The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: Moved to the Rancho Fire just north of Santa Barbara

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Moved to the Rancho Fire just north of Santa Barbara

Wow, what a difference in temps. So much cooler over here compared to the past week in Rosamond. Was released this morning and on a new fire today. On our flight over we flew over a new start south of Gorman off the 5 fwy. County fire was enroute with their ships as we passed over. Anyway, had a blast today, played with the 100' long line bringing drinking water to the fire fighters on the mountain. Have to get up early, so I'm off to be for now.

3 comments:

camerapilot said...: Ooooooohhhhh that sounds like fun with the long line!
We could have used you on this one trip. Some pilot thought he could drop us provisions via kicking them out of a C-172 by making a low-slow pass over a sandbar. Food and soda hit sand landing at stall speed, VS 47. We all saw all our money on food tumble and blow up. I got the only soda out of two cases, not because I was greedy, it landed at my feet. It was great, with every meal we all crunched on sand.
Glad you got on the other side of the hill to enjoy the temp. dip! Might be able to find some better wine there too!
Love your insight, the pics and the notes, thank you Desiree, your most rare.; 8:34 PM
Trevor said...: Hey Desiree, I'm sure you're not minding the cool off one bit. Flew over the Tehachapi's on Saturday morning and it was still so hazy from that fire. Anyways, am up in Oregon now and same here, soooo much cooler. In fact we camped for 2 nights out on the coast and it never got out of the low 60s. Beats 105 at home any day of the week and twice on sundays.

Trevor; 10:49 PM
Richard Gutmann said...: Desiree,

It's really good to hear Lou is doing better.

I don't know if you get today off or not. But I hope you have a great Independence Day and, if you do work, get to fly over some residential areas. I remember you saying how nice it is to watch from the air when everyone is setting off their fireworks.

Bill Smith of KTLA mentioned you awhile back on his blog when he was talking about liking to report from the helicopter himself: Desiree You are in the sixth paragraph from the bottom.

I didn't know he once flew a Cessna and reported traffic over Los Angeles.

Take care,

Richard; 6:43 AM

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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!