The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: Monday night news......

Monday, November 06, 2006

Monday night news......

Well I'm back flying news this week. After coming back from the Esperanza fire last week I had several days off before going back to work. It was nice! Last week on friday I flew a charter in our black astar. I flew the owner of Prime Jet, a jet charter company. Dropped him off at the Island Express helipad at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. That was a fun flight. He was really nice. It was weird to be wearing charter clothes which consist of me in drag basically. I wear black dress slacks with a white shirt and a tie. After being in full nomex and flight boots and gloves and wearing a helmet, it was strange. Today is actually wednesday. I started to blog monday and we launched on some stories. Then back here on tuesday, same thing. No chance to get online while we have been flying so much. Tonight is slow so far. I can't wait till I have a bit more down time so I can respond to everyone's questions. You have all been so patient and lots of fun to talk to. It's really cool that you guys follow my blog and are still interested in what I'm up to. It's even more strange getting back into flying news, at night, now with the time change. All summer we never fly at night on any fires, so now I'm back flying at night, in casual clothes and just a headset instead of my helmet. It's really kinda nice and relaxing. I work with some really cool people here at Coastal, the company that owns all the helicopters I fly. I'm waiting for my friend Stacy Sheard to send me some photos of a job she just did with a huey. She worked on some TV series with the ship. I will post those photos when I get them. Stacy and myself are two of very few female SAG helicopter pilots in the biz. I've flown in various high and low budget movies. You can find a couple of my credits on the IMDb. The low budget ones are not listed. It pays really well and it's really fun flying. It can be some of the most fun you can have with a helicopter next to fighting fire(and chasing trophy trucks in Baja). Fires are dangerous and fun, but movie flying is just pure fun, not near as dangerous as fire. But any kind of flying is dangerous. Driving a car is dangerous. Unfortunately the main players that fly helicopters for movies are men and it's a very tight group. Most of the scenes that call for female pilots they just throw a wig on. I'm flying news the rest of this week and part of next week. This weekend I will be co-piloting with Stacy in her Bell 430 for Elite Aviation to Arizona for Nascar. Should be an awsome weekend! Can't wait. Then, it gets better.....next week, mid week I am flying one of our astars to Baja for the Baja 1000!!!! I have always wanted to fly Baja and chase the racers in the 1000. It will be some of the most exciting flying. Great crews, great adventures, good times to be had by all. Can't wait. I probably won't get a chance to blog until the following week. Well, back to work. You all have a great weekend and enjoy this amazing weather we have been having!

10 comments:

Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 10:26 PM
trevor said...: Hey Desiree, Enjoy Baja! We all know how much you'll "hate" chasing the trucks, low level, high speed LOL. Just be careful.

Can sure see where movie flying can be fun, but it's still flying. I can remember my favorite show growing up was "Airwolf" (you and I are about the same age so I'm hoping you remember it too) and remember a stunt pilot going down in the mountains there above Santa Clarita during filming.

Was curious what you thought of the DC-10 that was used over on the Esperanza fire. Can see how it helps with putting so much retardant at once on a fire but it seems like you would have to go quite a ways away to get to an airport that can accomodate a DC-10. Especially if you're doing a fire that's in a remote area.

Trevor
da40flyer@yahoo.com; 8:34 PM
Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 10:57 PM
Greybeard said...: Those of us that have been around a while cringe every time we see the lead-in to "Magnum P.I.", and see how close that '500 came to bein' rolled into a ball chasing that car down the road.
I can remember reading how "Airwolf" claimed several helicopter pilot's lives, and of course, there's the "Twilight Zone" movie fiasco.
Doing that kind of work may be exciting, but remember, you're dealing with people that don't understand how extraordinary a helicopter is, just doing what it does normally.
Neat "stuff" for movies and TV can get outside the envelope pretty quickly.
Don't be tempted.; 2:17 PM
Laguna said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 10:54 AM
Laguna said...: Live thy life as it were spoil and pluck the joys that fly.
-Martial, A.D.86

I think you just did that down in Baja!!:); 10:58 AM
Richard Gutmann said...: Hi Desiree,

Hope you enjoyed both the NASCAR race in Phoenix and the Baja 1000--but not too much! I say "not too much" because I can easily picture you coming back to L.A. having decided auto racing is so much fun that it is going to be another of your endeavors.

Desiree, do you have any NON-dangerous hobbies or interests you would care to share with us? But please don't use something like, "Yes, coin-collecting and that's not dangerous" if, in fact, you SCUBA dive on old sunken ships searching for gold coins!

Richard; 11:59 PM
Shane said...: Saw the fleet of helos as I taxi-d into Ensenada (well, i kinda saw them because two birds were lifting off and the cloud of dust was huge). Hope you had a great time in Baja. The weather was perfect -- great for flying!!!; 2:12 PM
Laguna said...: Hey Desiree, was that your ship? After take off from WHP I glanced down and saw a really super dusty black astar with green claw marks. Girl, it looks like you had some fun!!!!
Welcome back!!:); 5:22 PM
Desiree said...: get back to your comments soon. i'm at work and have to go fly! take care and talk later!; 3:51 PM

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PHPA / Professional Helicopter Pilots Association

Promoting safety and
understanding among
helicopter pilots, the PHPA
continues its mission
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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

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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!