The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: Was on the Esperanza fire since Friday Oct. 27...

Monday, October 30, 2006

Was on the Esperanza fire since Friday Oct. 27...

Hey everyone, tried to get online at the fire location but no internet at my hotel. Had flown for Channel 4 on thursday last week reporting over the fire and then got the call to head out that friday morning to the fire. Kinda got what I wished for since I recall saying how cool it would be to report on news stories during the off season of fire fighting. It was cool to be able to go from news to fire in a day. Considering the tradgedy that happened with the 4 firefighters that lost their lives in that fire, spirits were good out there and the crews were as always the coolest people to work with. It was sad to see all of the homes that were lost and amazing to see the ones that survived. Quite a scene out there! It was nice to see alot of familiar faces of people I had worked on fires with all over this summer. I just got home tonight, monday night that is. It's nice to be back in my own bed, in my house. I will probably fly some more for CH. 4 this week later on. Taking some days off finally. Have a great week!

11 comments:

MichaelC said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 4:31 AM
MichaelC said...: I think I met Stacy at the Los Alamitos show. Is she a 406 pilot? If that was her she sure is a supercool Chopper Chick. Remind her-boombox all day is bad...; 4:35 AM
Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 6:56 AM
Cop the Truth said...: That was a scary fire, glad you're safe!; 4:29 PM
Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 4:56 PM
trevor said...: Am happy you made it thru that fire safely. Enjoy your days off. You've certainly earned them. Have a safe and fun Halloween tonight....

Trevor
da40flyer@yahoo.com; 5:19 PM
classrockin said...: Desiree, you rock! I lost track of you on KTLA when I changed job schedules and I dind't know what happened to you or where you went. You were without a doubt the best ever chopper chick @ KTLA. Way better than York, and that ditz they have now is just plain annoying. It's so cool that I now know where I can read about what you are doin!; 12:06 PM
Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 7:16 PM
Gabriel said...: Did you get to see the DC-10 tanker while flying?

I just wanted to ask you if there was a way to contact you directly. I am very interested in the ENG pilot/reporter field. I am a friend of your collegue, Bill Thomas! ;-) If you want to contact me directly you can at, sgt_skinner1@yahoo.com

Hope to hear from you,
Gabriel; 1:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Desiree, Would love to swap pics with you. I have some great stuff of Sydney and Australia. Well done you for creating an awesome BLOG. Keep living life sister. Andrew.; 5:53 AM
Richard Gutmann said...: Desiree,

A while back you said, "After 16 years of flying, my jaw still drops and my eyes widen when I fly over some amazing things daily out here! I'm lucky to have not gotten sick of flying, burned out, or whiney like most pilots have."

Have you found that to be the case even with helicopter fire-pilots?

I can understand why airline pilots with autopilot, etc. could get bored between takeoff and landing if they don't have much to do. And I suppose almost anything can get boring if you do it long enough, but fighting fires with a helicopter would seem like an exception. But maybe I‘m wrong.

Richard; 12:53 PM

Post a Comment

PHPA / Professional Helicopter Pilots Association

Promoting safety and
understanding among
helicopter pilots, the PHPA
continues its mission
contributing to the critical
operations maintaining safe
helicopter missions and
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;
Provide a forum for identifying and seeking resolution to local problems of interest to the membership;
Promote community relations between the public and the helicopter industry.

The PHPA is a national
organization with the
corporate office in
Los Angeles, California.

Become a member and help
support your helicopter
community.

Go to:
http://www.phpa.org/

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!