100 Free Helicopters at Work Calendars
 

I thought it might be a nice gesture for Xmas to give away 100 copies of the 2006 Helicopters at Work calendar as they are now at the printers, and the images on there are some of the best yet.

So to fulfill the requirements to get one all you have to do is post on this thread why you enjoy being part of the helicopter industry.

Once you have done that, no sarcastic comments though, send me a PM with name and postal address and will send you one. Its as simple as that.

You dont usually get much for nothing in the helo industry, so nows the time to benefit.

Cheers

Ned

There are numerous reasons why I enjoy participating in the helo industry.....apart from the fact that you need to keep evolving and that one is never too sure what is around the next corner......

The thing that sets it apart from other industries, for me atleast, is the fact that ladies love adding to my collection of in-your-end-ohs using the word 'chopper'!!

Sorry Ned, but you can tell that I'm not too busy at the moment - thanks to Beurocopter!!

You already have my address.

Things that I enjoy about the helicopter industry are the people I get to meet around the world and some of the amazing places I get to see…

Chatting on the radio in the wilds of Scotland with a Squirrel pilot and then landing in Oban for a refuel and finding out that is was my old mate jellycopter who was on the squadron with me and EESDL and Hueymeister and probably many more.

I spose, in other words, as bellhater says, the people...:ok:

In addition to the people, there is the fact that your boss trusts you to take a couple of million pounds worth of fragile machinery, use it to the best of your ability to complete the job and then, with a little luck, bring it back in one piece.

Cheers

TeeS

As Nick said once.

It's better than working in a factory poking assoles in Barbi Dolls.

And get paid squillien's for the joys!!!

It is the people, many are very intresting.
it also beets driving.

Nigel

People and Places has to be the answer...the true reward sure seems to be internal.

The appreciation shown by a smile, a Thumbs Up gesture, a Thank You visit by an EMS patient, and the pure enjoyment of some of the sights. Sunrise over the North Sea as you pop up through the Fog, Sunset over the Grand Canyon, the Mountains of Alaska in the Winter, the desert of Iran, the calling to prayers in Muslim countries, large formations of helicopters. People you meet at Air Shows who come to view your aircraft. The warmth of friendship given and received over the years by those one shares time with.

Recounting your experiences....both good and bad....with friends who know exactly what you are talking about as a result of their similar life experiences. Think of those moments over a cup or can when talk was genuine and from the heart, the gift of friendship over the years that lasts a life time. If wealth is measured by the number and quality of friends one has accumulated in life, then I am rich beyond my wildest dreams.

Some of us have spent much of our life beyond the end of the pavement and are lucky enough to have seen places and people most folks only read about.

Heck, I even got to meet Ned. What else could one want out of this life?

Merry Christmas Ned and to all Rotorheads out there!



:ok:

Bloody Hell Sassy......

You don't write for Mills and Boon do yah????

The constant variety. i fly planks as well, but I never get the same job satisfaction at the end of the day. Also helo pilots are a damn sight more fun to work with:ok:

Why I like this business.
 

Well first of all there is all the free stuff!:p

I don't know of another business where you get to see so many sunrises and sunsets.

All the different scenery.

The people you meet tend to be a great bunch. If you work in the boonies you get pretty close with your customers.

Great fishing! Arctic Char. Lake trout. Brook trout. Always carry a frying pan ( plus garlic and some Grand Marnier).

Did I mention the scenery.

You become an expert at wx forcasting.

Time speed distance works.

All the different types of jobs. All different! Mostly fun!
Offshore, onshore, slinging, film work, water sampling on floats, powerline construction, bird towing, fun and games with the United Nations, training and all the other stuff.

Ferry trips.

Exploring - going to land on a hilltop far from nowhere and finding an old rusting 10 gallon 80/87 barrel - somebody was there long before you -probably in a 47.

I think that the most fulfilling part of aviation for me is the constant challenge and development.

There is always something to learn, and with technology developing at such a rate, there are always new things to find out about.

The people are also second to none. They are, generally, friendly, helpful people who always have time for each other.

Thank you to everyone.



Oh and not forgetting, the challenge of having to deal with irate pilots like EESDL, who just want their helicopters!!!!

For me it would have the EMS service.

As my dream to fly EMS, i cant think of anything better than the feeling you would get when you have flown a patient to a hospital and they have lived and fully recovered. Especailly if you knew they would not of survived without you flying them!

Talk about making all the hard work, hours, and expense pay off!

R22

It’s the only aviation privilege where one can explore the limits of man and machine either alone or as a team and in doing so save the life of someone in need.

As a "soon to be" pilot, I enjoy the prospect of being part of a legacy, and having the opportunity to perhaps contribute some small portion back to honour those who have gone before us.

I enjoy the unique-ness of rotary wing, the diverse opportunities to work and touch people's lives anywhere in the world - we can go rescue people from mountain tops, ravine floors and heaving seas, we can deliver aid to villagers in Pakistan or Indonesia or PNG, place a radio tower with pinpoint accuracy, haul logs out of mountains faster than they ever could before, and remove the need for dangerous highway chases by being the "eye in the sky".

Using our skills we can fly through an hour of cloud and pop out 500 feet AGL, exactly where we intended to be.

Sure, there are some crappy jobs out there, but there are some worse ones too. People ask me how work is, I say "could be better, but it could be a whole lot worse!".

industry
 

Being able to do something that I truley enjoy, with people that understand that sometimes "they pay me to do this" feeling.

Opportunities that being in the industry have provided.

Knowing that someone struggled through physics, aerodynamics, and higher math put it all together so I could go to work. (Thanks Nick for the Blackhawk.) I may not fully understand it but I can make it do what it is supposed to do.

I'm not sure if it's the dissymetry of lift or the gyroscopic precession that I enjoy most.

Mad people with great stories.

I enjoy it because being in the industry and flying helicopters is a very rewarding line of work, that I sometimes would not even think of as work, but rather as a meaningful, fun and challenging way of spending some of the time I have in this life.

Alot of good friends have been made, both through training as well as working alongside other pilots. And for the most part there is a great sense of mutual respect between these.

I also enjoy being able to have a type of job where the operation and all the people in it are very professional and is looked upon as being a very respectable type of job that, if you compare it with other jobs, only a select few are lucky enough to be doing for a living.

Magjam

"People who needs long explanations at times when everything depends on instinct have always irritated me..."
Guy Sajer, WWII Soldier

What I enjoy about the helicopter industry is passing my knowledge on to my students helping them get the most out of flying, also meeting many different people when on different charter jobs. Nice to go to a different place most days and get out the office!

TiP;)

Why I like it...
 

Being able to further Igor's dream and seeing the smiles on multitudes of faces when our aircraft pull them to safety.....

....................not having to pay for the fuel...............................

Never being to old to learn from this industry. I used to ride as a jockey and have riden many different horses. Helicopters are just the same. They all look alike but all act differently! Its a great leveler!!

I Love my 500' office. :ok:

I enjoy being challenged constantly. A helicopter is a very unforgiving machine. It needs constant attention from all who fly and from all who fix and service. All the answers to all the questions are never in all the books. Every day a new challenege arrives on my door step. I interact on a daily basis with people of varying experience, yet all have something positive to offer on a particular problem or concern. The helicopter industry isnt just a job, its a state of mind; an attitude to succeed at all costs.

I hope to be involved with Helicopters until the day I die.

Flying for free would be it... yes, but flying itself is nr. 1. The pay is bad :bored:, so the only thing i keep thinking about while at work would be to hover:} A very unnatural thing for a human. Those damn hover thingys make me come back to work over and over again, just like living a dream :ok:

I'll think about money later...

the flying, the flying....and the flying. :ok:

Helicopter flying sure beats the heck out of flying a desk (or a plank for that matter), and it is more mentally rewarding too........
By virtue of their ability, helicopters operate into far more varied and challenging places than fixed wing, and this seems to bring about generally more interesting types of chaps and chappess.

Mmmm ...

This thread reminds me of the joke about the sadistic helicopter operator and the maschochistic pilot ....


The maschochist pilot shouts "pay me, pay me!" ...........



And after quiet consideration the sadistic operators quietly says .............






"NO!"


;) ;) :ok:

"to sit in an OGE hover, caressing an antiquated looking stick with imperceptible millimetric inputs; coaxing an equally aged looking lever and dancing the feet on a couple of old metal plates; looking below at the world and feeling so blessed compared to every other unfortunate earth laden individual struggling away beneath us; it's just sheer joy"

R1tamer

Spin....

You left off the best bit....."and the helicopter pilot loved it!":E

I would say the best part of working in this industry is the history. Things seem to change so fast that what we fly or work on today can be a part of history tomorrow. I'm still a young guy but I can already read a helicopter history book and point out pioneers that I have met and worked with and aircraft that I have wrenched on and flown that are just museum peices now. It is a small industry people wise and we can all say that we have helped to make it whatit is today in one way or another.

Happy Holidays

MaxTork

I'm just in it for the chicks and the money !!!!!

Why I enjoy being part of the helicopter industry? Ummmmm… Good question Ned-Air2Air!!!

Sadly I have come to the conclusion after nearly 40 years in vertical flight that the answer is “not a lot”. I have read all the previous posts and yes I recall that feeling but not very recently.

I fear that it might take less time than it took me for the new generation that ‘wishtobeflying’ represents to become disillusioned. It won’t be that long before he / she realizes that as quick as the aid is taken into a stricken site there are people carrying it out to sell on the black market; that all the hilltops have been fitted with a radio tower; and that there is no longer a need to haul logs down mountains because all the jungles and forests have been stripped bare. Sure it could be a whole lot worse, and it will probably happen sooner than you think.

The people? Well as someone once said there are three kinds of people in helicopters, mercenaries, missionaries and misfits. I guess I have now grown into the latter category.

There used to be a time when it was fun, but I think those days have long gone in most areas. Perhaps it is me and it is time that I got a real job and started flying for fun? Perhaps that is what keeps Mr. Lappos and alike so positive.

Maybe it is because I am no longer getting enough good flying, or enough of anything except the bureaucracy and bull of modern aviation. This environment where you are no longer able to do something unless the regulations say that you can, and the “An aircraft shall not fly unless…” mentality, is the death of the industry by a thousand cuts.

Don’t send me a calendar... send me a couple of doses of whatever SASless is on!!!

What I enjoy most about the Heli industry...

I call my 'work' a job that many day dream about... I fly the cameras that take the photos of scenery that people only see in magazines... I have a job that is transportable to any continent and almost concievable locale on this planet.... I have a work schedule that lets me spend almost half of my year with my wife and son.... I could go on but....


U.

The challenge and beauty of operating your (corny as it may sound) well-loved machine in some of the most spectacular environments on Earth - jungle, snow, mountains, desert, beach, plains, islands, reef.
Shutting down in some bush pad, and as the blade comes to a stop, thinking 'Well, look at where I am - who else could get here?'
Having a plan for the day that goes out the window in the first 5 minutes, but thinking on your feet and making it all work so that when you finally shut down for the last time that evening you've got it all done and had fun to boot. 'Flexibility - the helicopter pilot's watchword.'

SASless

You'd better send whatever you're on to SHortshaft as soon as possible to stop him from writing everything twice. I think he may be on burnout.......

Stirring two little sticks for several years to convert about 1.6 million litres of kerosine into noise, heat and vertical pursuit!

No profound thoughts here. I have to agree with this of course:
Plus...it beats working for a living. :cool:

Hi Ned, long time out and busy but a free calendar is tempting...:O
I think flying is the main reason but you can add some tips, if you keep the flying to the level that is always fun and not enough to get you very tired or bored..., if it's done in a beautiful scenary, and you`re doing the type of flying you like (to me firefighting and mountain rescue mostly and some slingloads...) just great :D
If you add a good paycheck you take care of your family expenses and the posibility of living and working doing all that at home .... what else do you need but a small tour every once in a while???
I've got all that and feel I'm a very lucky person, actually I wouldn't switch jobs with many people for a lond period but I know I work in a spot where many pilots would like to be.
Feels good to be back.
Good luck to everybody and enjoy yourselves at least once a day.
Buen vuelo:ok:

The flying.

The constant learning.

The people (most of them anyway, though my first flight school tried to stitch me up whilst I was in the states).

The scenery.

The stories (with more learning).

And many more...