First 100 Posts - Freebie 2016 Calendar
Like lots of previous posters said, it beats working for a living!
I've got about 6000hrs on the 757 and 767 and jacked it in 10 years ago to come back to rotary on HEMS and Police…love it. Every day is different, and I mostly get to sleep in my own bed, with a 15 minute commute, no security nazis, no staff car park, no deep night flights etc etc. I do miss hooning the 757 round at low level on a visual approach into a Greek island, but get my fixed wing kick from an SSDR WW! replica.
Plus we get to help people in trouble too...
I've got about 6000hrs on the 757 and 767 and jacked it in 10 years ago to come back to rotary on HEMS and Police…love it. Every day is different, and I mostly get to sleep in my own bed, with a 15 minute commute, no security nazis, no staff car park, no deep night flights etc etc. I do miss hooning the 757 round at low level on a visual approach into a Greek island, but get my fixed wing kick from an SSDR WW! replica.
Plus we get to help people in trouble too...
It was not my first flight but definitely the first as a single passenger in an offshore Cab.
I was scheduled for a one full day survey on a Rig Drilling on the Dutch German divide line. I came out White Thursday but the flight was delayed so I arrived after 18:00 hours.
It showed that there would not be a scheduled flight before Tuesday leaving me on board over Easter or I had to hop on a unscheduled Heli that would bring some urgent spare parts Friday morning at 07:00. But that Heli would only bring me to the next Rig.
Of course I went for that option.
I spent the whole night on the survey.
Grabbed a quick breakfast and was just in time for the chopper. It turned out it brought me to a Rig in the northern Dutch part and I was the only passenger! I was kicked out as capacity was planned for specialists and company men returning to shore before Easter.
However there was a second flight which would take me to the Main platform of the oil Company which was more to the UK-Dutch divide!
From there there were multiple flights every day of which I just got the last one inbound.
I had flewn more than triple the shortest route but did not get the airmiles. At least I was home before Easter!
I was scheduled for a one full day survey on a Rig Drilling on the Dutch German divide line. I came out White Thursday but the flight was delayed so I arrived after 18:00 hours.
It showed that there would not be a scheduled flight before Tuesday leaving me on board over Easter or I had to hop on a unscheduled Heli that would bring some urgent spare parts Friday morning at 07:00. But that Heli would only bring me to the next Rig.
Of course I went for that option.
I spent the whole night on the survey.
Grabbed a quick breakfast and was just in time for the chopper. It turned out it brought me to a Rig in the northern Dutch part and I was the only passenger! I was kicked out as capacity was planned for specialists and company men returning to shore before Easter.
However there was a second flight which would take me to the Main platform of the oil Company which was more to the UK-Dutch divide!
From there there were multiple flights every day of which I just got the last one inbound.
I had flewn more than triple the shortest route but did not get the airmiles. At least I was home before Easter!
I fly because I'm not qualified to do anything else :-S
Coming up on 10 years of commercial flying, my most memorable moment? Years ago I did a couple of Eastcoast-to-Westcoast ferry flights in R44s when I was in Australia, those were pretty memorable. Landed in the middle of the Simpson between Birdsville and Alice springs to put in a couple jerry cans of AVGAS. I wasn't planning to shut down for this - anyone who has flown R44s before knows they can be a bitch to start when hot, and it was 43C... however the damn thing started vibrating itself into the sand so I had to stop the engine. Luckily it fired up on the second start attempt.
Interesting about this is that I was 160NM from both Alice and Birdsville, there was no other air traffic from either airport, and the desert was closed to 4WD crossings for the season. So for that half hour or so, I was most likely the only human being within a 160NM radius. Which is the "loneliest" I have ever been, lonelier than most people will ever be in there life I would guess.
Coming up on 10 years of commercial flying, my most memorable moment? Years ago I did a couple of Eastcoast-to-Westcoast ferry flights in R44s when I was in Australia, those were pretty memorable. Landed in the middle of the Simpson between Birdsville and Alice springs to put in a couple jerry cans of AVGAS. I wasn't planning to shut down for this - anyone who has flown R44s before knows they can be a bitch to start when hot, and it was 43C... however the damn thing started vibrating itself into the sand so I had to stop the engine. Luckily it fired up on the second start attempt.
Interesting about this is that I was 160NM from both Alice and Birdsville, there was no other air traffic from either airport, and the desert was closed to 4WD crossings for the season. So for that half hour or so, I was most likely the only human being within a 160NM radius. Which is the "loneliest" I have ever been, lonelier than most people will ever be in there life I would guess.
Join Date: May 2008
Location: USA
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Has to be the diversity of operations in the industry for me.
Best pictures I have are from the Beautiful Scenery of the Alaskan Range and Brookes Range while pushing 500s and 350s to the max moving stackable core drills.
Most challenging flying has been in the short haul Powerline construction and Aerial Saw sector.
Most frustrating has been moving seismic recording equipment in the triple canopy Appalachians with the BagRunner.
Best comradery had to be working with Bristow in the old days. Most boring flying was also hands down the offshore sector.
Best pictures I have are from the Beautiful Scenery of the Alaskan Range and Brookes Range while pushing 500s and 350s to the max moving stackable core drills.
Most challenging flying has been in the short haul Powerline construction and Aerial Saw sector.
Most frustrating has been moving seismic recording equipment in the triple canopy Appalachians with the BagRunner.
Best comradery had to be working with Bristow in the old days. Most boring flying was also hands down the offshore sector.
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Canada
Age: 53
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Landing beside a river in Labrador, with water so clear it looked like the fish were hovering in mid-air. No sign, besides me and the helicopter, that mankind even existed. No noise, no garbage, no powerlines....paradise.
I wish I had never left.
I wish I had never left.
Are there still calendars available? If so, I would be thrilled to get one!
I love the industry becouse the versatility flying heilcopters provide.
My most menoravle moment, uh, is hard to choose from since there are many memorable moments later on, but first hover, first solo flight and first flight getting paid and having a customer doing his job on my left side, probably are mine.
I love the industry becouse the versatility flying heilcopters provide.
My most menoravle moment, uh, is hard to choose from since there are many memorable moments later on, but first hover, first solo flight and first flight getting paid and having a customer doing his job on my left side, probably are mine.
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: USA
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Mine came today. From all the way around the world successfully!
It is a very nice calendar. Indeed my wife has already absconded with it!
Thank you very much, Ned, and Happy New Year!
It is a very nice calendar. Indeed my wife has already absconded with it!
Thank you very much, Ned, and Happy New Year!
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: heart of Europe
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Because it's a nice "little" community and almost everybody loves the work.
Because it's the best sound on earth and still can get me goosebumps.
Because you can float around in the most amazing landscapes and feel free.
Once I took a girlfriend for a cross country flight. It was her first helicopter ride, she absolutely loved it and still mentions it years after.
Because it's the best sound on earth and still can get me goosebumps.
Because you can float around in the most amazing landscapes and feel free.
Once I took a girlfriend for a cross country flight. It was her first helicopter ride, she absolutely loved it and still mentions it years after.
Last edited by Rocky135; 29th Dec 2015 at 17:02. Reason: typo
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: swansea, wales
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first 100posts
Ever since I saw a hiller as a 6 year old boy, the bug has remained, made one with my meccano set paddles and all, could never get enough of them, most likely because with helos if you live in the right place you can get close enough to see all the action unlike at airports and most airfields. I am as interested in them today as I was then, even their profile as they fly.
The industry have given me the opportunity to be fortunate enough to see quite a bit of the planet I'd normally would not go to and getting paid for it! 
Not really able to pinpoint one thing, but the office view at sunrise on a beautiful clear morning after weeks of **** weather hampering my work, everything is forgotten and life is just a ball.
Cheers, and Happy New Year Ned, and all the rest.
Not really able to pinpoint one thing, but the office view at sunrise on a beautiful clear morning after weeks of **** weather hampering my work, everything is forgotten and life is just a ball.Cheers, and Happy New Year Ned, and all the rest.
I had been a plank driver for 18 years before trying rotary, because I had read how hard it was and wondered if I was up to the challenge. I was like a completely new stude after that intro flight in an R22. It took way too long to earn the rating (fly in the morning, work the remainder of the day hoping to break even), but flying home after the checkride, in the dark, was a real kick and very satisfying. A few days later, I took the R22 to a picnic/fly-in to give some rides. The host's wife got in first. She said she had never flown in a helicopter before. I said, what a coincidence, I've never had a passenger before. The look on her face was priceless.
Incidentally, it was about 3 months later I found Pprune, and really started learning.
Ned, thanks for your generosity. Your work is magic with a camera.
Incidentally, it was about 3 months later I found Pprune, and really started learning.
Ned, thanks for your generosity. Your work is magic with a camera.
One of my earliest childhood memories is flying over the great Aletsch glacier in the Swiss Alps in an SA-319. Been hooked on helos ever since - or as the great Leonardo da Vinci is believed to have said: "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."
Still can't believe I turned out to be PIC...
Happy New Year to everyone and many happy landings in 2016!
Still can't believe I turned out to be PIC...
Happy New Year to everyone and many happy landings in 2016!
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: 6 minutes ahead of the landing 747
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That magical sensation still while sat in the hover. Being able to take-off and land with Boeing 777s et al at my local international airport. Watching numerous sunrises and sunsets while airborne throughout the year. I could go on. Happy New Year all.