your goels on fighting fires.My cousin lives in Saugus and the fires get close to their house,so keep them safe, OK !!!!!!!!!

MISS YOU!!!
JERRY; 10:08 PM
Wade said...: Desiree-
Happy New Year to you. Your posts and pix are great. I really appreciate them and enjoy the visits. I do miss hearing you each morning. I have never understood 5's decision.
All the best in this new year!

Wade; 11:28 PM
Delion said...: Desiree - Wow is KTLA making a huge mistake, no offense to Willa & Commander Chuck, they are talented, but just dont bring much to the morning news like you did!!

FLY SAFE,
Delion; 8:30 AM
chopperdoug said...: I have flown w/Desiree on fires and she is a joy to work with. she has the makings of a fine utility pilot!. We are glad she is flying on fires with us.The news world took a great loss, but the rest of us lucky to have her around. thanks Des.; 12:37 AM
ditchdog9242 said...: We had wondered what happened to your traffic reports in the morning. Your reports always started out our mornings on a bright note. Too bad KTLA didn't keep you on but you are getting to follow your dream. You have class in the way you handed off the job to Chuck.

We miss you!; 12:45 PM
Abraham said...: You're beautiful, Desiree -- an old soul....; 9:35 AM

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PHPA / Professional Helicopter Pilots Association

Promoting safety and
understanding among
helicopter pilots, the PHPA
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acting as a liaison with the
community.

Coordinating efforts towards improving communications, methods of operation within the airspace system, or any other area that will contribute to the safety and education of all pilots;
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Become a member and help
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Board of Directors
Executive Officers & Board of Directors
Robert Butler - President
Alan Frawert - Vice President
Tom White - Secretary
James Paules - Treasurer
Board of Directors
Morris Cohen
Guillaume Maillet
Chuck Street
Ed Story
Desiree Horton
Gary Hollbrook
Pat Carey

Board of Advisors
Ricarda Bennett Esq - Legal Advisor
Alex Calder - Web Administrator

How I got started..........

For those of you who are looking at a life of flying helicopters or just curious how I started and got where I am today, read on.......................

I have been flying helicopters for over 18 years and mostly here in Los Angeles until recently in 2005 when I started fighting fire as a contract pilot all over the U.S. during the summer and in the off season on occasion. Currently I fly for about six different companies as a free lance contract pilot. My main company that I work for is Heli-Flite/Aris Helicopters in Riverside, CA, where I do Aerial Construction flying, fly for Corona Police Department, and fly fires during fire season. In the off months outside of fire season I fly some news and photo and movie production flights for various other companies which some of them I have been working with for over ten years. Since I have received many emails in regards to how does one become a helicopter pilot.....I am giving a little insight to those of you who ask how I got started and how much it costs to become a pilot, well it's a long story and everyone has a different story as to how they got their start. Some people had it easy, some people had it tough, some joined the military, others did the civilian route. There are so many different ways to do it and no one has the same story. As far as cost, well it was alot less 18 years ago, so you will have to check with a flight school on that one. I started flying when I was 19 years old and at the time I couldn't get a loan, so I worked two jobs 7 days a week and after two years, finally got my private. If you can get loan, it will not take you that long as I could only afford a couple of lessons a month. I never got my CFI as I found other ways to build time. Even 18 years ago being a CFI did not pay the bills, so I worked other jobs and flew part time over the years to build my time. I washed helicopters in exchange for flight time. I even paid for left seat time for quite some time to build hours. I jumped on any chance I could get for free flight time riding along with other pilots in an empty seat. I made lots of sacrafices and had no time to myself. It was all about flying, kinda how it still is today. hahaha. Anyway, I started a dba and made brochures and brought myself my own flight business doing tours and photo flights out of a Hughes 269 and an R22. Eventually I had some money to put myself through Bell Factory School which enabled me to fly a Jetranger early in my career with very little time. Back then insurance companies did not require massive amounts of flight time. With just 300 hours and factory school, I now had a jetranger to run my tours in. It eventually led to flying for other companies. Sending myself to Bell school opened up opportunities and possibilities for me. It was also my reputation that opened doors. Attitude is everything. You will not suceed in this business with a poor attitude. Keep that in mind. Trust me, I'm not perfect. We all don't have perfect attitudes, but you know what I mean. My job offers took off from there. I was doing tours for various small tour companies and flight schools and then started flying traffic watch, then soon I was flying news in a 206 which later led to an astar. When I got into fire, I sent myself to long line and mountain flying school. Sometimes if you want something, you will have to pay for it to get ahead and open doors for yourself. I found a company that hired me with no fire experience. With my training I had paid for and experience from flying over the years I was on my way to do what I had always dreamed of doing, fighting fire from a helicopter. I was patient as it took time to get where I am today. You have to be patient sometimes. I still get impatient on occasion and want it all now, but it just doesn't work that way. So my advice to up and coming pilots who ask how to do it? Find a good school, find some money, stick with it, don't ever stop, don't make excuses, don't let others discourage you as that will happen your entire career, and you will suceed and get what you want eventually. Good luck!

By the way, some pilots never stop paying their dues. Sometimes if you want certain things to happen in your career you will find yourself making the same sacrafices later on, but the sacrafices seem even greater because with time, comes more responsibility and more to lose when sacrafices are made. But sometimes the gain is worth it!