The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: Cargo Training Day with the Crews in Keenwild

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Yay!!!!! I finally met SMOKEY THE BEAR!!!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Wow. You are one girl no one's gonna forget. How long have you been flying with those international air ambulance services?; 5:13 AM
camerapilot said...: Hey Desiree!
Oh that looks like fun, what a beautiful place to train!
This latest job(The Day The Earth Stood Still)is consuming us all,we're toast, make that burnt and hammered toast.Still having fun though haha!
Most of this filming has been done at Downey Studios in Downey. I had no idea that these stages are the site where the space shuttle had been built.
These hangers are so big that if you have to go to the bathroom your going to wind up walking a quarter mile round trip. After the first day most of the crew brought bikes to get around.
Last week we got a 6am call time to be at Los Alamitos Army Aviation Support Facility which meant that we were surrounded by choppers!
At sunrise I watched ground crew pedal tricycles fitted with large baskets go to and from a line of S-70A Blackhawks supplying the needs of each flight crew. Turbo jet engines began firing one by one on each chopper. The far left chopper lifted first and the other four were pulled along as though they were Christmas lights on a string.
I wasn't much use that day. Surrounded by Blackhawks and crew chiefs that were more than willing to give me hands on instruction I jumped at the chance to get in the right hand seat and go through the motions.
Most of these California crews have been on two tours to Iraq and they are heading back soon. It's funny, when they're in Iraq they're taking fire and when they're in California they're fighting fires.
"Oh we love fighting fires, that has to be the best time we have in these choppers" said one of the chiefs. He slid back the chopper door and showed me a brand new 1000 gallon Bambi with a Powerfill pump with a shallow draw capability.
Those guys and gals really loved getting those fire calls.
Here is a site that one of the crew chiefs shared with me, www.willynillyoif3.com
Living the dream!; 12:32 PM
Dave Zader said...: Hey Desiree,

I thought you might enjoy this blog of a friend of mine she is headed to antartica as a Helitech She is very similar to you in many ways. She is a pretty good writer as well. Check it out http://www.gardelcolorado.com/southernexposure/blog; 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...: It's just 'Smokey Bear'. No 'The'. Common misconception, though! :); 10:06 PM

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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!