RMH owning Western Helicopters
In 1981, I was on a BLM firefighting 500D flying out of George AFB. Our contractor was Western helicopters, then part of RMH. I have actually been wearing a RMH belt buckle for 32 years, now. Not sure if that is bragging or embarrassing.
Our primary pilot was Chuck Smith. He was a CWO in Vietnam in the early 1960s, then a Bell guy in Iran when things fell apart. Amazing pilot. A couple tales I recall include flying north towards the Owens valley. We were at Kramer Junction and still did not have clearance to go through the north part of Edwards. We dropped to the deck and flew north at 110+ knots, under the high lines. Another was hopping out of the ship in the eastern Mojave, one skid on the ground (flying at ground level, not the only time) and stepping out carefully to sign a recently discharged midshipmans shirt displayed as a flag. We also auto-rotated back to the station (engine running, but eerily quiet). And the coolest and scariest was riding a thermal from Lone Pine to a trail head near Whitney, right against the cliffs.
One time the electric trim (coollie cap, IIRC) failed outside of Fresno. A few of us figured out how to take Western out of contract so Chuck could fly all the way back to Rialto to get it replaced.
Our relief pilot was their manager, Dorcey Wingo. He'd show up in the afternoon as Chuck was maxing out. Take off his jacket, tie still on, pull on the Nomex, and start flying.
Thanks for letting me reminisce.
Last edited by BaddogLT; 17th Apr 2013 at 16:34.