2 CHAPTER TITLE Robbie The Robinson helicopter experience

Jon Davison

Eye in the Sky Publishing

3 For Tess, my daughter and friend

Developed and published in 2008 (Digital e-book version 2020) by Eye in the Sky Productions Western Australia www.eyeinthesky.com.au

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

Copyright text © Jon Davison 2008 Photographs © Jon Davison 2008 (All photographs by Jon Davison unless stated otherwise)

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Author: Davison, Jon.

Title: Robbie : the Robinson helicopter experience / Jon Davison.

Edition: 1st ed.

ISBN: 9780646502304 (hbk.)

Subjects: Robinson helicopters. Helicopters--Pictorial works. Helicopter transportation.

Dewey Number: 387.73352

Production by Eye in the Sky Productions Conceived, photographed, designed and produced by Jon Davison Editor: Nicola Davison Sales & Marketing: Robin Olson Business Manager: Alexis Bachofen Graphic Design and studio production: Ian Morin

Printed by Everbest Printing Co., China

4 CHAPTER TITLE CONTENTS

Title page 1 Introduction - Jon Davison 4 BASSAIR - Pretoria, South Africa 12 ALPINE AIR - Alaska, USA 30 AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS - Ayers Rock, Australia 46 ROBINSON FACTORY - Frank Robinson 62 FLYING M AIR - Arizona, USA 76 HELIREEF - Great Barrier Reef, Australia 90 RUSSELL HARRISON PLC - Oxford, England 102 WINDHAWK HELICOPTERS - Marlborough, New Zealand 112 NORCOPTER - Stavanger, Norway 124 MAUNA LOA HELICOPTERS - Hawaii, USA 134 ROTORVATION HELICOPTER SERVICES - Western Australia 146 ARDMORE HELICOPTERS - Auckland - New Zealand 160 EAST COAST HELICOPTERS - Boston, USA 172 WANAKA HELICOPTERS - Wanaka, New Zealand 184 SOKHA HELICOPTERS - Siem Reap, Cambodia 200 An R44 Raven II from Wanaka Helicopters in Appendix: Facts & Figures 218 New Zealand, lands on a Photographic Notes 220 spur of the Southern Alp mountain range. Acknowledgements 222

5 INTRODUCTION was commissioned in early 2007 to provide new photography for a rotory flying school and charter operation based in Perth, Western Australia. They operated Robinson R22’s and R44’s and needed a comprehensive photographic coverage Iof their operations, including air-to-air portraits of their machines at work. I should say that up to this point I had never flown in a Robinson of any kind, neither the two-seat R22, or the four-seat R44. I had been photographing aircraft for many years, including helicopters, but for some reason our paths had never crossed. In fact I don’t remember ever seeing a Robinson up close. Therefore my knowledge of anything smaller than the 206 Jet Ranger was very limited. Thankfully, this was all soon to change for the good.

For some reason I assumed that my camera platform for this particular assignment would be either a Jet Ranger or the AS350. I was wrong on both counts. Outside the hangar waiting, with its doors removed as my mount for the start of the air-to-air sorties, was a nice blue Robinson R44 Raven II. I looked at the R44 and remember being hesitant. My attitude to these machines was like most people’s at the time, pretty negative and not founded in reality. To me they didn’t seem real, seeming more like toys than actual flying machines. This view had been primarily generated by other pilots who had never flown in a Robinson but flew turbines. I had no idea what place they took in the grand scheme of things; what their roles were or how versatile they were. In fact not much about them at all. I remember once hearing that there was a four seat Robinson but I had never actually seen one, and now here I was just about to fly off in one.We were to spend the first day flying around various wineries in the state’s

6 CHAPTER TITLE The author harnessed, and standing on the skids of an R44 Astro, flying backwards as he shoots a Pilatus PC12 taking off from Uluru. PHOTO BY ALEXIS BACHOFEN..

ROBBIE | INTRODUCTION 7 This commission lasted a good few months with air-to-air shoots of the company’s Robinson helicopters portrayed in all sorts of situations. In fact I ended up moving my office to the hangar so that I could grab the photographic opportunities as they happened on a day to day basis. The company carried out charter, training and scenic flights throughout Western Australia’s southwest, so I ended up covering pretty much their entire operation. We flew low over the surf beaches, landed in extremely tight areas at wineries all over the south west, did low level cattle mustering in an R22, flew scenic flights over Perth city, Rottnest Island and Fremantle and sling loading at the Kalgoorlie goldfields, plus air to air shots of other helicopters.

Within that first week I was completely converted. My absence of experience had, like most, provided me with a blinkered view of possibly one of the most versatile flying machines in the world.

Shooting another helicopter from an R44 was effortless, with a great angle of view. With a helmet and visor I could easily lean right out, or stand on the skids at speed to do near head-on shots, or even oblique views. Usually an air-to-air photo shoot has two aircraft flying in formation, side-by-side at the same speed most of the time. Or if the speeds are compatible and the door is off I can get my subject into my 3 o’clock position, or into my 2 o’clock position for tail-on shots. However, full head-on shots, say with the subject in my 5 o’clock position, was virtually impossible. I found that with the R22 or R44 we were not limited to the normal form of shooting and that our southwest, shooting an R44 Clipper II using the wineries as backdrop. Suffice to say I agility could provide for some different angles. To quote from David Adamson’s story in was a bit dubious about spending a day in this tiny helicopter. this book;

As the day progressed I vividly remember my attitude changing by the minute. The “We are more like an aerial ballet, where we fly around, or over and under our subject. Clipper was to fly formation with us all the way, so I had all day to observe it in the air. We can go in whatever direction it takes to get the camera shots wanted. It’s more My first thought was that, as a cameraship, the view was unparalleled in any direction; interactive because of the R22 or R44 as cameraships. The shots you get are there was so much light and no bulkhead in sight! I could shoot from the front or the somewhat different than others because of the capabilities of the machine we are rear seats without losing visibility, and the speed … my God … down low and fast - it in. It’s more cost effective as well. Because it is a four-seat helicopter with only two was simply astounding. people and a bit of fuel, we are not power limited. When we did air-to-air of the Police BK117 and the R44 Clipper II over Rottnest, I had good power reserve to get into the Over the course of about a week my cameraship pilot, David Adamson, soon showed right position to get the shots wanted. And it shows. So in most cases we were flying me just what a Robinson could do at any height, at any attitude and at any speed. around the subject, sideways and backwards etc.” The agility of the Robinson changed

8 ROBBIE | INTRODUCTION my ability to get better, more intimate footage of my subject machines in the air. In fact Opposite: David Adamson flies the R44 my original aim in starting my company Eye in the Sky Productions was to do just this Astro sideways for the - provide imagery that was similar to what the automobile had been doing for years author’s camera to shoot which was to make cars look sexy! I believe aircraft are some of the most beautiful a Pilatus PC12 as it takes off from Uluru in the machines man has made. I have always loved aviation, the people, the machines and Central Australian desert. I love flying, being ‘up there’ amongst the clouds, looping etc. But I never seemed to This page: The author’s view from an R44 Raven get the time to get my own wings, I was always too busy hanging out of them. To me, II while shooting an seeing an aircraft close alongside you in the air, was and still is, the best feeling. So to R22 over a reservoir in my mind what better than to be able to incorporate my work with my passion? Western Australia.

I knew that in order to make good portraits of aircraft, I needed to be up there with them. That was good. I liked that idea. But to do this needed certain skills, not necessarily the hardware like cameras etc, but what it needed was good planning and good pilots, ones that are very familiar with close formation flying, ones that know their machines. I found that, like any other form of photography, you needed to build up a rapport or a link with your subject. Strange as it sounds, it is possible to achieve this empathy with a machine like an aircraft. It is an odd feeling, almost as if there is some form of communication between the subject and yourself. I know that is not possible, but that’s what it feels like. I trust this now and wait for it to happen every time, and when it doesn’t happen I call the shoot off. To me it is no different to what I used to do in the studio, not knowing in advance how the subject will react, or what the winning shot will be, but nevertheless knowing you WILL get it, you will pull the job off!

I have flown in many fixed wing aircraft as cameraships, types like the Nanchang CJ- 6, Cessna 182RG, Pilatus PC9, AT6 Texan, BAe Hawk etc, which were great for the matching speeds of the subject, but limited in catching that window of opportunity to get the right shot. In these aircraft, apart from the Cessna, I couldn’t really get a good three-quarter view of my subject. With my seat straps or harness on or secure in my ejection seat, it is virtually impossible to turn around. The Cessna offered a good view of my subject from say a 5 o’clock to a 2 o’clock position but what none of these aircraft could do (and was often a requirement) was fly sideways or backwards. With the helicopter flying backwards or sideways I could shoot an aircraft head on, as it was taxiing or taking off, from the open door. Sometimes we may have to do both at the same time.

ROBBIE | INTRODUCTION I just knew that somehow I had to do a book on the Robbie.

I just knew that somehow I had to do a book on the Robbie. All ESP’s other books had used first person interviews as the basis for the text. This way the experience from the people concerned was far more intimate to the reader, you really felt like you were on the flight deck with the aircrew. I was keen that the Robbie should also have this I started working on jobs with helicopters like the Bell 206 Jet Ranger, Hughes 500 approach. and Eurocopter AS120 Squirrel as cameraships. But I found that sometimes I was limited by the view or angles of opportunity offered, especially with the Hughes 500, After many months research I sent a load of emails to a whole host of operators, in all but mostly the limitation was from the pilots. Often they had never flown in very close parts of the world, explaining what my idea was. The ones that responded are the ones proximity to another aircraft, so didn’t know the limits of their aircraft and what it could appearing in this book. These people wholeheartedly accepted me into their day to day do in the air-to-air environment. What I needed was a light, fast helicopter with good flight operations, some even accepted me into their homes, and I simply recorded their visibility, one that could give us up to 120kts, so that we had a 10kt envelope to work work with my camera. So this book is a look at some of the varied ways that Robbie within. I soon began to realise that with the Robbie I had this advantage and my work operators use their machines. I hope that you enjoy their unique stories as much as I changed or reflected this. The images were more intimate, closer and from any angle I did. wanted. The Robbie could get me into positions to achieve this.

After a while, like most things in life, (the more you become aware, the more you take Jon Davison notice) I started seeing Robbies everywhere. I found that adventure holidays, scenic 2008m tours, gift flights, private helicopter ownership etc had increased worldwide overnight almost entirely due to these small helicopters. Cost and availability, great visibility and reliability were changing an industry. Not only that, but these machines were operating in some of the world’s most amazing places.

10 ROBBIE | INTRODUCTION Left: Self portrait by the author in an R44 Raven II. This page: The author’s view from an R44 Astro over Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia, during an air-to-air sortie of a Pilatus PC12. Helistar Helicopters, based at Lake Taupo in New Zealand’s North Island, offers tours direct from your accommodation to classic icons in the Volcanic Plateau, such as; Above left: The active Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings), Mt Ruapehu (Top centre), the Geothermal gysers of Orakei Korako (center), and the wild Huka Falls (lower centre). Opposite: A Helistar R44 Raven II drops passengers off at The Pillars, a superior boutique homestay at Bonshaw Park just outside Taupo after a long days flights

12

BASSAIR PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA John Bassi

John Bassi and wildlife veterinarian, Dr Charlotte, operate the versatile Robinson R22 Beta BII and Robinson R44 from their base in Pretoria, where they are involved on a daily basis with wildlife animal capture, survey, conservation, research and management.

eamwork is essential during any animal immobilisation; time is always against When the Reedbuck breaks cover they are fast so you have to anticipate their move us, placing extra pressure onto everyone involved. The optimum time of day and be ready, diving in, accelerating smoothly forward and positioning him five meters for flying, darting and game capture occurs when the ambient temperature is ahead and to the left of the helicopter, before he exits the clearing. At this moment I low, early in the morning and late afternoon. have to be matching the animal’s speed, movement and direction, keeping things as T smooth and steady as possible so that Charlotte has a chance to assess the animal’s On this day, we planned for a take off at 16:00, giving us around two hours of daylight. condition, age and sex and can get the dart in. Generally we have a window of a few Once airborne, we start flying transects, searching carefully in likely habitat hoping seconds to get everything perfect before the animal vanishes into the next cluster of to find Common Reedbuck before the last light of the day. It is extremely difficult to bushes, and where I would have to pull up. see the animals, since their colour blends into the surrounding grass and the bushes, especially when they stand still. The rotor downwash and noise from the helicopter The flying can be quite hectic, but we are both focused on our objective and know helps to make the small Reedbuck break cover. They duck and dive between what to expect from each other. I always call out ¨Are you ready? I’m going in now¨. bushes, momentarily appearing between clearings. It is vital to keep the airspeed up, Charlotte knows the animal will be positioned on the nose of the helicopter but she has conserving momentum, but at the same time matching the relative speed of the animal only about 3 seconds to aim and fire, placing the dart into a good muscle, all whilst I whilst not over-shooting it. You can’t afford to fly below transitional speed when they am diving in to our target at 45 knots, with the animal zigzagging and attempting to run because you are operating out of ground effect and with limited power. Keeping throw us off. the helicopter’s nose into the wind and creeping forward slowly, while waiting for the animal to move, is the only way to stay safe, but you must not fly ahead of them or you After I have warned Charlotte to get ready she positions her weight half out of the will lose the limited opportunity to dart. helicopter, placing her left foot onto the skid, preparing herself and aiming.

14 ROBBIE | BASSAIR Opposite: John gently herds a group of running Eland with his R22. This page: John and Charlotte approaching a darted Eland, low level, to determine its condition. She just knows what will happen next and it’s great teamwork. Leaning out of the aircraft for around 10 seconds in this manner has no noticeable effect on the aircraft’s centre of gravity -but the extra drag does reduce performance. Once the animal is darted I cannot afford to slow the machine down, since we would risk the possibility of running out of power. This necessitates accelerating whilst climbing and turning away, placing the darted animal on my blind side in the process. Charlotte has to keep watching the animal, relaying to me what the status is, as I am turning back and gaining altitude to minimise the disturbance to the darted reedbuck. If you take your eyes off the animal while it disappears into a bush as the drug takes effect, you will definitely lose it, increasing the chances of mortality.

From the inception of Bassair, my intention was to set up a specialized wildlife management platform for the growing game farming industry. My goal was to merge aviation with conservation, since this would fulfil both of my passions. As a child I had dreamt of flying and had been fascinated by aircraft. But it’s a long and difficult journey and for years I didn’t have the means, which meant I had to delay my goal for many years. Luckily, although my dreams about flying seemed to be slipping away, I still managed to keep my other interest in conservation and my involvement with wildlife going.

Years later a friend who owned an Ultralight, and also held an instructor rating, invited me to experience aviation and which brought my dream to learn to fly a lot closer. I leaped at the opportunity as I knew that I was not where I wanted to be (farming sheep) and that this could be my big break. But first I had to change everything happening in my life. This was an exciting decision which I remember as clear as day. I woke up one morning knowing that this was the day that I’d start selling everything, getting rid of all that tied me down and that there was no turning back. I was an adventurous, but mature 24 year old, involved in an occupation that imprisoned me completely; farming, so I gave it all up. I still didn’t know how I was going to earn a living out of aviation, or how I’d merge flying and conservation as, in those early days, no wildlife industry really existed.

Growing up in Zimbabwe and surrounded by wildlife, I was afforded constant exposure to conservation projects. I had always lived on the land around the bush,

16 A small family group of Eland (Taurotragus oryx) trot proudly away from the approaching helicopter. The Savannah dwelling Eland is the world’s largest Antelope with a lifespan of approximately 15 to 20 years. Following pages: Members of the enthusiastic ground team. 18 ROBBIE | BASSAIR ROBBIE | BASSAIR 19 even though it was in very low powered and basic flying machines. The freedom, I was open view and low speed were ideal, prompting me to purchase a well known fortunate American model on which I obtained my licence and later, an instructor’s rating. As soon as I was experienced enough, I started giving instruction and in my spare enough to time going off searching for useful things to do from the air, cataloguing, researching spend a etc; always self funded. month flying I never ever intended, or wanted to be involved with passengers, charter work or being around the trapped in the city, I focused on being outside, flying and working with conservation. Koakoveld, The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) was researching information for the Red Data Book of Southern Africa. This is a comprehensive list of all flora and fauna in SA that gathering are endangered or at risk. Depending on the creature’s status in the red data book, a as much particular bird would be highlighted and if it was considered to be “status unknown”, information various means would be used to set the process in motion to research or discover the status of that bird. During the mid 80’s a friend from the Fitzpatrick Institute - the as possible. Ornithological Centre for South Africa - was researching two targeted species, the Blue Swallow and a little bird called the Broad Tailed Warbler. I happened to be living in the same geographical area as these two species and enjoyed flying out at weekends being outdoors and involved with people who were like-minded. At that time my to research their habitat and distribution, often searching large areas in the hope of main interests were ornithological and I had been fortunate to work on various finding their perfect but isolated habitat, managing eventually to locate both species in research projects on birds, as well as doing taxidermy and being a collector with this way. the National Museums. Over time we regularly took to the air, using flying as an aid to research a variety of When I came to South Africa in the early 1980’s I kept this interest going, with a special unusual birds, animals and plants, all of which existed in rugged or remote areas. I interest in endangered birds, and wanting to provide information that could help us was still confined to the limitations of flying Ultralights, often getting myself in and out understand their status. One method that proved to be useful to this end was through of some really tricky situations, but the more I was involved, the more I began to see flying. Their environment and the vast areas of land in which certain birds migrate or aviation’s true potential. live, can only be appreciated by air. Although everything was self funded, this is where the initial idea came from that proved to be the catalyst. The project that became a turning point, pushing me to move over to helicopters, took place in the desert in Namibia. The Rhino and Elephant Foundation were involved During the transition from farming to flying, I was living in a fairly mountainous part of in a project to protect these disappearing animals by establishing the new Desert the country and the best way to patrol and get up into the high areas was to fly, which Elephant and Black Rhino Reserve in Damaraland. This was a massive area of open provided me with many flying hours and great experience. My initial aviation exposure country with an unknown number of local and indigenous nomadic people scattered was gained flying Ultralights, which were a superb and efficient way of getting around, around within it, migrating with their goats and cattle. If something was not done for

20 ROBBIE | BASSAIR the wildlife, Namibia would lose one of the most unique game sanctuaries in Africa, so John and Charlotte returning to their base a reserve had to be established. Before this process could begin, a proper census had followed by one of the to be conducted in order to establish the human population dynamics, as well as how recovery vehicles after many Black Rhino and Desert Elephants lived there. I was fortunate enough to spend another long day a month flying around the Koakoveld, gathering as much information as possible. Helicopters were difficult to obtain and as always, there were none available to the industry that were cost effective or types that could be trailered on such bad roads into a remote location by car or truck. Then finally, in the early 1980’s, the Robinson R22 HP became available, which revolutionised everything. Although they were completely basic with no governors, small oil coolers which resulted in engines overheating, a lower tail boom and limited fuel endurance with a two hour limit, they changed everything. I knew that it was the end of the road with Ultralights for me and it was highly likely that the way I was heading, if I did not do something soon, I would surely kill myself. I was getting more and more opportunities to work in conservation, and the only way forward would be with a helicopter. It was time to change direction again and so I sold my Ultralight school and everything else and purchased my first R22HP. Not only did I find more opportunities in conservation, but more uses for helicopters in general, growing my fleet to 11 helicopters.

The game industry took off in the late 1980’s and South Africa was going through some major changes economically. Agriculture and farming were in a slump, beef, wool and mutton prices fell, a situation aggravated by a bad drought. Simultaneously, opportunities in the wildlife industry revolving around tourism, eco tourism, game lodges, game viewing and hunting were emerging, all items that had sparked interest in the past, laying the foundations for an industry where nothing much had previously happened.

Uncomfortable politics elsewhere in Africa, namely Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia were interfering with tourism, making such countries appear to be unsafe destinations for foreign hunters to visit. South Africa came into the spotlight as a new focus for hunters, photographic safaris and tourism, thereby boosting the value of game ranches and the value of game. Until this time there had been vast areas of open land with natural wildlife in many areas, often with no ownership. Since game held

ROBBIE | BASSAIR Typical landscape of the Orange Free State, where many of Bassair’s operations take place. Opposite: John and Charlotte approaching a darted Eland from behind, guiding it to to the waiting animal handlers. no real value, nobody really cared about the free-roaming wildlife; it was a valueless entity that everyone had grown up with. This commercialisation resulted in attitudes changing, with investors and farmers purchasing land and fencing off game areas throughout the country.

Prior to the sudden demand of individuals owning game farms, the State-run Nature Conservation Departments were the only organisations actively involved in wildlife management and conducting any form of research. They were heavily funded and subsidised by the Government, allowing them to employ proficient conservationists and people really going places, so virtually all wildlife ownership was in their control. Comparing the industry from then to now, the bulk of South Africa’s wildlife is now in the hands of the private land owner, which is as a result of the cuts in government funding to aid the Nature Conservation Departments which occurred at the change to majority rule in 1994. As the State-operated game reserves began collapsing as they ran out of money, suffering staff losses, land claims and negative politics, everything fell apart. Reduced finances as well as the loss of interested and qualified people being employed to do the work has resulted in most game departments becoming ineffectual, corrupt and top heavy. Conservation has taken a back seat since, in the new South Africa, the emphasis is on the people, land for the communities, black empowerment and the drive to uplift the previously disadvantaged. The private sector therefore is the only area that still maintains a stronghold in conservation because of the value of game. Now, sadly, it’s just business.

If the political situation deteriorates further, as it has in Zimbabwe where the value of game is reduced completely, or taken away, if ownership of wildlife falls back into State hands, or should the hunting industry collapse, there will be no reason for game ranchers to continue, jeopardising what wildlife is left in South Africa. Over-regulation, along with rampant land claims is harming the remaining wildlife sanctuaries and damaging the industry as well. As mentioned earlier, the trigger that launched the wildlife industry in the 1980’s was partly due to the low prices being fetched for cattle and sheep, aided by a bad drought. This woke farmers up to the realisation that wildlife could thrive in conditions when cattle could not, prompting growth in the venison industry, not unlike the big venison industry that New Zealand had experienced a few years earlier.

23 During the mid 80’s in South Africa, the industry was culling huge numbers of These particular Lechwe have all been paid for and sold in advance and there are Springbok and other game species each year. There were culling teams equipped with expectations from our clients, prompting us to quickly find an alternative and to move, helicopters scattered all round the country processing hundreds of animals a day. sometimes over great distances and with an entire circus of trucks and equipment. The majority of this meat was exported through the Soviet Union and back into Europe Occasionally, while travelling half way across the country with the helicopter to capture as venison - an unusual route but necessary because South Africa was boycotted a group of animals, all the plans come to an abrupt halt if one truck breaks down en globally, resulting in sanctions against the country and therefore they were not allowed route. Adapting to changes that we cannot predict in an efficient manner is vital to to export products. This situation was alleviated by exporting the game via Russia, succeeding in our industry. providing South Africa with a global market, which continued until the catastrophe of Chernobyl, which brought the industry to an end. With the subsequent blockade on Other variable factors are climatic. For example, we do not operate once it becomes all meat products, Australia and New Zealand were then in a prime position and took too hot as above 26 degrees Celsius it is not safe for the animals and mortalities will over the market, bringing the South African venison market to an end. Now that South increase. During mass capture using a plastic boma, if the wind is blowing from the Africa is politically correct, the venison industry has recently picked up again, aided wrong direction, no matter how creative you are, you cannot fool and capture animals by a reduction in game prices which have fallen as a result of the government’s bad that have a keen sense of smell, they will always know there is a trap and escape. policies for wildlife ranchers. During all of these events, helicopters have always played a primary role in making things happen and this is where my business interests During our year we are often involved in capturing large numbers of game species for are based. sale at auctions. These animals are held in specially built pens, called bomas and sold during live game auctions. In one operation our objective was to capture 500 animals Over the years, flying operations involving wildlife management, culling and game of various species for an auction to be held five days later on a Saturday morning. All capture have been the foundation allowing me to be able to fund what I love doing, of the animals had to be safely housed in the bomas by the Friday morning. Everything which is flying for conservation. It has allowed me to experience being at the top level must be completed, along with the catalogue which has to be printed before the of any research project that is taking place, anything that is cutting edge with regards auction. The catalogue has to have every species shown, including quantities, the sex to animal conservation. ratios, family structures and in the case of males, horn lengths. This information is often marketed in advance prior to the auction, but you cannot catch the animals more than During the mid 1990’s we were flying a comfortable 100 hours a month per helicopter, two weeks before the actual auction. operating a team of Robinson 22’s, driving 10,000 kilometres a month trailering the Robbies and still literally turning work away. We were capturing and relocating up The condition of wild animals is diminished rapidly whilst in captivity and half of them to 8,000 animals a month stocking new reserves and sanctuaries. But it has all could die, so for the animal’s sake, as well as ethically, they must be captured a few changed; the demand and value for wildlife has diminished for many of the reasons days prior to the auction. It is equally as important to hold the auction, load the game mentioned above. onto transport containers, deliver them to their new homes and release them as quickly as possible. This system places huge pressure on our capture planning due to Apart from unpredictable weather, the uncertainty in the game industry affects each time constraints, especially when things go wrong that are out of our control, such as day’s planning since there are many variables involved, mostly out of our control. For permits arriving late or game numbers being incorrect. For example, our requirement example, we arrive on a reserve at first light to capture 20 Lechwe antelope, but on is to capture 35 Waterbuck understanding that there are about 50 Waterbuck on the inspection we discover that the animals are in a too poor a condition to risk capture. property. Unfortunately the farmer has no idea what is really on the farm and did not

24 ROBBIE | BASSAIR Herding a group of Blue Wildebeest into a capture boma (portable, secure corral or pen).

ROBBIE | BASSAIR 25 Once darted and subdued, the animal handlers secure a Lechwe by placing plastic pipes onto the animals rapier- like horns. In captivity these animals will cause harm to themselves and other animals in the pens out of fear. count properly with the result that there are actually only a total of 40 animals there. My outlook is very simple, I love what we do and nothing about it is money driven. For Out of these 10 are pregnant females, 4 are lambs born only a month ago, 7 are too example, if someone said to me, ‘John I want you to go fly in the Congo looking for the old and 6 are adult bulls, leaving only 13 possibilities for capture. The entire project last three Forest Buffalo that live on earth and it’s up to you, if you don’t find them, they instantly becomes un-viable resulting in lost time and money. For this reason we have a will be extinct. But there’s no money, so you will have to do it for nothing…. Or you can standard calculation used when we plan the viability of work. You take 50% of what the go to Namibia and fly a census for triple the normal rate per hour. ’ I would choose to farmer tells you he has, less 60% of that figure and that gives a more realistic situation. be in the Congo faster than you can blink an eye, even if I had to sit there for a month. Farmers never seem to be able to accurately determine the quantity and the condition It’s the challenge and team work that drives me. I know that I have been fortunate to of their animals, they are always over optimistic. work with the best vets in the world and that I have had to perform as a team in order to succeed. I believe that as soon as a pilot is money driven, they tend to lose what it is Even though our game work is seasonal with unknown variables I estimate on flying all about. around 800 hours a year which seems to have been my average for the last 10 years. From November to March we have almost no wildlife-related work as this is our peak Team work with a focus to succeed is vital in our type of work which is why Charlotte rainy season and it is too hot to work in the bush and most animals are breeding, and I work so well together. When I first met Charlotte she had determination and which leaves me to do other types of flying like fire fighting and film work. Traditionally eagerness, nothing was going to stop her. She had to go to extraordinary lengths in September to November is the game census season, as this is the driest time of the order to get to where she is. I have trained many pilots and vets and one develops an year with the least leaf cover on the trees, although often during September we are instinctive feel, you just know who will or will not succeed. I observed this in Charlotte involved in annual micro chipping of White Rhino. We generally have a fairly good and knew we would work well together. We rely on each other’s performance and have idea of our annual program, but no idea at all as to exactly how many animals we to trust each other totally as well. If, for example, I was called to do that hypothetical will be capturing at any time. We just need to always be ready, on standby and with Congo buffalo job, I would be very careful who I chose as my vet since I need to know enough stock of helicopter fuel, darts and drugs in advance, ready to move at a that every detail of the operation is under control. It is comforting to know that when moment’s notice. you are working close to the limitations, there will be optimum performance from all the crew. In the role of mass capture, herding antelope into bomas and single pilot operations, there is no better helicopter on the market than the R22 Beta II and for chemical We often work in marginal conditions. Approaching to dart an animal whilst operating immobilisation flying two up, the R44 is a winner. Unfortunately, as with every in a 25 knots wind, with large trees and an outside air temperature of 28 degrees commercial operation, it is all money related, since, if the animal’s value is less than a centigrade and an elevation of 5,500 feet above sea level is not uncommon. Combine certain figure you cannot afford to use a helicopter to capture them. this with an animal that is running into a tiny open clearing of 50 meters before it gets into the trees and you want to know for that second that the dart will go in. In order to keep a capture operation viable, the pilot must capture a minimum number If the animal happens to go down in a bad place, or if it is reacting negatively to of animals per hour and with all things going according to plan, flying the Beta II keeps immobilization, I need to know that I can get Charlotte out of the helicopter as fast as the cost per hour down making this possible. Being involved with research work where possible and that she will get to the animal safely, making the right decisions under money is always in short supply, researchers always want the best value and there stress, stabilizing and saving the situation. It is great teamwork that we have built up is no point going into a project flying a Jet Ranger if it is possible to do the same job in the cockpit. Unavoidably over the years I have had some close shaves from wild safely with an R44 for a third of the price. animals such as Buffalo, Elephant and Black Rhino, so I am always aware of our

ROBBIE | BASSAIR 27 situation and prepared for an animal to turn and charge us. Helicopters are always a nuisance and stress factor to the larger animals and are seen as the culprit that must be the cause of any stress; therefore the helicopter becomes a target for a wild animal. I have lost count of the number of times an animal suddenly comes charging out of the bush towards me and over the years some operators in the wildlife industry have actually lost machines from this. One example that stands out occurred whilst darting a particular buffalo bull, he would not respond to the drugs and after darting him five times he still would not go down.

As is so often the case there were extremely limited places to land in the R22, especially a location close to the animal where the vet could de bus. I managed to land on the bend of a small dirt track, just in between the trees and with very limited space. After assessing the situation and satisfying myself that all was safe, I shut down as the vet attended to the dazed buffalo that by this time was a good 200 meters away. After a while I was still sitting in the R22 watching the unfolding drama. The drugged buffalo turned, trotting drunkardly towards us along the road in the distance with the vet behind it. I watched this thinking, okay how far can the buffalo go before he drops?

As a precaution I called on the radio to arrange for one of the Land Cruisers to park between the buffalo and me, with another one parked on the road at an angle to deflect him away from the R22. The buffalo kept coming, so I climbed into the helicopter and watched the situation readying myself that if I had to start up I would be able to. 90% of the time the animal topples over or just heads into the bush, but today the buffalo got closer but I still felt comfortable that the Land Cruiser would stop its progress. The animal bumped into the Land Cruiser, getting a fright which made him overreact, and finding his way between the two vehicles he started in a blind trot downhill towards the helicopter, taking everyone by surprise. I immediately started up, but there is nothing you can do to speed things up, it takes two minutes to engage the clutch and obtain 100% rotor RPM. Unfortunately I did not have two minutes! With horror I realised that this 1300 kilograms buffalo bull was going to run directly through the helicopter’s cockpit and over me and it was all happing too fast. I was not at all ready for take off, had not belted up, nor had my head phones on and with no options I went against what the manual says and opened to full throttle. In a matter of seconds a terrible mess was imminent so without hesitating I lifted the helicopter off the ground

28 ROBBIE | BASSAIR even though the clutch was still being engaged. The skids missed the buffalo by a matter of centimetres and he just kept on going under me, I had been milliseconds away from being trampled.

On another occasion we were darting an elephant bull for relocation from an R44 Raven, as he was heading up quite a steep hill at full speed. We were concerned that if he managed to go down the other side we would never recover him since gravity combined with the drug would send him crashing all the way down into a valley. If we did not recover this animal he would be shot, so we just had to do it right. At the right moment I hovered the helicopter in front of him stopping his progress long enough to allow the immobilizing effect of the M99. The drug takes approximately 9 to 11 minutes to stop an elephant, which was more than enough time for him to reach the top of the hill. I was about a meter above the ground hoping to make him pause long enough to keep him where we wanted when suddenly the animal assessed us, showing no fear towards us and charged.

I pulled Collective and climbed out of his way feeling that my timing was right and the elephant passed under us. What I misjudged is that I was not expecting the elephant to stop and reach up attempting grab the helicopter with his trunk! This meant he was no longer 3.6 meters high, but now 6 meters tall! The tip of his trunk missed the skids by about an inch and if he had managed to grab us he would have effortlessly pulled us out of the sky. Shortly after that the elephant finally went down in a nice clearing by a road. We landed and Charlotte got out to check the now docile animal. She looked at me and pointed at the tip of its trunk as it had been amputated by a wire snare, resulting in it being a few centimetres shorter than it should have been.

Opposite: Dr Charlotte Moueix. Left: John Bassi.

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Opposite main picture: To ensure accuracy, Charlotte leans out of the helicopter when she is ready to take a shot. Left to right: A group of Water Buffaloes watch the approaching helicopter. Guiding a darted Giraffe into a safe recovery area. A rather nonchalant Buffalo grazes whilst John and Charlotte pass by. A small family group of Eland trot proudly away from the approaching helicopter. John lifts off close to the authors camera (see page 221). A young Lechwe nervously watches the helicopter. John and Charlotte giving chase to an Eland. John shuts the R22 Beta II down at the end of a typical 12 hour day.

31 Opposite: An Alpine s kids, I think a lot of us dream of flying but not many of us act upon it. I may Air Alaska R44 not have acted on it either, if I wasn’t living in Alaska. Here, the road system approaching a glacier in Prince is so insignificant compared to the inhospitable vastness of the landscape. William Sound. The only practical way to effectively navigate this state is by air. In my teens andA twenties I lived at the base of the Alaska Range – no roads and loads of supplies to haul to my cabin - so it was for practical reasons that I started flying.

I got my licence when I was 18 in the back of a Piper Cub. I actually started in helicopters, but didn’t have the funds to complete my rating, so I went to fixed wing. That’s all I could afford at the time. I received my initial flight training from an old veteran who cut his teeth flying the glaciers. So from the outset I was immersed in flying in an alpine environment.

Originally, I chose to start a business in Girdwood because I love to ski. Not the best business model, I know. Girdwood has beautiful mountains and good resort and backcountry skiing, so I thought it might have potential as a base for flight seeing. Girdwood is unique as it’s surrounded by North America’s most glaciated mountain range – the Chugach Mountains. One great thing about flight seeing in Girdwood is ALPINE AIR that the action starts immediately after take off, we don’t have to fly to a destination to begin the flight seeing, the scenery is awesome right from the start.

We started Alpine Air Alaska back in 1991. We flew scenic flights and dropped off ALASKA climbers and skiers on glaciers using Cessna 185’s and 206’s on wheel skis and amphibious floats. In 1999 we bought our first Robinson R22, thinking that we’d just GIRDWOOD, ALASKA see what comes of it. We flew it through the deep winter in Alaska, when the weather can be very dodgy. We found that we could operate this thing in conditions that were Keith Essex very difficult to operate the Cessna’s in. I started doing short scenic flights with just o ne passenger. Soon I found that our dispatch reliability was far better in the helicopter, Keith Essex, and his wife Debbie, own and operate Alpine Air so I bought an R44 and ran that with the Cessna 185’s. The R44 was just so far Alaska, at Girdwood Airfield just south of Anchorage. Their ahead in terms of ease of operation in the terrain and weather we have here, so over a operation comprises of scenic tours and glacier landings, utility couple of years we just phased out the fixed wing aircraft and just ran R44’s. We are charter work, film and television production and flight instruction. now a Robinson Helicopter dealer and service centre. The number of Robinsons in Alpine Air Alaska is also an approved Robinson Service Centre Alaska has grown dramatically in the last 5 years. They are a great tool for accessing and Dealer. They operate four R44’s and one R22. our remote state.

32 ROBBIE | ALPINECHAPTER AIR ALASKA TITLE Originally, I chose to start a business in Girdwood because I love to ski. Not the best business model, I know.

Opposite: Approaching a glaciers terminal face. Left: Fall colours in the foothills of the Chugach Mountains. Overleaf: Keith in formation with another Alpine Air R44 over the Chugach Mountains.

We end up cancelling lots of flights due to the weather, it is just the nature of flying in coastal and mountainous Alaska as there’s always a lot of pressure to fly in marginal weather. Unfortunately, most of that pressure is self induced. It is insidious. There are many pilots who were better than I am, that were better than any of us out here, but have wrecked machines or have died because they simply let themselves get into a perilous situation. By the time you realise that “this light is too flat” it may be too late. I too, have learned by making mistakes. Sometimes you go on the line of that zone of safety. As long as you leave yourself an out, or multiple ways out, you can extract yourself from bad situations. Those experiences and mistakes can then be incorporated into “lessons learned”, and improve your flying. If you don’t learn from those lessons you will end up like all those wrecks you see littered on the mountainsides. For example, you can have a day with unlimited visibility, but if it’s overcast, and you’re flying over an expanse of smooth snow, you can’t tell how high you are above the surface. Flat light conditions have caused a lot of fatalities in Alaska. Pilots aren’t aware how close they are to the terrain and they fly right into it. The natural reaction is to judge those pilots…but it’s easier to do than you would think. There are many “traps” out there waiting to bite you if you let your guard down. In order to survive up here, it is paramount that you continually evaluate the conditions of your environment and evaluate your place in it.

The Robinson’s are incredibly capable machines, but like any other helicopter they are power-limited. Many people think helicopters are miracle machines and that they can just put on the brakes and pull into a hover at any moment, but that can be a very unsafe thing to do. If you have good visibility, light wind and low density altitude that’s fine. But if you’re flying through a mountain pass, and you have poor visibility, with a

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only going to see the same sort of stuff you see from the roads. They don’t realise just what is out here. They always say that the flight has exceeded their wildest dreams so that’s pretty cool to be a part of.

One area of summer tourism that is easy to sell is glacier dog mushing. People come here specifically to live out a life long dream. It has captured their imagination from reading or seeing dog sledding at the movies. At the start of the season we sling load all the tents, doghouses, supplies, etc up to the glacier. The dogs fly internally in a special doghouse we built. The dog musher has a camp up on the glacier and he stays up there all season with about 60 dogs. Together we offer dog sled rides from June until September. It’s very popular and makes for a busy summer. Visitors can’t stop smiling when they return to the hangar. Then at season’s end, we sling load it all back again to comply with Forest Service rules, and also because it’d be buried under 40 feet of snow!!

Sling load work accounts for a good percentage of our business. We help out with film shoots, avalanche mitigation, cell tower maintenance, etc. We have operated turbine powered machines before but we sold them as it just didn’t work out. The Robinson’s are so well suited for the work we perform. I am just waiting to see what the new R66 is going to be like. Having that one extra seat and a bit more power would be a great improvement.Because I am also an engineer, there is another whole aspect to the Robinson’s that I like. The fixed wind aircraft we were operating were all 25 to 30 year old machines, and parts were expensive and not very good quality. Quite often, 20 knot tail wind, flying a helicopter is not doing you much good and you might as well the pre-drilled holes on the parts did not line up with the aircraft and we spent loads be flying an airplane. You can slow down to evaluate the situation, but it’s not a miracle of time and energy retrofitting these poor quality parts. It was always about keeping machine where you can stop time and gravity to decide your next move. the aeroplane going, not about maintaining it to the standard I like. It was becoming more and more difficult to maintain the machines at a high standard, and I’m even not Our tour operations offer travellers a chance to see what lies just a few miles off the talking about Air Force One standards, just getting it to a reasonably high standard road system. The roads in this state take the path of least resistance, and we offer was a stretch. The nice thing about the Robinson’s is that they are new and you can a chance to see the dramatic mountainous terrain and surging glaciers beyond this keep them that way. There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained by working on them and system. Helicopters are an amazing vehicle to do this with. Also you can observe, at when we have finished a project, it’s almost like new. pretty close range, the variety of wildlife, like bears, moose and wolves. Plus, in Prince William Sound, we can see all the marine life like orcas, otters, seals, etc. It can be It seems that every year we have a memorable story or two that brings a smile to my difficult to convince folks to take a scenic flight because most people think they are face. One day we were sling loading some supplies to our dog sledding operation

38 ROBBIE | ALPINE AIR ALASKA The view from an R44 at 10,000 feet over the Chugach Mountains. These are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about 500 km (300 mi) long, running generally east-west. Its highest point is Mount Marcus Baker, at 13,176 feet (4,016 m), but most of its summits are not especially high. Even so its position along the Gulf of Alaska ensures more snowfall in the Chugach than anywhere else in the world; an annual average of over 1500 cm (600 in). Left: A fully grown male moose is a formidable animal in the wild and not one to mess with! 40 ROBBIE | ALPINE AIR ALASKA

Two views of Alpine Air Alaska’s location; This page: The Alpine Air hangar and airstrip at Girdwood, looking towards the Chugach State Park and the Mountains. Right: Looking from the Chugach State Park to Turnagain Arm and the Kenai State Park Mountains. up at the Punchbowl Glacier (3200 ft). One of the things we sling up is an outhouse! Unfortunately the way we rig it for flying means it fly miserably and it tends to spin a bit under the helicopter. So I took off and this time it really started to spin but the swivel wasn’t working properly, so I turned around to land and change the swivel. Meanwhile, my wife Deb was at a wedding nearby, and she has a different perspective on this story:

‘The wedding ceremony was going beautifully. It was a sunny day at the base of the mountain and everyone had big Crocodile tears from listening to the vows that had just been read. A friend of mine then went up to recite the final reading before the happy couple said ‘I do’. It was a formal ceremony, the couple was holding hands, and it was all very, very quiet. All of a sudden I heard a helicopter and I saw Keith flying by us. I could tell that he was turning around to get back to the hangar quickly, and there is an outhouse spinning away beneath the helicopter. He flew directly around the wedding ceremony. The reading stopped. The entire wedding party looked up, and there was Keith flying by with the porta-potty dangling and spinning. Without missing a beat, the Pastor leant over to the groom and said ‘Yep, and that’s where you are going to end up if you don’t live up to these vows’. Everybody laughed. It was just priceless.’ hear us and was trying to kill whatever was buzzing above. I flew by and she stood up At times, the wildlife in Alaska can surprise us. We have a customer who has a tossing trees and bushes away, trying to reach for my helicopter. Like Terminator! It bright yellow R44. One night, while parked in a friend’s backyard in Anchorage, a Bull was beyond imagination. I could not believe what I just saw. I turned the helicopter Moose came in the yard during rutting season. The Moose thought the helicopter around and I was still quite a way from her, but she was chasing us, going like 30 was some sort of challenge or threat and it beat the crap out of the helicopter. It miles an hour, taking out big Alder trees! So I just left and on the way I dryly said to my poked holes in the door, beat up the cowling and then went back to the tail and passengers ‘Hell, hope we don’t have an engine failure right now’. Not one person broke the empennage. It did so much damage. It just went mad. That was a unique said a thing. maintenance call…trying to figure out if a moose damaged machine is airworthy. The bears do their share of damage too. A bear ripped into another friend’s Robinson and They didn’t think that was funny at all. They were petrified - just like me! That was ate all the seats and for dessert it ate all the soft headphone ear pads. Just ate the scary! I remember thinking, “I will not go into the bush again without a giant piece of whole lot. They also like those red plastic fuel containers. artillery”. When you witness something like that, you can imagine a person with Bear spray saying ‘Oh just hold on there Mrs Bear’. I tell you, commercial bear spray or Bears can be intimidating. One time I was heading towards Lake George, and all of a hand guns are not going to do a thing to stop an animal like that! sudden I saw loads of Alder bushes just flying along the ground and being tossed up in the air. It was like something was just racing through it and ripping it up; like some sort Some of the mistakes you see up here are humorous instead of tragic. I try to give of horror movie. I flew closer and I saw it was a sow bear with three cubs. She could advice if I know better…but sometimes, the best way we learn is by the mistakes we

ROBBIE | ALPINE AIR ALASKA 43 This page & opposite lower: An Alpine Air Alaska R44 at 10’000 feet over the Chugach Mountains.Opposite top: Keith Essex. Overleaf: The Chugach Mountains, where Alpine Air operates most of their sighteseing tours, have the distinction of being the most glaciated region in the United States. Here an Alpine Air Alaska R44 Raven II follows a heavily gacial valley, on its way back to girdwood Airfield.

44 ROBBIE | ALPINE AIR ALASKA make. A few years ago I was flying a wildlife research job in the mountains. I like these jobs in the fall because the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are performing every night above camp. There were two of us, both flying R44’s, and we definitely had differing opinions about slinging 55 gallons of fuel.

He preferred to fly light on fuel and haul 2 barrels at a time. I never like going that light on fuel, so I chose to fly with the tanks on my helicopter full and one drum on the sling. It was a clear September morning when I made my trip first and I was back at camp to start breakfast. After a while I noticed that my colleague had not returned to camp. We were flying for different companies, to different staging areas, so I wasn’t watching him closely but I knew he should have been back. I waited a little longer and then I took off looking for him.

Sure enough, half way between the staging area and the camp, there he was just sitting in his helicopter. He was out of fuel with two full 55 gallon drums standing next to the machine. He had flown until his low fuel light came on and had landed to avoid running out of fuel en route. All that fuel in the drums, and he couldn’t get to it; all he could do is look at it as he had no pump or equipment. He had just given up after realizing his miscalculation. I made a return trip with a pump for him and laughed the whole way. He wasn’t laughing but I’m sure he’s learned the lesson.

All my experiences up here, coupled with the amazing scenery and wildlife, make me feel this would be hard to top. Flying here in the Chugach Mountains and Prince William Sound is stunning. Whatever I do after this needs to be quite spectacular, or it would feel dull in comparison.

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Originally, I chose to start a business in Girdwood because I love to ski. Not the best business model, I know. AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN DESERT Michael Van der Zypp

Ayers Rock Helicopters is part of Melbourne based ‘The Helicopter Group’ who offer personalised and professional flying training, as well as aerial services for Television and Video filming, Offshore, Photography, Tourism, Fire fighting, Search and Rescue, Aerial Crane operations, Frost protection for wineries. They also operate Sokha Helicopters in Cambodia.

ow we ended up with the Robinson is a bitter sweet story. We had always used the Hughes 300 up at Kings Creek Station, but a pilot over-pitched it once and cut the tail boom off! We put a new tail boom on and another pilot went up and started working. It was a typical 47 degree Hday, coupled with a 2200 foot altitude which gave a density altitude of around 6-7000 feet for the day. The machine could not do it and once again the pilot over-pitched it, ran out of rpm and it hit the ground. Another wrecked helicopter. The engineer pilot who had come up from Melbourne to fix the Hughes was on the phone to Chris my business partner, saying he had just finished putting the machine back together. Suddenly in the background he heard the all too familiar ‘bang, whump, bang, whump, bang’. Another pilot had taken off only to once again slice off the tail boom.

48 ROBBIE | AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS Apart from their main base at Uluru (Ayers Rock), Ayers Rock Helicopters operates R44’s from their Kings Creek Station flying visitors around the rust red canyons near Peterman Pound, an ancient meteorite crater in the George Gill Range. An R44 Astro and Kata Tjuta silhouetted by the setting sun. Opposite: The distinctive domes of Kata Tjuta National Park at sunrise.

50 Red dust was flying everywhere as bits of helicopter hit the ground. The consensus was that Hughes 300’s were not working, in the middle of the desert with two tourists on board. We learnt the hard way, but thank God we did because otherwise it would have killed someone.

Chris in his wisdom thought we should run with the old Bell 47J. A friend bought one for us to cross hire and we were going to use that at Kings Creek, with the pilot in front and three passengers in the back. The idea was that Chris was to ferry it from the Barossa Valley to Coober Peddy then on to Kings Creek Station. I spoke with Chris at Coober Peddy that night and all was well. I was at the Melbourne Grand Prix on March 7th and got a phone call asking if there was more than one EPIRB on board the Bell, as Chris had gone missing. Three days later we found the wreckage. Chris and the pilot had both been killed instantly. When we were looking for the wreckage we were all searching for what looked like an aircraft, something that was metallic, yellow and blue. We flew over this area where a farmer had incinerated some drought stricken cattle, and there was just this circle of white ash. I said to the guys that this could well be what we were looking for which wasn’t far from the truth.

I am a great believer in the idea that if there are two pilots in the aircraft, then there should be two sets of controls. On this flight there was only one set. Chris with his 7000 hours flying time had bugger all time on the Bell 47 and was the passenger, nevertheless as a pilot-come-passenger with a set of controls, the outcome may have been different, who knows? Regardless of the qualification of the pilots, throw some duals in. The guy beside you could have a heart attack, stuff just happens.

So sadly, that ended one of the best partnerships I had ever had. I still wanted to fly helicopters, so after hearing of the near legendary safety qualities of the R44, I decided to buy one. It was perfect for what we wanted to do at Kings Creek. 44 litres of fuel and no operating cycles, plus a hundred grand less that a JR, so that changed everything. Apart from the problems with the fine red dust of the outback affecting the R44 micro-switches, we have never had a problem. The machine had the power and the pilots loved them.

51 This page: Mount Connor, also known as ‘Attila’. Right: TTourists Deanne Hobbs (left) and Fiona Ward (right) standing on top of Mount Connor. This is an ancient rock formation 88 kms from Ayers Rock. The three major desert icons, Mount Connor, Uluru and Kata Tjuta lie in a straight line. Mount Connor rises 984 feet above ground and can only be accessed by helicopter. Ayers Rock Helicopters offer this tour as an option. Overleaf: A passenger photographing the time- worn boulders of Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). This ancient outcrop is about 20 kms from Ayers Rock, and is part of the scenic circuit.

52 It handled the 47 degree heat of the Territory, though the leather seating copped a bit of a beating. We always fly with all the doors off in the summer and the seat belts When I first would flap and beat the hell out of the foam seating. came to I always promised the owners of Kings Creek Station that when I bought my second Ayers Rock I Robinson I would have it air brushed with all the attributes of the station. Camels, the was earning stars, quad bikes etc. Not everyone will end up flying in it, but nearly everyone takes a $100 a photo of it! week, which When the Raven I came in, it was just fantastic. Some small creature comfort changes was about a made all the difference when flying tourists; like cup holders, bubble windows, leather interiors, jacks for your iPod etc. The big change though was the hydraulics. After flying sixth of what a 14 hour flight in an Astro from Melbourne to Ayers Rock, your fingers would always I was getting have pins and needles from the stick shake. With hydraulics there was no movement as a truck at all as the stick was nice and still in your hand. So after a long flight it was bliss. So when Frank Robinson put the R22 in the photocopier and hit ‘expand’, by 50% or driver with whatever, it worked. Coca-Cola. It was a proven formula.

With regard to our operation here, we don’t pay our pilots big money. It’s an apprenticeship. When I first came to Ayers Rock I was earning $100 a week, which was about a sixth of what I was getting as a truck driver with Coca-Cola. A young see your kids, you will have to go and live in the middle of the desert to even think buck of 18 – 19 will accept the lower wage in order to get their hours. The problem is about building up your hours’. when you get the midlife crisis people at 40, who suddenly say they want to learn to Then they say ‘Oh but when I get my licence I will ring up the TV stations and I will fly helicopters. They are used to earning big money. I have had people come into the get a job ‘ office and say; ‘So’ I say ‘’And how will you get the mandatory 2000 hours?’ ‘I want to fly’. I say ‘What do you earn now as an accountant?’ The dream for most when I started in Melbourne, was to fly the Channel Nine ‘Oh eighty grand a year’ helicopter. It took me I think, ten years to get my first job in a JR, plus a further five I reply ‘Have any kids?’ years to actually FLY the Channel Nine helicopter. ‘Yep, three’ I then ask ‘Got a mortgage?’ I was 25 when I got my helicopter licence, and my flying break came with the then ‘Yep’ Central Australian Helicopters at Ayers Rock. I knew there was work around for ‘Good’ I say ‘then go back to your job. This will ruin your marriage, you won’t get to helicopters like media, oil rigs and pipeline inspections, forestry etc, but I did not know

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picture form, the world outside. The mentor was a romantic, it was just awesome hearing her describe what I take for granted. I remember getting goose pimples just listening to it, about what I see every day. I remember when I landed that I thought that this was the best flight I have ever done, and my passenger never got to see it, but how it was described was almost greater than my appreciation of it.

You never stop learning, and just when you think you have seen everything, just when you think there is nothing else that you can learn, it bites you. I had one lady once make a radio call with the start button on the Collective of a fuel injected Raven II. Anytime you start a piston machine like a Robinson, you retard the magnetos for the ignition system to be able to start it. Of course retarding the engine basically kills about 40% of its power. So we were flying along nicely, then she makes her call ‘Moorabbin tower, this is…’ and the helicopter falls out of the sky. I am thinking, God an engine failure ‘I’ve got control’ I say. Then I realise it’s running perfectly, what’s going on here where it was going to lead. After a few hiccups I went back to driving Coca-Cola I wonder, it makes no sense.So we fly back carefully to Moorabbin airport, nervous trucks, then I eventually ended up back at Ayers Rock, where I formed a helicopter and tense all the time. I’m checking out possible landing sites at football fields, sports company that we added to an existing fixed wing company called ‘Rock Air’. A arenas etc. We land and I tell the engineers what happened and they look at the friend and I cross-hired a helicopter and started the operation. That turned out okay, helicopter and can’t find a thing wrong with it. So I let it go but it was always at the I ended up sleeping on someone’s floor on an airbed for the first 4 months but that’s back of my mind. how it started. In about 1994 I started Ayers Rock Helicopters after I had bought ‘The Helicopter Group’ from my partner. But there was just not enough work for both my A week later I fly with the same woman, and we are cruising towards Moorabbin again. partner and myself, so I went back again to driving trucks for Coca-Cola. This went Once again she goes ‘Moorabbin tower….this is….’ And the thing just falls out of on for quite some time until things became more stable. Then we started putting the sky again. I look over at her and say ‘You haven’t been pressing the start button people through our flying school and started getting some good instructors. for the microphone at all?’ She says ‘Oh God Mike, I’m used to fixed wings and I’ve been using my left finger. I said if you use it again I’m going to cut it off! It never My partner owned the ‘Helicopter Group’ in Melbourne, but together we owned happened again. Ayers Rock Helicopters. We then formed Kings Creek Helicopters after we did a deal with a big farming spread up in the Northern Territory. They had operators in the past It’s odd to think that I started out driving trucks for Lindsay Fox, a guy who had that were not that successful, so they gave us a go. the contract to supply trucking services to Coca-Cola, Coles-Myer and oads more companies out of Melbourne. I drove for him for about 10 years. Eventually I had him One of my favourite flights I ever did at Ayers Rock, was for a blind lady. She had a as a passenger on a helicopter, then ended up flying his helicopter a few times, plus mentor who described the lift off, what she was seeing, described the flight around members of his family that were with me on the trucks years ago when we the rock etc in such detail and colour. The blind lady could feel the movement, G were kids growing up. So it has turned full circle. I’m sure there is synergy at work forces etc, but was listening to the poetry her mentor was using to put into verbal there somewhere.

56 ROBBIE | AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS Opposite: Michael mustering wild horses at Kings Creek Station. This page: Uluru (Ayers Rock) is one of Australia’s most recognisable natural icons. The world-renowned sandstone formation stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high (863 m/2,831 ft above sea level) with most of its bulk below the ground, and measures 9.4 km (5.8 mi) in circumference. Uluru is an inselberg, literally “island mountain”, an isolated remnant left after the slow erosion of an original mountain range. The remarkable feature of Uluru is its homogeneity and lack of jointing and parting at bedding surfaces, leading to the lack of development of scree slopes and soil. These characteristics led to its survival, while the surrounding rocks were eroded. A typical view from an R44 as it approaches Uluru for a scenic dawn flight.

58 ROBBIE | AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS The view over Lake Amadeus from the front cockpit of an Ayers Rock R44. This is a huge salt lake located in the southwest corner of Australia’s Northern Territory. Due to the aridity of the area, it is usually almost totally dry. In times of sufficient rainfall, it is part of an east-flowing drainage system that eventually connects to the Finke River. Uluru (Ayers Rock) is visible to the left of the frame, whilst Kata Tjuta (the Olga Rocks) are visible on the right. Lake Amadeus was discovered by the explorer Ernest Giles, who had originally intended to honour his benefactor Baron Ferdinand von Mueller with the eponym Lake Ferdinand. However Mueller prevailed upon Giles to instead honour King Amadeus of Spain, who had previously bestowed honour on him. Lake Amadeus is 180km long and 10km wide, making it the largest salt lake in the Northern Territory. It contains up to 600 million tonnes of salt, however harvesting it has not proved viable due to its remote location.

ROBBIE | AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS 59 60 ROBBIE | AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS The undulations of the desert contours are often best appreciated from a helicopter at dawn or at dusk. This is a typical view from the front or bubble windows of an R44 Raven II.

Left to right: Ayers Rock (Uluru) as seen from an R44 as the first light of dawn catches the ancient rock face. An R44 taking off for an early morning tour. The very colourful R44 from Kings Creek Station. An R44 Raven II approaches Michael van Der Zypp on top of Mount Connor. Ayers Rock Helicopter’s manager and pilot, Ed Connellan, hand pumping av gas before a typical 0500 hrs startup at Ayers Rock Airfield (Connellan Airport). David Adamson approaching a Pilatus PC12 for a photo shoot high above Kata Tkuta in the R44 Astro.

63 ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY Torrance, California USA Frank Robinson

Robinson Helicopter Company of Torrance, California, is the world’s leading producer of civil helicopters. To maintain the highest quality standards, the company performs most operations, including welding, machining, assembly, painting, and flight testing on site at its Torrance Airport plant.

was always fascinated by the idea that someone could design a flying machine – something heavier than air - that could go in any direction and hover motionless. I know I was not the first to think it, but nevertheless I have been fascinated by the idea all my life. Whilst I was at college the fascination remained, so I bought a few Ilight planes and learned to fly them. I wanted to fly helicopters but they were just too expensive. After I graduated from the University of Washington in 1957 I submitted my application to a number of companies who were building small helicopters. I wanted to understand helicopters and know all about them. I really wanted to interest someone in building a small personal helicopter. During this time, I got my helicopter rating.

64 Left: The R22 production line at the Torrance facility in Los Angeles. Above: An R44 packed ready for shipment in its export container.

65 just the boost I needed and I started getting enquiries from a number of different From starting magazines, all who wanted to buy one or wanted to be a dealer. The article jump- the company in started the project, and there wasn’t too much question about whether there was a market or not, there was a question of course of whether I could build a machine for a 1973, I flew the low enough price. Then there was the worry of whether I could get it certificated or not! first prototype From starting the company in 1973, I flew the first prototype in 1975 and got the in 1975 Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Type Certificate in 1979. In that same year I went into and got the production and also delivered the first production helicopter. I then set up a structure Federal Aviation for the marketing of the product and began signing off dealerships all over the world, including Australia. Those first years were hard, looking back on it, they were dark Authority (FAA) years from say the late 1970’s to the mid 1980’s. Around 1985 we started to turn Type Certificate around and began paying off the debts and started making a profit. in 1979. There was never any problem with competing with the turbine helicopter mind set, it was just way too expensive to try to develop a market there, so my piston engine machine had a market all of its own more or less from day one. There were other My first position was with Cessna, as they had the Cessna CH-1 Skyhook, a small piston helicopters in production at that time, like the Hughes 269 that first flew in helicopter that was in production at that time. I was there for three and a half years. 1956, plus the Enstrom and Brantly helicopters. These machines were all a lot more The Skyhook set many records, especially for height, but it was eventually scrapped. expensive to buy and to operate, and they required a lot more maintenance, even I ended up working for six different helicopter manufacturers over a period of sixteen though the dream of most manufactures at the time was to ‘place a helicopter in every years, including Bell and Kaman and Hughes, but I could not interest any of them in garage’! This thinking, as time revealed, was kind of flawed. These machines were not the idea of building a small personal type helicopter, they all wanted to build big military as efficient as the one I wanted to build, so when the R22 came out, with its low cost machines. Finally, out of sheer desperation, I decided that if I was ever going to realize and simplicity of maintenance, it caught on almost immediately with flight schools all my dream, then I would have to do it myself, and now, so I resigned from Hughes over the world. What I did was to power limit the piston engine, so the reliability of Helicopters, as I simply wanted to build one myself. I started my own company in our engine approximates that of a small turbine helicopter at a quarter of the purchase 1973, in my living room and garage! It was a long, hard battle to raise the necessary cost, and half of its maintenance costs. money but I mortgaged my own home in Palos Verdes to finance the project. Other areas picked up the R22 quite quickly, like in Australia where it was adopted as I was personally convinced that there would be a market, and when I had finished a cattle mustering vehicle. It revolutionised aerial mustering there almost from day one. assembling my first prototype, I got a great amount of publicity from Aviation Weekly We started on the design of a four place helicopter pretty early on. I think I first flew the Magazine, which was a very prestigious magazine in the industry. The West Coast R44 prototype back in 1990, and had its Federal Aviation Authority Certificate in 1992. Editor for the magazine at the time was Don Fink, and he was just fascinated by the We put it into production and it has just kept growing. The R22 quite quickly became idea of what I was trying to do. He did a story spread out over five pages, which was the biggest selling helicopter in the world, in terms of units, not dollars. Then the R44

66 ROBBIE | ROBINSON HELICOPTERCHAPTER COMPANY TITLE The Robinson plant is unique in that nearly all the components apart from the engines are all manufactured or assembled on site. Here main rotor blades await mating to their rotor assemblies. Opposite: The new R66 test airframe on the ramp at Torrance. PHOTO COURTESY ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY. Above right: Two R44 Raven’s and an R22 Beta on the ‘live side’ of the Robinson factory at torrance Airport, await their flight test. Here every new helicopter is rigorously flight tested (above and below right) prior to delivery to the waiting customer.

68 CHAPTER TITLE

I still fly a lot, like I did this weekend from Seattle to Torrance which is a nine hour flight. did exactly the same in terms of units sold, and surpassed the R22 figures. Ever since then we have dominated the market in terms of units sold and the number of aircraft sold. This is where we are today. I was not too surprised as I always knew there was a huge market, we just had to have the right machine. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, just look at how the Bell Helicopter Company reacted to the R44.

They initially stated “we don’t have to worry about this cutting into JetRanger sales; he will never make a four- or five-seat helicopter”. Then when sales of the JetRanger started to decline they stated “we don’t have to worry because there are some customers who demand a jet engine and there are some customers who need five total seats. Robinson will never make a jet-powered or five-seat helicopter” and in March 2007, I announced the Robinson R66, a jet-powered five-seat helicopter. Then in January 2008, Bell Helicopter announced that it was ceasing production of their B206 JetRanger!

I have always known that there is a segment of the market that absolutely insists on turbine helicopters, such as government or military markets, or ones that are not at all cost sensitive, even though they burn a lot more fuel and cost a lot more to buy. I knew that if I wanted to make inroads into these markets, then my R22 and R44 piston machines would simply not ‘do it for them’. We are now developing a new five-place machine that uses a Rolls Royce RR300 turbine engine which has been developed specifically for this new helicopter. In keeping with our numbering system, we have had to call this the R66.

I still fly a lot, like I did this weekend from Seattle to Torrance which is a nine hour flight, but I now have a pilot fly with me. I sometimes find my eyelids tend to droop from time to time, especially sitting in a boring business meeting, So I always take someone with me as a safety pilot, just in case. In fact the company pretty much insists on it, so it is now mandatory! There is a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that I am flying in a machine that I created. I am a very critical person so I am constantly looking at ways to improve the product.

Far left: Frank Robinson at the Torrance facility in Los Angeles. Left: New production machines prior to flight testing at the Torrance facliity.

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From left to right: Preparing bare metal fuselage components prior to work in the paint shop. Assembling components prior to painting. The drying room. All machines are detailed prior to shipment. All components are manufactured on site. Navigating the wiring plan. Preparing the flotation bags for the R44 Clipper II production line. The weekly safety course underway at Torrance.

73 74 ROBBIE | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY Opposite: The R44 Raven II production line. This page: Finished R44 helicopters awaiting flight testing before being packed for shipment to waiting customers.

Opposite: An R44 Clipper II low over a deserted Western Australian beach. A view typical of WA’s south west. This page: An R44 Clipper II passing Prevelly Beach, near the mouth of Margaret River in Western Australia. FLYING M AIR WICKENBURG, ARIZONA, USA

Maria Langer

Maria is the author of seventy computer ‘how to’ books, some of which have become best sellers, including ‘Mac OS X Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide’. She lives with her husband in Wickenburg Arizona, where she bases her company ‘Flying M Air’ and her R44 Raven II. They both ride motor bikes and horses for recreation.

Previous pages: Maria approaching Meteor Crater, a y husband Michael and I originally are from the New York City area, so meteorite impact crater located approximately 58 miles I guess you can say we were city slickers. We started coming out to (93 km) east of Flagstaff, near Winslow in the northern Arizona desert. Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of about the southwest years ago, and we just fell in love with it. Here everything 1740 m (5709 ft) above sea level. It is about 1,200 m (4,000 is so big, with wide open spaces. The weather is nearly perfect most of ft) in diameter and some 170 m deep (570 ft). Below: Maria flying over Lake Pleasant.Right: The red theM year. Life is slower and more relaxing. There are more opportunities for outdoor sandstone formations of Sedona. Sedona is a city and activities too. community that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the US state of Arizona. Sedonas main attraction is I started flying about eight years ago with my first Robinson, an R22 Beta II, just for its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red fun. I put 1000 hours on it and learned a great deal about amazing places to fly in Rocks of Sedona. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting Arizona. The more I saw of Arizona, the more I wanted to share it with others. I soon sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for realised though, that if I wanted to continue to fly often and see these places, I’d need everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking someone to pick up the tab. So I got my commercial pilot’s licence. That’s how Flying and mountain biking trails. Many of Hollywoods classic westerns were filmed in or near Sedona. The red rock M Air started. buttes and desert landscape provided a striking setting for these films. Most notably was 1950’s Broken Arrow, starring James Stewart. A number of its shooting locations can still Arizona visitors call me from their Phoenix hotels, where I display brochures. No other be visited via off-road trails. area helicopter operators do full day trips, so that’s my market. Visitors have certain places in mind that they want to see because they have heard of them, like the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona. These places are iconic. I take them there on day trips, but I choose the routes that I feel are interesting, even if they’re longer than a direct route. For instance, from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon we’ll go over Lake Pleasant and the ghost town of Jerome and Sycamore Canyon, then up to the Grand Canyon. Then, on the way back later in the day, we’ll fly through Sedona, often around sunset when the light on the red rocks is spectacular. We get back to Phoenix at dusk, and my passengers can see the lights of Phoenix spread out like a sparkling carpet to the horizon.

The point is that I don’t just take them to the location they’re paying to go to. I show them a lot more along the way. We have an amazing variety of natural and man- made sights here. A typical flight to Lake Powell, for example, might include views of Sedona’s red rocks, the Little Colorado River Gorge, Navajo homesteads, Horseshoe Bend, the Glen Canyon Dam and numerous buttes and other formations along the way. A trip to historic Winslow would include a Sedona red rocks tour, an overflight of Meteor Crater and possibly a side trip to the Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River. Maybe we’ll see a herd of bison east of Flagstaff, like we did yesterday. A flight

80 ROBBIE | FLYING M AIR Then, on the way back later in the day, we’ll fly through Sedona, often around sunset when the light on the red rocks is spectacular. up Arizona’s ‘west coast’ along the Colorado River to Laughlin or Las Vegas would overflying the Gorge whenever I can to show people that there’s more to Arizona than include London Bridge and various canyons, lakes and dams. There are almost the well-known tourist destinations. It’s the little-known Arizona that interests me and always abandoned mines or slot canyons or other interesting sights to see no matter I really enjoy showing it off to passengers. The sheer size and remoteness of these where we fly. places has a real impact on city dwellers who are accustomed to crowds, traffic and urban sprawl. They’ve never seen anything like it and they come away with an idea of You can’t compare the road journey from, say, Page to Monument Valley, with a what the real Arizona is all about. helicopter flight over the same route. You see things that are impossible to see from the ground: narrow red rock slot canyons, Rainbow Bridge, the confluence of the To my knowledge, I am the only helicopter operator in the US who offers multi-day Colorado and San Juan Rivers, magnificent buttes west of Monument Valley. excursions. I offer three and six day trips, stopping at lodges for overnight stays. I only take two passengers on excursions, so we can have plenty of room for luggage and Travelling by helicopter is just an amazing opportunity to explore. Nobody has really can take on full fuel. The Southwest Circle Helicopter Adventure starts in the Phoenix heard of most of these places, so I can’t sell them as tours, but I always try to include area and takes in Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell at Page, Monument Valley the most interesting places I can on the way to the big iconic tourist areas. and Flagstaff, before returning to Phoenix on the sixth day. We spend a night in each location, with great accommodations and ground-based tours along the way. Because For instance, the Little Colorado River Gorge is just mind blowing. But everyone transportation from point to point is much quicker by helicopter—we’re generally in knows about and wants to visit the Grand Canyon, which is nearby. I make a point of transit only an hour each day—passengers have plenty of time to see the sights at

82 ROBBIE | FLYING M AIR Opposite top: The La Posada Hotel in Winslow. This was the masterpiece of the famous Architect/ Designer Mary Colter. She designed every aspect of the Hotel. La Posada was built in 1929 for the Santa Fe Railway and is truly one of America’s treasures. Above left: The Little Colorado River winding through Arizona’s Painted Desert. Above: The statue in Winslow, Arizona is dedicated to the song ‘Take it Easy’ made famous by the Eagles. The “corner” is actually that of North Kinsley Avenue and West 2nd Street (eastbound State Route 99) in downtown Winslow. The second verse of “Take It Easy” is set in the city of Winslow, Arizona, which responded by erecting a life-size bronze statue and mural commemorating the song, at the Standin’ On The Corner Park. Left: A night return to base after a moonlight dinner tour of Phoenix. With light bouncing up from the landing lights beneath the helicopter, you can clearly see at night, what appears to be the almost static circle of the rotor - one of the only times it is visible.

83 each destination snd they love telling other tourists that they’re travelling the southwest by helicopter!

Other tours take in more unusual locations where the ambience, history and accommodations are more important. For example, the La Posada Hotel at Winslow is a Fred Harvey Hotel dating back to the heydays of the railroad. Today, it’s been renovated and is really quirky and neat. Winslow is famous for being on Route 66 and for the Eagles song ‘Take it Easy.’ There’s not much else of interest there, so it’s not a place you would make a point of visiting. The I-40 interstate highway bypassed many small towns on Route 66, making them dry up and blow away, and Winslow is a reminder of the old days of cross-country automobile travel. What I like about La Posada is that it is a piece of history. Since we have to stop at Winslow for fuel on our Meteor Crater trips, we stop for a meal at La Posada, which has a great restaurant.

To passengers who know the value of helicopter transportation, the fact that the pilot is a woman isn’t very surprising at all. On some of the aerial photography jobs or carnival ride events that I do, however, I sometimes get passengers who are quite surprised. Two years ago I had an aerial photography client who was from Eastern Europe. When he heard that the pilot for his flight was a woman, he was upset. He didn’t think a woman would be able to fly the way he needed to be flown to get the shots. Yet after the flight, he told his company that I was one of the best pilots that he had worked with. That made me feel pretty good. I don’t need that acclaim, or feel I need to fight the attitude, but it’s always good when someone has a complete attitude change like that. I think there is more opposition to women in the small town of Wickenburg where

The Little Colorado River Gorge This is 9.4 miles west on SR 64 from US Highway 89. The Little Colorado River originates at Mount Baldy in Arizona’s White Mountains and travels northward to Joseph City, Winslow and Wupatki National Monument before reaching the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. According to maps, the Little Colorado River flows into the Grand Canyon but no two canyons could be less alike than these. The narrow gorge of the Little Colorado conceals an astonishing depth. The walls are almost colourless, grey, grim and forbidding. The Navajos regard it as just a part of their diversified land. At Cameron, the river known by river guides as the “LCR” or “Little C,” can no longer meander as it has won most of its journey. It must stay confined within this solid rock canyon. Here it begins to make a very rapid 2,000 ft (610 m) descent elevation in just 30 miles (48 km) to the Colorado River.

85 I live, with their ‘good old boy’ attitude, than there is in the aviation community as a Right: Maria’s R44 Raven beside a Saguaro whole. In aviation, you build respect through training and experience. Something as Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), pronounced “sah-wah-roh”, in Maricopa County near meaningless as gender doesn’t usually hold you back from achieving your goals. Wickenburg. This is a large, tree-sized cac- tus native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja I bought a Robinson mostly because I trained on an R22, so I knew the helicopters California, and an extremely small area of pretty well and realised their value. I owned an R22 Beta II for four years before selling California. The saguaro blossom is the state it and buying the R44 Raven II that I fly now. It was a special order, right from the flower of Arizona. Below: Maria’s R44 at the abandoned factory, and was a big investment for me. If it were not for Pathfinder Insurance, I ‘Stone house’ in the mountains high above doubt if I could sustain my operation. They insure only Robinson machines and have Lake Pleseant. This is the largest lake in the Greater Phoenix area, about 50 miles north a special relationship with them, so that is a real bonus. Pathfinder has strict training of Phoenix within the city limits of Peoria, a and experience requirements beyond what you would normally need for insurance. Phoenix suburb. That helps reduce the risk in the insurance pool. If you meet these requirements, your insurance is going to be affordable. Insurance is my third highest cost after reserve for overhaul and fuel, so that’s pretty important to me as a tour operator.

I still use my R44 for pleasure trips. We have a vacation home at the top of a mesa about 40 miles south of the Grand Canyon. It’s a 3-hour drive but only a 1-hour flight, so we fly up there quite often, sometimes just for an overnight stay. I land on an area we cleared for the helicopter. We also occasionally take the helicopter to visit friends we know in the area. Dennis and Kay Norquist for example, who I met when they put their home up for sale; Dennis set up a landing zone for me so I could fly Realtors around from their property. Although I can’t land on property within town limits, I know lots of people outside of town with several acres of land and have ‘dropped in’ on them more than a few times. The helicopter makes it easy and fun.

I also like just flying around to check out what’s new or different from the air. I like flying right after a heavy rain to see the water flowing in the washes throughout the desert. Sometimes I can even time it right to see waterfalls. It’s also interesting to see life from the air. You learn who has junk collected in his back yard, who’s getting ready to build a new garage or who’s putting in a new horse corral. I’ve helped local authorities identify meth labs in the area by spotting suspicious camps out in the desert that aren’t visible from roads. Although I’ve only been flying for eight years, it’s hard to imagine life without my helicopter and the freedom it gives me to explore my world.

86 ROBBIE | FLYING M AIR I like flying right after a heavy rain to see the water flowing in the washes throughout the desert. 88 ROBBIE | FLYING M AIR

100 From left to right: Maria with ‘Alex,’ her African Grey Parrot. With the Norquists at sunset. Over the Little Colorado River north of Flagstaff. Shutting down at Wickenburg after a long day of scenic flying. Notice how the rear fuselage strobe light is illuminating the spinning rotor Maria drives her car up to the helicopter to fetch some paperwork. Panorama of Mike and Maria over the city of Phoenix, late in the afternoon. In her car, driving to the airport.

ROBBIE | FLYING M AIR 89 On Sunday morning, I flew in formation with Dave so aviation photographer Jon Davison could get air-to-air photos of my helicopter for his upcoming book about Robinson Helicopters. Dave is a responsible pilot — heck, he sells aviation insurance for a living! He also might just have as many hours flying helicopters as I do, since he flies his helicopter from Wickenburg to Scottsdale and back — a 30-minute flight each way — most days. So I felt pretty confident that he understood the importance of keeping a safe distance from each other and always knowing where the other one is.

side note here: about a month or two ago, there was a horrific midair collision in Phoenix between two news helicopters. They went down in a fiery crash and all four on board died. Having something like this happen so close to home — especially when it involves people you know — really peaks your awareness for the dangers of flying with other aircraft. I think this wasA probably on Dave’s mind as well as mine. We took off from Wickenburg and did a slow orbit around Vulture Peak with me in the lead. Jon sat behind Dave on the left side of the helicopter, dangling his feet out the door. They flew at my 5 o’clock position. At one point, Jon asked me to stop and hover on the east side of Vulture Peak while he and Dave moved slowly around me. MARIA LANGER’S BLOG I should mention here that Zero-Mike-Lima performed flawlessly, allowing me to hold out ENTRY FOR SEPTEMBER of ground effect hovers at more than 3000 feet MSL. It wasn’t hot and it wasn’t windy and that made things a lot easier for me. But I did have full fuel and a passenger on 25th 2007 board, putting me at about 2200 lbs (that’s 300 lbs below max gross weight). After Vulture Peak, we broke off and started east across the desert to Lake Pleasant, with me flying in Dave’s 7 o’clock position. We decided to do some work over the Quintero Golf Course, which most people around here don’t even know exists because you can’t see it from the main road. Dave went in first to scout the area with Jon. Then they directed me into position over a pond in the middle of the golf course. It was 8 AM and there were a few golfers down there. I hovered about 300 feet AGL over the pond while Jon and Dave flew around me. We managed to get the shots we needed in only 3 minutes, then continued on to the lake.

At the lake, we flew slowly up the east shore at Dave’s 9 o’clock position. The sun was behind Dave’s helicopter, shining right on us and on the lake and mountains beyond it. We did a few shots near the marina, then broke off and headed off to the stone house. The stone house sits on a saddle overlooking Lake Pleasant. It’s a magnificent structure — or at least it would have been if it had been completed and if the vandals hadn’t destroyed much of what was there. It made a good backdrop for the photos Jon wanted to take. After hovering around in front of it — and scaring away a small herd of cattle that had been grazing on the hillside — we landed and got out for a visit. The place was in even worse condition than it had been on my last visit more than two years before.

We climbed back into our helicopters, cranked them up, and took off to a mill site Dave knew of. It turned out to be Anderson Mill on the Santo Domingo wash. We did some more air-to-air work by the remains of the mill, then broke off and flew back Opposite: Maria hovering to Wickenburg. Over town, Jon got a few more shots of me flying, this time with over the abandoned stone Wickenburg in the background. It was a good photo flight. house, with Lake Pleasant in the distance. Above: Photographer We spent yesterday on a whirlwind tour of northern Arizona that included Prescott, Jon Davison shooting Jerome, Sycamore Canyon, Howard Mesa, the Little Colorado River Gorge, Roden out of Dave Monaco’s Hughes 500c. (Photo by Crater, the Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River (not so grand yesterday), Winslow Maria’s husband, Mike and La Posada (I love breakfast there), Meteor Crater, and Sedona. We flew with Chilingerian, from Maria’s Jon’s door off so he could get glare-free photos out the helicopter. But he also took helicopter.) some shots of me flying, using a wide angle lens so he could get the helicopter and Lower right: Maria’s R44 at the Norquists house, views beyond in the shot. Great stuff. Jon’s still finishing up his editing of the photos south of Wickenburg. he took, but I’ve been watching him work and they look great. I hope to share a few of them here shortly. And I’m sure at least one of them will become Flying M Air’s new postcard. Stay tuned.

The above text was reproduced from ‘An Eclectic Mind,’ Maria Langer’s blog. You can find it at www.MariaLanger.com. FLYING M AIR 103 HELIREEF WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS, QUEENSLAND Ken Allen

HeliReef operates in and around the Whitsunday Islands, providing transfer flights for tourists to and from the islands, including Hayman and Hamilton Islands. They also operate scenic flights to Whitehaven Beach and the Great Barrier Reef, where they land at the pontoons.

n my first day at Helireef I was riding in the back seat of an R44 to see how the day was run and to listen to the more experienced guides. We were on final at about 150 feet for a landing on Whitehaven Beach and I was making good use of the bubble windows in the R44, looking straight down Oonto the beach and the dunes. I saw a beach blanket come into view with the standard bottle of champagne and two glasses stuck in the sand. Everyone in the chopper went quiet but I thought nothing of it. There were two sets of footprints leading away from the blanket along the beach and my eyes naturally followed these prints for about 50 meters until they veered up over the sand dune to reveal two people...... well...... doing what comes naturally in one of the world’s most romantic places!

The “Magic of Whitehaven” (and maybe a little champagne) often has this effect on people. So on final approach to the beach I always draw my guests’ attention to the great visibility you have from these helicopters, in particular the view OVER the sand dunes and suggest that if they are seeking privacy, for WHATEVER reason, please remember that this may not be the only helicopter to visit the beach today!

92 ROBBIE | HELIREEF Ken approaches Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands. These are part of Queensland’s tropical far north.

ROBBIE | HELIREEF 93 I’m often asked ‘why’ I chose to fly helicopters. I’ve tried to compose a response to that question many times that would be intelligent, witty and articulate. Unfortunately I’ve never managed anything better than “why wouldn’t you?’ or “because they’re awesome!”

The truth is that ever since I was kid I wanted to fly. I grew up in an age where anything was possible. There were stories of supersonic passenger jets, computers and rocketmen strapping jets to their backs, taking off and landing wherever they liked! I wanted some of that and I worked out early on that a Superman T-shirt wasn’t enough to make you fly. You needed something more techno-logical, like a beach towel stuffed into your shirt collar or an umbrella. Well it turns out that Mary Poppins was a scam and no matter how big the umbrella or how high the roof, it wasn’t going to work.

The beach towel however had some potential.... if I could just get some more speed and height... Regrettably the Authorities (Mum) soon got wind of this daring new research and banned all access to the testing grounds, (anywhere higher than 2 feet) thus ending the development program before it really began.

It wasn’t until I was 19 that I found my jet pack. I was working in the Kimberley region of WA for a prospecting company and had my first ride in a helicopter. I was hooked! I drove the pilot crazy with a million questions and decided to get my licence. As it happens it was a very expensive exercise and it was many years later that I finally qualified as a commercial pilot.

My first step was a TIF (Trial Instructional Flight) in an R22. I took the controls and found it was harder than it looked. I did my utmost to turn it upside down, much to the disgust of the instructor who looked very nervous. This happened several times until he said ‘please be gentle on the controls’. Because I’d done a little bit of flying in fixed wing aircraft, I was used to being quite heavy with the controls compared to a helicopter. You ‘think’ the controls in a helicopter, you don’t move them! It’s more “pressure” on the cyclic than movement. After about fifteen minutes of this ham-fisted abuse of a perfectly good helicopter, I managed to hover it for ten seconds and I remember thinking ‘wow… I can do this!’ So that’s where it all started.

94 Left: A Helireef R44 lifts off from Whitehaven Beach. This page: A Helireef R44 Clipper II over Heart Reef, on the Great Barrier Reef. Whitehaven and Heart Reef are both popular tourist destinations for helicopter tours and fixed wing seaplanes. I managed to hover it for ten seconds and I remember thinking ‘wow… I can do this!’ So that’s where it all started. Later in my training I had to take a senior instructor for a flight and I had to do some confined area landings (find a gap in the trees and land in it). The instructor was a big fellow and we were taking a fair bit of fuel. It was a hot day and we’d had a fair bit of rain so it was quite humid. Even as a student I knew that these were not the best circumstances to do operations requiring a lot of power. This particular instructor had been teaching for many years and is a bit of a legend in the industry so there was little chance I was going to disagree. On the way to the training area I asked him what he thought of the R22. He simply replied “they’re slippery little buggers…real good for what we do”. Right then we arrived at the chosen spot and he pointed at a tiny hole in the trees and said “okay take me in there”. I gulped.

It looked pretty small to a low hour student. I dutifully began my pre-confined area checks and when I did a power check I found that if we went in, we may not have enough power to climb back out! I was no dummy, I knew the deal… if a student lands in a hole they can’t get out of, to teach them a lesson he/she has to WALK out while the instructor flies back to a suitable “limited power” landing site and waits for them. This one was surrounded by swamp!…. I wasn’t keen.

He just grinned and said “you’ll be right...in you go”. So in I went. Sure enough, once in there I found we didn’t have enough power to get out. I had a couple of tries before the Instructor took over. At that point I was wondering if there were going to be leeches in the swamp and should I leave my shoes on or take them off for my little expedition?

He then says, “I’ll show you a little trick….. you might be able to use this one day when you have a few hours under your belt”. He positioned the chopper at the far end

Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet. This is one of Australia’s top beach destinations, and is located in the Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach Region. Whitehaven Beach is almost 6 km long and consists of a very fine dazzling white sand that is 98% pure Silica. The name Whitehaven Bay was given in 1879 by Staff Commander E.P. Bedwell, RN, in SS Llewellyn, being one of the many names from the then English county of Cumberland he brought to the area following on from Cook’s 1770 naming of the group ‘The Cumberland Isles’. Whitehaven is a town on the shore of Solway Firth in the UK. The name is particularly apt because the bay and its environs carry a large deposit of pure white silica sand giving the area a dazzling white clean appearance and this may have influenced Bedwell in his naming.

97 Opposite: The benefit of hiring your own helicopter for a few hours at Whitehaven Beach is an unforgetable experience. This page: A Helireef R44 over a small island in the Whitsunday Passage. The Whitsundays were named by Captain James Cook after discovering them in 1770. “Whit Sunday” refers to a religious holiday celebrated on the same day that Cook discovered them. The islands are in reality underwater mountain peaks exposed after the last the Ice Age. Not many of the islands are habitated. The most developed is Hamilton Island with an international airport. of the hole just as I had done and began accelerating toward the line of trees at the other end. At the last minute he turned the chopper in a tight circle inside the hole! By the time we were facing the upwind end of the hole again we were really moving. We launched out of the hole, clearing the trees by a good 15 feet and climbed away like nothing had happened.

He handed the controls back to me and said “see…slippery little buggers, not many choppers would have let us get away with that in there”.

A helicopter can take off and land vertically, and hover, as well as fly fast. They can fly sideways, backwards, everything you could want a jetpack to do without the problem of setting fire to the seat of your pants or being driven head first into the ground by out of control jets! What more could you want? Best of all, unlike an aeroplane (or a beach towel) they don’t need a long run up for take off, they can do it anywhere and do it all so easily.

In all seriousness though, being a helicopter pilot is a challenging role requiring dedication and a responsible outlook. But it’s important to keep it all in perspective… I keep myself grounded by remembering what it is I do for a living ...... I’m blasting tourists around tropical islands in an R44 “Jetpack”!

Why wouldn’t you? They’re awesome!

Ken approaches the HeliReef pad on Hayman Island after getting a call to pick up passengers from the islands resort.

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Left to right: A Helireef R44 lifts off from Whitehaven Beach. Arriving back at Airlie Beach airport, near Shute Harbour, after a long day over the Reef. Ken over the Whitsunday Islands on his way back to Helireef’s Airlie Beach base. An R44 low over the Great Barrier Reef system. A typical blissfull Whitsunday anchorage. Visitors and their R44 on Whitehaven Beach. Landing back at Hamilton Island airport after a flight to Heart Reef.

103 RUSSELL HARRISON PLC THE COTSWOLDS, UK

Russell Harrison

Russell is a property developer based in Oxfordshire, England. He operates his R44 Raven II from his converted barn, and travels throughout the UK for business and pleasure, including tours to Oxford city and the Cotswolds.

102 ROBBIE | RUSSELL HARRISON PLC ROBBIE | RUSSELL HARRISON PLC 105 talking to the tower, all whilst I was maintaining aircraft stability. One Saturday night Previous pages and I was having dinner with friends and one of the other guests owned a Robinson R44 this page: Russell and he said that he’d fly it over the next day to show it to me. The next morning at Harrison’s R44 Raven at Buckland Manor near 10am this helicopter came over the hedge, and literally as it came over into the yard I Broadway, in said to my girlfriend ‘I’ve got to do that!’ the Cotswolds. Opposite: Russell arrives at Whatley Manor, near The next day I started my rotary licence training in Wellsbourne, where I spent the Malmsbury in Wiltshire. next four weeks doing an intensive helicopter course. It was not easy at first - trying to control this wild beast in the air - making the aircraft hover whilst beads of perspiration broke out on my forehead. I could never seem to do what the instructor wanted. Some say that it’s the same as flying a fixed wing aircraft but I can tell you it’s not at all. Luckily you do get the hang of it. As a property developer, I use G-RUZZ to fly all over the country. I could be in Devon in the south of England one day and up to Scotland the next. With our road infrastructure in Britain we know that the helicopter is four times faster than a car. The helicopter generally travels at 100 knots, or 110 miles per hour, so it’s twice as fast as a car travelling at an average speed on the road.

As the crow flies, it is half the distance as by road. It’s quite surprising just how accurate that is. For example, a journey that would take an hour in the car, like our journey to Buckland Manor, takes just fifteen minutes in the R44. I can go from my house in Oxfordshire, Central England, up to Scotland to check out a development opportunity and return back in the same day. I would have to allow two days if I had to hen I was 13 and still at school and I can remember being in my maths go by car. class on the second floor of the school building. I was looking down on a patch of grass and thinking how great it would be to land a helicopter I recall many years ago an pilot acquaintance of mine dropped into the farm and there. That’s it really! From an early age I dreamed of flying helicopters. suggested that I should take up flying helicopters. He suggested that, after he took off, WEveryone uses the excuse ‘when I have time and money’ but on reflection, I could have I should put a dinner plate on the grass in the paddock and he would land right on top taken up flying when I was much younger. of it. He did just that and I was utterly gob-smacked, just speechless. I realised later of course that this was a pretty easy thing to do with a helicopter. For the uninitiated It was not until my 40th birthday when my girlfriend’s gift was the hours to build my there is an aura around helicopters, but like any skill you master, once you learn fixed wing licence that I went out and did it. The great thing was that I did the flying then it is easy and you can always do it. Since I’ve been flying I have won the Club at Kidlington near Oxford, where there is a full air traffic control service, so I was able Championships, the British Helicopter Championships and in 2005 I came fourteenth in to pick up all my radio communication training at the same time. This gave me great the World Helicopter Championships. Not bad after only three years of flying! I won the confidence in using the radio, squawking up and down the frequency bands and British Champion title in 2006, so I think my piloting skills are pretty good really.

106 ROBBIE | RUSSELL HARRISON PLC

Opposite: Oxford’s ancient heart. At its centre is the Radcliffe Square with the spire of St Mary’s, the University Church facing the High Street, and behind it the circular Radcliffe Camera. To the left of St Mary’s is Brasenose College, and to the right is All Souls College. Directly behind the Radcliffe Camera is the Bodleian Library. Above right: Oxford’s Radcliffe Camera. Above: The Bridge of Sighs. Right: Bibury in Gloucestershire, a typical sleepy Cotswold village. Russell flies to both Oxford City and the Cotswolds on a regular basis as part of his work.

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I almost feel decadent in the air, when the traffic below is congested or just stationary. I fly directly over them. In a helicopter with Sat Nav, you can fly two and a half hours and you know that Sat Nav shows you within the minute of when you will be landing. In a car you can’t do that. When you are in the air you can see over a forty mile radius and not see other air traffic. Driving a car at the legal speed limit, you can be going seventy miles an hour, yards away from the car in front and the one behind and one foot to the side from loose gravel or verge hazards. People are quite rightly concerned about flight safety but the driver in the car in front of you may have passed his or her test 40 years ago and may not have had a medical for the last thirty years. In an aircraft you always know that the pilot is fit and medically sound, so the differences safety wise are incredible.

If you want to fly into a hotel, you simply pick up the phone and ask for permission to land and they always grant it. Also you are perceived to be seriously loaded and obviously you make an entrance that nobody else can compete with. The Manager comes out and greets you and offers your passengers champagne. It’s just great! The helicopter carries a caché that is unmatched.

I love to take up what I call ‘helicopter virgins’ for their first flight. These are the best people to have in the R44 as they have never flown in anything, not even a jet airliner. When I take them for a flying trip I always fly very safely and delicately to enhance their experience. The last thing you want is a distressed passenger who vows never to fly again. It always bites you on the bum if you try and fly at the edge of an aircraft’s parameters. Naturally, I realise that I am just a very handsome helicopter pilot! I also get a buzz from the fact that I can sit in my bath at home and look out at my helicopter.

How sad is that?

Opposite: Russell’s R44 Raven II on the apron alongside his converted barn in the Cotswolds. Top right: Russell Harrison. Lower right: Russell appraoching the city of Oxford, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

110 I love to take up what I call ‘helicopter virgins’ for their first flight. These are the best people to have in the R44. Left: Russell and guest lift off from his property in the Cotswolds. Right: Blenheim Palace, home to the 11th Duke of Marlborough, is situated in Woodstock, 8 miles north of Oxford and is considered part of the Cotswolds. Blenheim Palace was conceived in 1705 by architect Sir John Vanbrugh, completed in 1722 and is a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture, with formal gardens and grounds sculptured by ‘Capability’ Brown. Blenheim is also famed as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

112 ROBBIE | RUSSELL HARRISON PLC

WINDHAWK HELICOPTERS Marlborough, New Zealand Ben Barnett

Windhawk Helicopters is a family run business, overlooking the Wairau Valley in the fertile wine growing area of Marlborough, New Zealand. They offer tours throughout the Marlborough Region including The Queen Charlotte Sound, guided heli-fishing/hunting, lodge transfers and wine tours as well as general commercial work.

have always wanted to fly, as far back as I can remember really. Growing up we had friends who flew, Mum did also, so aviation was never too far away. I must have been about eleven or twelve and I remember biking down to the aerodrome with some money I had saved and I had my first couple of flying lessons…the money didn’t go Ifar so flying was going to have to wait a while longer. I grew up around farming, in fact farming is still all around us here in Marlborough. Aviation has for a long time been an integral part of local industry. I was warned about ‘Ag flying’ early on by a number of friends who were local top dressing pilots and things were getting tougher acrossthe board - farming, droughts, the beaurocrats - there had to be other ways to make a living from flying here in Marlborough.

Opposite: Ben battles the strong off-shore winds at Clifford Bay as he heads up the coast following Marfell’s Beach Road, to the Cape Campbell Seal Colony at the Campbell Lighthouse. Right: Captain James Cook named Cape Campbell after Captain John Campbell, who was responsible for important advances in navigation instruments. The lighthouse was established in 1870 but the present lighthouse was built in 1905.

When I left school I began working as a shepherd as well as doing a bit of contract fencing. At one property I worked on in North Canterbury the owner had a Cessna Something caught my 180 which we would fly into town from time to time. By this time I had taken up flying eye and glancing down again and was working toward my fixed wing PPL on the weekends. It seemed that every weekend I had off the weather was crap for flying and every weekend that I was I saw a deadly Taipan working was perfect flying weather, so I ended up chasing my tail training somewhat snake wrapped around for a while there. I used all the money I made on a few flying lessons, but again that didn’t last long and after a few climbing and descending turns, the bank was dry! I was the skid. about eighteen when I decided to keep saving a while longer, so I could start training full time later that year in Christchurch.

A friend of mine, Neil Scott, who is a great pilot with over 40 years experience in both fixed wing and Rotary, works also as an “A Cat” Instructor and Flight Examiner with Garden City Helicopters in Christchurch. At about the time I got my Fixed Wing The tours and flights we offer today largely focus on places in the Marlborough region Commercial License the work Neil was doing, checking and training pilots all over the where I spent time as a kid fishing and hunting. I had been flying in Western Australia country, more often than not meant a lot of travelling. Bryan Halls’ Cherokee 235 DGK and Canada in the winters and spending the summers back here setting up Windhawk was to become our first mode of transport. Neil took me under his wing and we began Helicopters to service the area. Although a lot of our customers are from overseas, it’s flying all over the South Island visiting the helicopter operators with Neil putting the good to be able to show the local people who have lived here all their lives some of boys through their paces with flight tests and annual checks. I think a few people may these places from the air. It just blows them away. It’s good also on the longer flights have referred to me as his “Chauffeur” but Neil liked the term “Driver” better (I still had a when you have more time to get to know your passengers and share the experience lot to learn!!). We covered a lot of country together and I learned a lot, I was very lucky with them on a more personal level. I find the locals may mention something about to have that opportunity at such an early point in my flying career. It was at that time a place they know of, grew up near or have some affiliation with, but they may have that I started learning to fly helicopters. never seen it from above. So to take them there makes their past come alive in an amazing way, particularly for retired shepherds/musterers when we fly over the country On the morning of my flight test with Simon Spencer-Bower from Wanaka Helicopters, they used to work on in their younger days . I decided to go for just one last early flight on my own to settle myself down before picking Simon up from the airport. The clutch had been playing up recently but the When I was flying in Western Australia in 2005 and 2006, I was taking tourists on engineers thought they had fixed the problem and all issues seemed to have settled flights in the Kimberley, bus loads of them. We would do sightseeing tours over the down. However, not long after takeoff it started playing up again and suddenly there Bungle Bungle Ranges, Kununurra, Lake Argyle, Ord River and El Questro, plus heli- was a hell of a bang. I pulled the circuit breaker and put the machine down in a fishing tours and cattle/fire spotting. It was a great experience. Tourists in big groups paddock to find a belt had shredded! It sort of shook me up a bit as the test was three are always amusing… just like with sheep and cattle you can guarantee that there will quarters of an hour away and Simon was waiting for me to pick him up at the airport always be “one”, one character out of a group of forty or so on the bus who just has and I was stuck in a paddock in West Melton, down to one belt wondering what I’d to be difficult, the one who just can’t help but crack jokes throughout a safety brief gotten myself into! prior to the flight. (Also the one who you will inadvertently stop from walking into the tail

116 ROBBIE | WINDHAWK HELICOPTERS Left: Western Australia’s remote Bungle Bungle Range, in the far north of the state in the Kimberley region. Above: The remote Carr-Boyd Ranges. These are seen en-route to the Bungle Bungles. Ben flew tours to both these and other locations in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.

117 Opposite: Scattered throughout the Marlborough and Nelson regions are the remains of homesteads from the 1950’s, where many families moved to the big cities. This one is near Murchison. This page: The beauty of visiting wineries by helicopter in the Wairau Valley/Marlborough region, is the the ability to land pretty much anywhere. Ben and the R44 approaching the Highfield Winery, overlooking the Brookby Hills in the Wairau Valley of Marlborough. Highfield traditionally makes Elstree Cuvée Brut, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. A visit to Highfield’s cellar door and restaurant is a popular excursion offered by Windhawk Helicopters.

CHAPTER TITLE ROBBIE | WINDHAWK HELICOPTERS 119 rotor in the not so distant future.) From fellow travellers we’d often learn our new found from Kununurra and on the way had really trashed the aircraft and the pilot. Thrown friend was the token pain in the arse on the bus as well and had been since the start of up all over the place! Then she wanted to do a helicopter tour of the Bungles and the the tour! You couldn’t help but smile but it also meant you had to watch everything all pilot said to me “I reckon she’s empty now Ben!” At this point I had a week left in the the time. So then he goes to jump in the front, ‘cause he just has to be in the front! season before returning to New Zealand and still had a clear record… So away we So he jumps in your seat. You watch him, he’s just one of those guys, straps himself went on this flight, just her and her little daughter. She was good, you can tell by their in, you know everything is okay so you just let things take their course. Everyone else body language if they are going to get crook, you just know …. they get quiet, but she is in their seats and just shaking their heads. So we wait to see how long he takes to seemed fine and was chattering away. We were just coming down through the Beehive figure out why the big fan on top is not starting up. Slowly it dawns on him and he just Domes in the Bungles, and there was no progression from being happy to being sick. undoes his belt and slopes off into the backseat, tail between his legs. Suddenly she just leant out of the open front door. I thought she had seen something and I was worrying about the headset. But no, she threw up. It went out of the front I remember sitting on the pad at Bellburn Airstrip and there were four of us in convoy door, came back in through the back door, swirled around and came back in behind about to lift off for a scenic flight through the Bungles. Something caught my eye and me in the front! Shit, there was lettuce on my hat, on the dashboard, the windscreen, glancing down I saw a deadly Taipan snake wrapped around the skid. My passengers everywhere. I can tell you she was not empty!! She just looked at me and apologized. hadn’t seen it yet and where it came from is another story altogether. The people in I asked her if she was okay, and booomph! another load hits me! the helicopter alongside us saw it and were all pointing and taking pictures of it. I got the chopper light on her skids and tried a bit to shake the snake free but I didn’t want I got Gregg back at camp on the radio and asked him to put the fixed wing pilot on to piss it off too much as, due to the heat, we always flew with the doors off and the the line. ’Well I shook her, and she’s empty now Chris!’ He could not believe it, I could snake could have easily joined us in the cabin. My passengers were three young ladies hear laughter in the background (it always did seem funny when it was happening to who up till now were quite unaware of the situation and I was hoping to keep it that somebody else). Anyway when we got back we had to hose her and the helicopter way, but the cameras and waving clowns in the chopper to our right sort of let the cat down. As I helped the little girl out of the back seat I noticed a perfectly clean patch of out of the bag and in moments that little Robinson was like a bouncy castle on cup upholstery in the shape of a little girl where she had been sitting, she had taken some day! With all the commotion at this point, our stowaway friend was on his way again pretty heavy fire as well, so we hosed her down right next to Mum! and after a little settling of my passengers we resumed the flight. I have never seen anything like it. One of our pilots, Gregg, came out and said ‘Dude Working in remote places like the Bungles and El Questro meant that we spent many you’ve got lettuce on your hat?’ We heard later from Chris, the fixed wing pilot, that nights around the campfire sharing stories of our day’s adventures and laughing at our she was sick most of the flight back to Kununurra that evening as well. I’m still not sure encounters and the things that life could dish up. if perhaps fourteen little ones over a whole season may have been easier to manage than this one woman’s monumental effort. The heat up there made it kind of hard for people who were nervous or not good flyers, and the turbulence sometimes just added to the problem of airsickness. It was All in all the times out there were wonderful. I learned a lot and made friends I still keep a bastard at the time, but you just had to laugh about it and hose things down. It in touch with today. It was remote, hot and dusty but also one of the most beautiful was a bit of a competition amongst the boys to get through the season with five or places on earth. It got dark early and every person there played their own part in less spewers to your tally. A mate of mine had been having a bad run and at fourteen making it what it was to all of us. We worked hard, played hard and had a hell of a lot he finally said “bugger it I’m going for 30”! Anyway this one woman had flown down of fun along the way.

120 ROBBIE | WINDHAWKCHAPTER HELICOPTERS TITLE Below: Ben landing the R44 Astro on a beach in the Queen Charlotte Sounds. Left: Typical Marlborough Sounds scenery.

Left to right: Ben’s R44 Astro at home base in the Wairau Vally hills. The view aft from the open front door of the R44. Ben (far right) and family. Wooden direction pointers at Cape Campell. The ferry port of Picton is the nautical gateway between Wellington in the North Island, and Picton in the South. Typical holiday homes (batches) and scenery in the Queen Charlotte Sounds.

123 The lush, fertile landscape between Blenheim and Picton, part of the scenic route offered by Windhawk.

CHAPTER TITLE

trained initially on the R22 in San Francisco back in 1993 and also a trip in 1995 to do my instrument rating. I was over with Helicopter Adventures just east of San Francisco, in the city of Concord. That was the most wonderful time I can recall about aviation. The only negative thing was that I realised what I was like. You Isee the bad thing is that students are in a hurry, and I myself was also in a hurry. You want to get this over with because you are aiming for that first job, and everything and anything costs money. My recommendation to all new students is to take your time and slow down and enjoy yourself, enjoy the time.

But of course if someone had told me to slow down, I would not have listened at that time, but I see so clearly now. San Francisco was such a beautiful place to be, and to be a tourist, and an aviator in a training environment was just perfect. There were so many interesting places to fly over and see.You know I liked the R22, as a training machine it was a fun helicopter and it did the job, as long as you treated it well and kept it within its limitations it did the job, there was no problem at all. It was challenging and it was exciting. I feel that if you can master flying an R22 helicopter at the start of your training and because it is so unstable, it is the perfect training machine. If you can fly this you can master almost anything.

I have had no accidents, or near misses during my training or after, nothing at all. I remember that it was a real challenge and accomplishment to be able to be that young and after that few hours, being able to fly solo across the country. To fly from Concord over to the San Francisco bay area, or over the city, then over Alcatraz Prison, and over NORCOPTER the Golden Gate Bridge. It was the most outstanding thing I have achieved, to be in Sola, Norway control of a helicopter on your own, there was nothing like it. You know in a Robinson by yourself in that busy environment, that was just so over the top, you wouldn’t Kyetil Føyen believe it.

Norcopter operate out of Sola Airport near Stavavger in Norway. For a Norwegian who grew up hearing about all these places, all my dreams had They provide scenic flights, especially to the islands, the fjiords come true! I was lucky not long after that I got the first job with Air Greenland as an air and the rugged interior. Norcopter also provide charter services operator and with both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, large ones like the Boeing throughout southren Norway. 737 that fly between Scandinavia and Greenland and also between Greenland and the USA and Canada. But I transferred directly from the R22 to a Sikorsky S-61! That was a huge change. so big, and these huge blades everywhere.

126 ROBBIE | NORCOPTER Fritz Roed`s monumental sculpture, ‘The Sword in Rock’, on the shores of Hafrsfjord in Stavanger is a symbol of the consolidation of the nation at Hafrsfjord around 872 AD. Right: The popular scenic location of Priekestolen (Pulpit Rock). This towers above the still waters of the Lysefjord, near Stavanger. Above: Approaching the Sola coastline after a long day sighteeing. Top: The North Sea coastline off Sola.

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Opposite: Banking an R44 Astro tightly over the harbour of Jørpeland near Stavanger. Jørpeland is in the county of Rogaland, which is the main centre for oil and gas exploration in Norway. Rogaland is also one of the country’s main agricultural districts. This page: Typical mountain scenery inland in the county of Røgaland. This area offers superb mountaineering excursions, as well as trips to the many fjiords that abound throughout the area, and the scenic Mecca’s of Prekestolen, Kjerag and Gloppedalsura. ROBBIE | NORCOPTER 131 Centre: Typical mountain view near Telemark. Far right: The southern islands, near Farsund, between Stavanger and Kristiansund. Far right lower: Kyetil Føyen This page: A Norcopter R44 over the rocky coastline facing the North Sea, west of Sola.

Far left: Typical mountain scenery inland in the county of Røgaland. Left: The view from a Norcopter R44 Astro as it approaches home base at Sola Airport, near Stavanger. Sola is Norway’s oldest airport, opened by King Haakon VII 29 May 1937. The airport was the second to have a concrete runway in Europe. On 9 April 1940, during the Second World War, the airport was attacked and captured by German fallschirmjägers (paratroopers) from the 1st battalion of the 1st Regiment 7th Flieger Division and supported by Luftwaffe aircraft. The attack continued for over an hour, and the airport remained in German hands for the duration of the War. The German occupation forces and Luftwaffe expanded the airport considerably, as it was a vital strategic asset for the Germans. Above: A German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt BF109-G1 fighter undergoing a complete restoration at the Sola Flyvehistorik Museum (Sola Aviation Museum). On 11th October 1943, Luftwaffe pilot Feldwebel Gärtner flew his G-1 (serial number 14141) for a check flight from his base at Sola. The engine caught fire and Gärtner was forced to crash land in the sea where he was later rescued. The plane sunk and was not recovered until 15th November 1988. Today the plane is back at Sola, where it is undergoing restoration for the Sola Flyvehistorik Museum. The building is an old seaplane hangar built by the Germans during the Second World War. Left: A Norcopter R44 picks up a passenger from the southern islands, near Farsund.

135 you could only do this in the military, I didn’t know that helicopter schools existed in the civilian world.

After an intro flight over Waikiki my life changed and I spent all my college money on MAUNA LOA lessons, but that ran out pretty quick. I then followed this girl – who is now my wife - to the Bay Area in Oakland California and they had a flight school there with financing available. I ended up finishing my training there and getting all the qualifications I HELICOPTERS needed to start my career as a pilot. HAWAII After I qualified, the people who owned the school here in Hawaii asked me if I was interested in coming back and managing the flight school. So I took the job, which was Ben Fouts CEO right about the time Adriana and I were getting married. I had to commit to the job right away and two weeks later returned to the Bay Area for our wedding. After we were married she joined me in Hawaii and I began to manage the school where I first started Mauna Loa Helicopters operates flight schools and sightseeing my training which was in February of 1999. flights on Oahu, Hawaii and Kauai. Although it was a pay increase compared to flying in Oakland, there was many a day grew up on a farm in Illinois, where we had ag-spraying helicopters operating and spent waiting for the phone to ring. I ended up bringing my Sony Playstation to work the guy was a friend of my dad’s. After he was done spraying he would take me to pass the time between giving lessons to my two students! and my brothers for a little flight. I never knew that you could fly a helo outside of the military for some reason. It wasn’t until I came to Hawaii in 1996 to go to Later in the year, I found that the owners were interested in selling the flight school, as Ischool that I started noticing helicopters. After High School I was going to go to West they were more interested in expanding the air tours they were offering in Oahu. I had Point, the military academy, but I ended up going to the Coast Guard Academy instead no money but I put in an offer with the backing of an investor who would finance me. I because of the smaller school setting and the chance to be involved in search and was outbid by a mere $15,000 by a man from Colorado, though it turned out that his rescue. So I went off to New London and was all set to start a career flying for the money was, let’s say, illegal! So here we were in the middle of 2000 and the FBI came Coast Guard, but they found that I had a pre-existing medical condition, one that they to visit. The agent tells me ‘the game’s over, we’re taking the aircraft’. I was shocked, should have caught! I had an unstable vertebra in my back. So after a month there I how could this happen? I was out of a job. My options were really slim; either move to had to pack my bags and go home! That was it, my career over before it started. What mainland US and look for another flight instruction job, or try to revive the flight school a bummer! in Hawaii. Since I really didn’t have anything to lose, I chose to rebuild what was left of the flight school. There were no aircraft, but there were some students sticking around Then I found that the University of Hawaii was the about the same price as the to see if they could complete their training once things were sorted out. Northern llinois University, where my brother was, so that’s what bought me out here to Hawaii. It was while I was studying at the University of Hawaii that I saw a Yellow I spoke with the District Attorney handling the case dozens of times to get information Pages ad stating ‘Learn to Fly a Helicopter’. I thought ‘you gotta be kidding!’ I thought and ask for his help. The Government now owned the business, yet I was able to buy

136 ROBBIE | MAUNA LOA HELICOPTERS An R44 Raven II low over the main Kilauea lava flow, on the south After an intro east of Hawaii’s Big Island. Kilauea is one of flight over the world’s most active Waikiki my volcanoes. life changed and I spent all my college money on lessons. 138 it out of seizure! So I had to start over and all I had was this office trailer. Mission one was getting an aircraft and I was able to lease a helicopter and get it shipped from Seattle to get started. It was real hard road, a lot of days of Macaroni and Cheese, and an incredible woman who supported this reckless decision! But I have been blessed from the outset by a lot of higher paying jobs like photo shoots. These helped me pay the bills and over time we slowly grew and kept expanding. In 2003 we opened an office in Kauai and started offering training there, and in 2004 we opened in Honolulu. Now we are moving into scenic tours and charter tours, offering more than flight training. Our biggest advantage out here is the terrain as it’s so varied. We have 9 out of 11 climatic zones on earth right here on the Big Island (Hawaii). From a training point of view, we get to expose our students pretty early on to all the different variables they are going to see. Right next to the airport here, we have an 8,000 foot mountain to train on, plus it’s 360 days of VFR flying a year. We are pretty lucky.

The more you fly here the more you appreciate the wonders of nature, you never tire of seeing an active volcano pumping lava into the ocean, or the 2,000 foot high waterfalls. It’s so diverse and so extreme and eye popping. The only two environments we don’t have here are the Arctic or the rolling sand desert dunes, and who wants that anyway! In Honolulu we have a class one airspace, so the students can learn about flying in a congested airspace right here.

We often do night training over the Big Island and always during a full moon. When you come across a lava flow glowing at night, it is simply gobsmacking. The glow is visible from miles away, an eerie orange glow in the distance, that just gets more and more intense as you close in on it. Sure you see the glow during the day, but to see it at night is overwhelming. I think any pilot who sees it is taken aback by the sight.

Each island has its own unique personality. I love the big island for it’s spaces and volcanoes, but my favourite without a doubt is Kauai. It’s just breathtaking, plus it’s a fantastic laid back lifestyle, great for living in.

The visual landscape of Hawaii is domianted by the forces of water and the earth, both trying to maintain a balance. Opposite: Two Mauna Loa Beta II’s fly along the rugged coastline of Kauai. Left: On Hawaii, the Big Island, waterfalls cascade in torrents.

139 I think for us, the saving grace that made the Robinson our first choice was the overhaul kits, otherwise I guess we would have gone for the Schweitzer. That kit made it viable for us, in the field, to do our own overhauls and thereby having minimal down times for our aircraft. I don’t think any other machine comes close in terms of reliability and cost effectiveness than the Robinson. We are still very excited about using the R44 as a tour helicopter here for its cost effectiveness, as the other operators do not have the ability to operate at our lower cost level. What will be more exciting is the R66, that’s sure going to change things.

Quite often we get asked to do flower drops - these are typical events at weddings and big celebrations where the helicopter drops Plumeria flowers from a height and it just rains flowers. It’s pretty neat as they are so light and they smell great. I had done a drop previously so I figured that it was going to be easy. We got this call from a five story resort on the Kona coast who asked for a flower drop at their Christmas party. I had a lap full of Plumerias in a huge bag in the R22. I was the “expert” because I had done this once before. So I was giving instructions to my friend on how to fly in to prepare the drop. He came in just over the palm trees abreast the fourth floor of the resort, we got over the party and I tossed all the flowers out and watched them fall, but they were not spreading out and falling gracefully. Instead the people were scattering rather than racing to catch them. The flowers just fell like flower bombs and did not float. Something was wrong, it was not working well.

Then I just happened to look out back towards the tail and I saw what was going on. This little R22 helicopter was producing enough downwash to turn over the plastic tables and chairs. Table covers were whipping up all over the place, skirts being whipped up, cups spilling, food - you name it, everything was flying all over the place. People were scattering everywhere and I had this sick feeling in my stomach, ‘Oh man, I really screwed this one up!’ So my partner pulled power up over the last palm tree and we flew back with our tails between our legs. The lesson was to drop some at, say 300 feet, watch what they do then adjust your height accordingly. They are meant to fan out and float gently down in big spirals. That was the last flower drop I ever did, I have since relegated myself to allow the other guys to do it right!

140 Weather patterns can change frequently and are often challenging, here amid the rugged fertile landscape of Hawaii’s Big Island. Left top: Passing a cindercone on the ‘Big Island’. Left lower: One of the many spectacular waterfalls on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Opposite: Kaneohe Bay and the north east shore of Oahu, looking towards the Ko’olau mountains. Above: A cockpit view over the Pali Highway as it winds its way over the 500 metre mountain range, from Waikiki/ Honolulu to Kailua on Oahu.

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From left to right: Mauna Loa CEO Ben Fouts. Mauna Loa pilot Kelti Gadd assisting the author photographing over Kauai. Two R22 Beta IIs over the Kauai coastline. Over a cruise liner at Waikiki. Pilots three at Hilo on the Big Island. A Mauna Loa R22 at the Kona International Airport base, alongside a USAF C130 Hercules. Following pages: A Mauna Loa R44 Raven II low over the Kiluea lava flow on Hawaii’s big island

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ROTORVATION HELICOPTER SERVICES PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA David Adamson

Scottish born David Adamson is the Chief Flight Instructor and Chief Pilot at Rotorvation. Apart from the flight training operations, the company also offers scenic flights across the south west of the state, plus charter operations to the mining and resource industries. Rotorvation is a certified Robinson maintenance facility. David has over 5000 hours on Robinson helicopters.

148 ROBBIE | ROTORVATION Left and above: David at work in an R22 Beta II, mustering cattle on the De Grey Station, near Port Hedland in Western Australia’s far north. This is a highly specialised field involving a team of up to 15 people, on horseback and on dirt bikes, and a Cessna 172 that keeps an eye on the big picture. David’s experience in this field allows him to work as the overall coordinator, as well as a down-in-the-weeds aerial musterer. Opposite: An R44 alongside the Leeuwin Lighthouse in Augusta, in We are Western Australia’s south west corner. This page: more like an David performing a typical powerline inspection aerial ballet, from the open doors of a where we Rotorvation R44 Raven II. fly around or over and under our subject.

ears ago I was told by a pilot friend of mine that the best thing about being a pilot is that you are guaranteed to be a sex magnet! So I thought okay, I’m in, sounds good. Only trouble was my friend was gay! So that kind of Ychanged my slant somewhat. I did end up learning to fly in an R22 but in a horrible country! We won’t give it a name but suffice to say that it is not a million miles from Scotland. At this school I discovered how bad the quality of instruction was. I had come from a teaching background where I was involved at quite a high level teaching new skills and reinforcing skills to people who were either novices, or highly experienced. I had learned to adapt the teaching method to the student. So I just knew that the flight training material I was now learning and the teaching methods being used, were very poor. There was no method in place to ensure that I understood what I was doing and why I was doing it. Their communication skills were very poor. Also their handling of the aircraft in retrospect was very poor as well but I didn’t know this at the time of course.

I graduated from University in 1988 and then travelled around the world and made a profit working. Travelling gave me everything I wanted. But predominantly I stayed in Australia as I loved it, I really did. Whilst here I stayed in every capital city, so that I could get work teaching. I went to every flight school and talked to the owners, Chief Flying Instructors and/or Chief Pilots to try and get their advice on job opportunities in Australia.

All they wanted was my money as they said there were thousands of jobs out there. I found out this was not actually correct as I could only get a job if I had 3000 hours! So how could I get my 3000 hours? It was false advertising. There may have been thousands of jobs out there, but for someone with my limited hours there were no jobs. Another thing was my strong Scottish accent which put them off. They said that I couldn’t get a job mustering in the outback or the bush, because people wouldn’t want to talk to me because I came from a strange country.

So with that I headed to Perth in Western Australia. I liked Perth the best which was good because this was to be my last port of call before going back to Scotland as my VISA was going to expire. The only flying school here at the time was Rotorvation.

152 CHAPTER TITLE I spoke with the owner and Chief Flying Instructor Derek, who had one of the first Robinson’s. He was very down to earth and told me the truth without any crap. He told me that there was very little work for my limited experience and that giving him thirty five thousand dollars would not be any guarantee of work.

So I went back to Scotland, got very depressed by the weather and the economic climate so came back here again. I decided to stuff learning to fly in the UK and the rest is history. I have been with Rotorvation for ten years. I started teaching theory as my intention was always to be a flight instructor, not to always have that role, but it is the quickest way to get the experience you need. You are also getting your hours in a controlled environment, where you are actually maintaining standards. If you learn to fly in an uncontrolled environment you tend to pick up bad habits.

I instruct according to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority Flight Training Syllabus, which I do believe could be a lot better. I am currently in the process, along with six other Chief Flying Instructors, of improving the syllabus through the Helicopter Association of Australia. I aim to maintain high standards but in a relaxed atmosphere, where the student experiments, and we allow them to get into positions where they can see for themselves ‘Ah that’s what happens if I do that’. When the students get in that situation they can decide ‘Okay I don’t want to go there again’. So by the student experiencing what they have just done, by us allowing them to do it, then we don’t have to try and explain it. We don’t say ‘STOP RIGHT THERE, NOW WHAT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN IS THIS’.

Rotorvation conducts aerial tours of Fimiston Open Pit, colloquially known as ‘The Super Pit’. This is Australia’s largest open cut gold mine. The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields Highway on the south-east edge of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia.

Most of the good gold mined in the Super Pit occurs within ore lodes formed by ancient shears in a rock unit called the Golden Mile Dolerite. As the result, the area is known as the Golden Mile even though the lodes occur in an area over 2 km in width and 1 km in depth. This renowned Kalgoorlie-Boulder landmark is currently 3.5 km long, 1.5 km wide and 360 m deep, and will eventually stretch 3.9 km long, 1.6 km wide and reach a depth exceeding 500 m. Since 1893, when Irish-man Paddy Hannan first made his famous discovery, more than 50 million ounces (1,550 t) of gold have been mined from the Golden Mile.

CHAPTER TITLE 153 A Rotorvation loadmaster guides David’s R44 into postion as he hovers to pick up a sling load at a disused minesite. This is a specialised service and one that Rotorvation has years of experience in undertaking in the mine rich areas of Western Australia.

154 ROBBIE | ROTORVATION What we say is “well look what you have just caused, and we have had to rescue you teach you good power management skills. This is why I think the R44 is not as from that situation”. So the student is in a far better position not to go in there ever effective in the training environment as the R22. If you learn to fly in a large helicopter again, because it’s not very nice! For instance when I say to one of my students ‘Okay that you’re not power limited in, you can’t use those techniques to assist you because Rob, what happened there?’ he will say ‘Well it wasn’t quite right’. I will say ‘Okay you’ve never been shown them, because you have never been power limited. what will make it better?’ He can’t quite put his finger on what it was because he is concentrating so much on other things, plus he is still learning. So I will say ‘Rob, this is An R44 is ideal for taking two people to say the Margaret River region from Jandakot. what you actually did’ and replicate his action. Rob will sit there and go ‘Ah, I see what It’s ideal because the helicopter is very cost effective as a three passenger machine. I’ve done!’ then I will say ‘What are you going to do to fix it?’ and he will say ‘Okay I You can still fly 110 knots, you can still take full fuel in most cases, it’s air conditioned, have to do this to fix it’. ‘Yep absolutely’ I will say. the visibility is fantastic and they can touch each other, including the pilot if they wish! Other machines like the Jet Ranger have this massive bulkhead between the front So the students here are actually their own instructors, because we give the and back. The Hughes 500 is the most awful designed helicopter ever in terms of students enough information and we nurture them to a point where we want them passenger comfort and roominess. to demonstrate self sufficiency and we need them to demonstrate self diagnosis. If I asked a student to give me a ‘Quick Stop’ and asked them at the end what they Machines like the Jet Ranger and the Squirrel do not have such good tail rotor thought of it, I don’t need ‘it’s good or bad’ - that’s not instructing. If they say to me authority, but the R22 and R44 have got very good TRA. The R44 with two people (the ‘You flared too tight, let it sink at the end, you didn’t keep it straight with the pedal’. If pilot plus one) plus some fuel is not power limited, because it is a four place helicopter those three things were actually what was wrong with the quick stop, then that student with only two people and a bit of fuel. We can fly backwards, sideways, etc because I is actually nearly there in self diagnosing his own problem. If they have identified the have the power reserve. three problems and know how to rectify each one, then they don’t need my input. I’m just there to assist them and to confirm what is actually correct. A facilitator. This is the Normal air-to-air photography involves two aircraft flying alongside each other, in approach that I felt was missing when I first started training myself. formation, in order to get the right shots. We as you know, don’t do this. We are more like an aerial ballet, where we fly around or over and under our subject. We go In my experience from all the training aircraft I have taught on, the R22 is by far backwards and sideways, whatever it takes to get the best shots. It’s more interactive the best helicopter to learn to fly in. It is small, light, manoeuvrable and reasonably because of the R22 or R44 as cameraships. So the shots you get are somewhat unstable. People think why on earth would I want to fly in one of those things? That’s different than others, because of the capabilities of the machine we are in. It’s more because when you move to a larger helicopter, they become more stable and less cost effective as well. responsive. If you learn to fly the R22 properly in an emergency, like an engine failure or a tail rotor failure, and you can recover from it successfully, then you will be able to do it At Rotorvation we are configured as a flight training school. Our hangars and offices, in a larger helicopter, no problem. in fact everything is based on the flying school. Since 1986 we have been that way. Jandakot Airport, because of the climate, is an ideal place to learn to fly. We have The same applies with power management. With two people in an R22 and fuel for about 300 days a year of sunshine. over an hour, you are power limited. It teaches you power management. In larger helicopters you don’t have that power management. Two people in a four place Five minutes to the north you are in controlled airspace, five minutes to the south, there machine like an R44, even with full fuel, you are not that power limited, so it doesn’t is no controlled airspace. Vast areas where you can conduct all manner of training.

ROBBIE | ROTORVATION 155 Apparently this is the busiest aerodrome in the southern hemisphere. So if you are happy flying in the volume of density of traffic at Jandakot, then you are happy flying anywhere I would think.

Out of all the Gap training airfields I have flown in and around Australia, this is the largest. We have an area for helicopters that is nearly three times as big as anything I have ever seen, with as much freedom as we want. All in ultimate safety and enjoyment.

Above and right: During a recent photographic shoot for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia over the Central Australian desert, the author captured a Pilatus PC12 using an R44 Astro as the cameraship, flown by David Adamson. Specialised air-to-air (A2A) shooting like this requires extremely close proximity formation flying, and is a team effort. Far right: The author and David pull in close to an executive PC12 over the Central Australian Desert for another A2A shoot. Note the close proximity of both aircraft. PHOTO BY ALEXIS BACHOFEN.

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Top: Mark Bin Bakar, an Indigenous Australian, a musician, comedian and radio announcer based in Broome, is best known for his television character Mary Geddarrdyu or Mary G. Here Mark views the Perth coastline by helicopter. Right: David approaching Fremantle Harbour en-route to home base at Jandakot Airport. Centre: David putting an R22 through its paces in the training area. Far right: An R44 Raven I over the Reefs of Rottnest Island.

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This page: A Rotorvation R44 Raven II over Perth’s popular Cottesloe Beach. The beach is about 20 minutes from the city centre. Cottesloe is just one of the northern beaches, which stretch the entire length of the Perth coastline. The building on the beachfront is the Cottesloe Surf Club, with the popular Indiana Tea Rooms above it (also centre top). Centre lower: Perth CBD, with the Swan River in the foreground, and the northern beaches in the distance. Far left: An R44 Clipper II filming surfers at Margaret River. ARDMORE HELICOPTERS AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND Roger Kyle

Roger Kyle is an Instructor and Commercial Pilot for Ardmore Helicopters, a private company based at Ardmore Airfield, South Auckland, New Zealand. They offer a full range of helicopter flying training from PPL, CPL to Instructor training.

joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1970 as an aircraft engineer and did about 7 years working on various aircraft. In 1977 they offered me a position as a flight engineer on Lockheed P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, as part of a three-man cockpit crew. I flew with No 5 Squadron for another 7 years and then Imoved onto the airlines in 1984. I joined Cathay Pacific Airways and flew with them on the Lockheed L-1011 Tri Star out of Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. Four years later I converted on to flying the Boeing 747 200’s and 300’s plus the 747 the freighter variants. We went all through Europe and North America in those days. After about four years on the line I joined the Check and Training Department. It was here that I realized I really liked the training side of things, especially in the flight Simulators.

Opposite: Roger and the R44 approaching Waiheke Island, in the Hauraki Gulf. Waiheke is only 35 minutes by ferry from downtown Auckland. Right: An Ardmore R44 over the downtown Auckland ferry terminals and the Hilton Hotel complex.

We spent quite a bit of time bringing people up to date on odd aerial hazards around the world, in particular volcanic eruptions. I remember the British Airways flight that lost all its engines going to Indonesia after entering a cloud of volcanic ash. Once the data were available we put that scenario into a simulator and then trained all our crews to deal with that situation.

By 1999 they had downsized the fleet to almost nothing, so various people were made redundant. The new aircraft had computer-controlled systems, which meant that they no longer required a flight engineer on the flight deck. I could see the writing on the wall and this meant redundancy! In the meantime I had already gone and got a helicopter private pilot’s licence, while I was on holidays and I really just loved it, I thought it was the greatest thing you could do.

Now that my job as a flight engineer was coming to an end, I started looking to see if I could get work flying helicopters. I did the rounds and saw quite a few operators. I came across the guys at Ardmore Helicopters; they sat me down and explained to me exactly how you went about carving yourself a career in rotary aviation. Tony Milligan, my instructor, took me right through my training from private to commercial and then on to instructors rating. I then came on staff here at Ardmore Helicopters full time and have been instructing here ever since. I now hold a Category B instructor rating and I do all initial training right through to instructors rating.

Not so long ago, I had just finished training a pilot who owned his own Robinson

R44 helicopter, and I really took a shine to the R44, as it was the first time that I Opposite and above: had experienced these machines at close hand. I thought they were just marvelous Roger takes a couple of guests to the Te Whau and could do so much. They were fast and comfortable and very easy to handle. Winery and Restaurant, To me good visibility and comfort in the aircraft was a very important thing, the R44 on Auckland’s Waiheke seemed to have it all. When we fly over scenic landmarks like say the Harbour Bridge, Island in the Hauraki Gulf. This is considered one of Northead, Devonport or the Mt Eden Crater, everyone has a really great view; there are the World’s finest winery no bulkheads or anything in the main cabin like say a Jet Ranger. I decided there and restaurants, as indicated in ‘Wine International then that I wouldn’t mind owning one of these things. Magazine’, London, August 2004 and ‘Best I started talking about this Robinson that I had been training with recently, as my Award of Excellence’ Wine Spectator Magazine, wife and I were driving down to Lake Taupo for a holiday one weekend. I decided to New York, August 2004.

ROBBIE | ARDMORE HELICOPTERS 165 broach my idea to my wife! She could have done a number of things, but she raised her eyebrows, fixed her stare out the window and said nothing! She must have been thinking about the idea a bit, as a little while later, out of the blue she said ‘why don’t we buy one and have it on-line with Ardmore Helicopters?’. I pulled off to the side and I said hesitantly ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ and she replied ‘Yes, of course!’ ‘Alright’, I said, ‘sign here’.

By the time we got to Taupo I had made about 3 phone calls, the first and foremost to my boss, and said would you like to include an R44 Raven II on the inventory. Now what had actually happened prior to that was that the agent here in Auckland at Heliflite Pacific had said to me that he had this R44 coming over without an owner and would I be interested, and I took it as a bit of joke and didn’t think much more about it. So the agent was the second phone call I made, asking if the helicopter was still available. He said yes, so I said pencil my name on it and I will be in touch with you in a couple of days. Within the week we had joined the proud owners of Robinson R44’s.

166 It arrived here in January and we unloaded it, as it had already been completed the only thing we could change was the colour. We upgraded it to air transport requirements from the basic aircraft by adding extra radios and so forth and then we put it online with a brand new certificate of airworthiness, and it has been here ever since and has done quite well.

During a training flight with a student several years ago in another helicopter type, I had just lifted into the hover when the tail rotor drive spline adaptor failed. It happened in the blink of an eye; the tail rotor just stopped working and we did a complete 360-degree turn. It just spun around once and I managed to shut the throttle and put the machine on the ground. That’s really the only time I have had a problem. It could have been a lot more serious especially if we had just started the takeoff run. I use it as an example in training to teach students how to handle that situation. All helicopter pilots are trained to deal with these situations, especially loss of your tail rotor, which is vitally important to control the aircraft.

We have always thought that flying schools need to provide a little something beyond the completion of a commercial pilot’s license to further a new pilot’s career. One of the hardest things is, after you have spent a really large sum of money gaining this helicopter license at the end of the 150 hours, you’re still really not that employable! In other words people operating expensive helicopters require experienced pilots, it’s an insurance thing really. So what we try and do is, take our new pilots and give them something realistic and practical to do, something they would encounter in the real world. We actually encourage them to stay around after getting their license primarily for that reason. The company maintains an Air Operators Certificate so that during the

Far left: Auckland CBD and Waitemata Harbour, viewed from the volcanic crater of Mount Eden. The view takes in Auckland Museum in the foreground to Mount Victoria, another of Auckland’s 49 monogenetic volcanoes, and the north shore suburb of Devonport. Part of Rangitoto Island, yet another volcano, lies in the background. Left: An Ardmore R44 Raven II passing low over Rangitoto Island, an iconic part of the Auckland landscape. This volcanic island rose from the sea over 600 years ago, covering much of Auckland and nearby Motutapu Island with ash. The island is now a day trip from downtown Auckland, and visitors can climb the 259 m peak for stunning views over Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf. Right: Roger demonstates the ability of the R44 to land in the smallest space possible.

ROBBIE | ARDMORE HELICOPTERS Opposite: Auckland CBD from North Head, a volcanic headland in the north shore suburb of Devonport. North Head (or Maungauika in Maori) was used extensively as a coastal defence centre during the last century, especially during the Second World War. Many of the defences and bunker systems can still be seen, including the ‘disappearing gun’ of the South Battery (far left). The area is now operated by the Department of Conservation as a reserve, with fantastic views and walks overlooking the harbour. This page: An Ardmore R44 over Devonport beach and the ferry terminal (visible also opposite, centre of frame). summertime we can do joy rides, scenic flights and transfers etc. These are the sort of operations that new commercial pilots can step into. At the end of their commercial training we give them a rating in the R44 and several hours of training so they become For the last confident pilots and they get something at the end of it. Some of them have actually two years done quite well out of it, and have taken the aircraft away for a day or two to an our R44 has agricultural show or something like that, and have done a couple of days of joy rides. The Raven II is ideal for this type of operation. It is easy and very safe to operate which operated on keeps the workload well within the capabilities of new air transport pilots. the WRC Rally of New It is valuable experience not just for the hours flown but also for controlling your ground team and learning how to handle your passengers. Presentation is important, everyone Zealand in has to be in a neat tidy uniform, handling the money and loading and unloading the the role of passengers, plus controlling of the crowds are all very important, so that is what we track safety. put our emphasis on and that is primarily what the Robinson is used for. On top of that on our commercial side we do air-to-ground, air-to-air photography and filming, plus regular passenger transfer from the airport to properties on the nearer islands like Waiheke, Rangitoto, Mototapu, or to Great Barrier Island. Helicopter dining at the local winery/restaurants is very popular during the summer months. Quite a few of the students who come through our flying school do progress on to Back in the mid 1990’s I went hunting in the Kaweka Ranges with several friends. We be flying instructors. Nearly all the lads that have come through here as instructors flew in with Helisika, an aerial helicopter adventure company. It was the first time I had have all gone to really good jobs, though mostly overseas. One of the guys who first been into the bush in a helicopter. Prior to this we always hiked in carrying our own sat me down and told me all about flying helicopters is flying Super Pumas off oil rigs gear, which was kind of hard to be frank. Now we could take everything we wanted in the North Sea. Another is flying Sikorski S76 helicopters in Hong Kong and Macau, which was great. We actually took two helicopters, because there was a reasonable carrying passengers to and from there. Quite often during the spring and autumn we party of us and we had a brilliant few days hunting and fishing. When we came back have large anti-cyclones moving across the Tasman towards New Zealand and with I thought to myself I should learn how to do this. So that’s what I am getting myself them come cold southerly airflows that can cause frost to form from about one o’clock into now. in the morning onwards. Local kiwifruit growers and vineyards need to keep their crop above freezing point; particularly if they get a really bad frost otherwise the fruit will The pilot who was flying for Helisika on that hunt is a flying instructor like me, and I abort. This is where the helicopter can offer an unusual solution to this problem. blame him for my current predicament! To me, flying a helicopter is a lifestyle choice. The main rotor downwash will push warmer air down into the orchard so that frost Flying instruction by and large is used as a way of gaining valuable experience in the won’t form. helicopter industry for low-hour pilots. You can obtain a basic flying instructor rating with 150 hours pilot and command time, plus all the other minimum requirements What we do is provide a service where during the day we position a helicopter into an satisfied, and then you can become a Category C Instructor. orchard, the pilot is night trained and he knows the orchard like the back of his hand

170 ROBBIE | ARDMORE HELICOPTERS Roger Kyle in an Ardmore R44 Raven II over Waitemata Harbour. Auckland is often referred to as ‘The City of Sails’.

ROBBIE | ARDMORE HELICOPTERS 171 and usually sets up in the main house and waits. The orchard’s owner is down there If medical assistance is required we then have to get the medic on the ground as close monitoring his fruit all night, and when the temperature starts falling towards zero then to the site as possible. Once basic first aid is administered the decision is made as to he will come wake you up, and you will have to get airborne and start to hover around whether the ambulance helicopter is needed or not. Last year we had three cars go his orchard. missing on the same stage on the same section of track. We found them all within a few metres of each other down in a gully, they had all gone through the same hole in Nowadays they have a small light system with green, blue, yellow and red light emitting the fence. diodes, and what you do is when you arrive in the orchard you have to check the colours. If it’s showing red it means the temperature has dropped there. So you go The R44 has proven to be the best machine for this job, its response time is just a bit and hover through that area to bring the temperature’s air up with your downwash, and quicker than the turbine machines and the operating costs are lower. that will change the lights back down again towards the blue. So once they are all blue, you’re generally quite safe to go back and sit on the ground. If you get a flashing red then it is way below zero and things are starting to get a little bit dire. We hover over the orchard in the dark, we have all our lights on obviously and you must know the orchard well. But the good thing about it is generally always on really clear nights so the visibility is excellent, and we are all night qualified pilots. But you have to be careful you do not go too low so you blow leaves off the plants, and can’t be too high so it is ineffective, and you have to hover, you can’t fly fast. So hovering gets you your greatest downflow. The helicopters have proved to be very effective and the vineyards down in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough use them extensively.

The R44 has really taken off here as a private owner aircraft as well as an air transport aircraft. There are 70 plus Raven II’s and then on top of that another 50 plus Raven 1’s and Astro’s. We have got one camera-equipped variant based here in Auckland, belonging to Helicam and they do a reasonable amount of work with the television stations. It is completely compatible with the television stations and so they can film and beam it straight back to the ground, as live footage.

For the last two years our R44 has operated on the WRC Rally of New Zealand in the role of track safety. We carry a specially trained Advanced Paramedic on board with all his safety gear stowed on the cargo pods. Our task is to patrol each special stage immediately before the first car to give the all clear; we then land at a central holding point. If any of the competitors have an accident we are required to liftoff and locate the car and crew and determine that they are safe.

172 ROBBIE | ARDMORE HELICOPTERS Left: Roger Kyle in his element. PHOTO ROBYN DAVISON. Left: Auckland CBD, Waitemata Harbour and the North Shore. The mainland part of Auckland City lies on an isthmus. The Waitemata Harbour, which opens to the Hauraki Gulf, separates the isthmus from North Shore City and north. The Manukau Harbour, which opens to the Tasman Sea, separates the isthmus from Manukau City and the south. The islands of the inner gulf include Rangitoto, Motutapu, Browns Island, Motuihe, Rakino, Ponui and Waiheke, while the outer gulf islands include Little Barrier, Great Barrier and the Mokohinau Islands. A significant portion of Auckland’s CBD and of the Auckland waterfront is built on land reclaimed over the last 100 years.

173 EAST COAST AERO CLUB BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Philip Greenspun

The East Coast Aero Club was started in 1985 as a flight school, mostly for fixed wing operators. They operate out of Hanscombe Field near Boston, which is the ninth busiest airport in the northeastern US.

Opposite: Philip’s R44 over Rockport, Massachusetts. Rockport is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean. Right: Philip flying over the USCGC Escanaba (WMEC-907), a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter based in Boston, Massachusetts.

176 ROBBIE | EAST COAST AERO CLUB hate everything about aviation. I don’t like being hot or cold. I’m afraid of heights. I hate noise. I hate turbulence. Compared to a car, the level of physical discomfort inflicted on occupants by a small aircraft is insane. There is no air conditioning in the summer. In the winter, you start by spending 20 minutes outside on a windy Iramp pre-flighting, then find that the heater bakes your head while leaving your feet frozen. There is no attempt at soundproofing and the noise is fatiguing, even with noise-canceling headsets. Massachusetts is particularly windy, gusty and bumpy.

Why do I fly nearly every day? For the view from the air and what I learn about geography, geology and the cultural layout. For example, when flying over an old mill town in Connecticut, built before the advent of the automobile, you can see the mill that provided jobs for everyone. You see modest worker’s houses within walking distance of the mill. Then up a hill, a short distance away, you see the manager’s and owner’s houses. It is clear from the geography that everybody has a stake in the community and in keeping the town functioning and livable.

Fying in areas of the U.S. that were settled after mass adoption of the car you can see that the development is stretched out along an Interstate Highway. It starts with a trailer park for the poor people. The next exit leads to tract housing for middle class families with kids. The exit after that has a golf course surrounded by mansions for retirees and the upper class. At the end of long driveways, shielded by trees from the ground-bound public, are the fabulous mansions of the wealthy. None of these people have anything in common except possibly the supermarket and Home Depot where they meet while shopping. It is no wonder that they can’t agree on paying taxes or organizing community programs. There is no possibility of a community.

Geology is just as interesting. Flying around Alaska, one sees the snow falling on the Far left: Point of Pines is a housing estate surrounded by ocean on three sides, just north of Logan tops of mountains, the snow compressing itself into glaciers coming down the valleys, International Airport. Centre: Philip over one of the hundreds of marinas that dot the New England coastline. Above: A typical Connecticut mill building, one of many that dot the area from the early 1900’s water falling from these glaciers into rivers, and rivers flowing out to the ocean. The great thing about aviation is that one can go anywhere that curiosity leads. There are no private property signs so we are not limited to sticking to public roads.

I’d always enjoyed the view from airplanes, but never thought that I would have enough time to learn to fly. That changed in 2001 when I sold an open-source software

ROBBIE | EAST COAST AERO CLUB 177 I walked away from a 23-year desk job, took the cash and headed straight for East Coast Aero Club. company. I walked away from a 23-year desk job, took the cash and headed straight for East Coast Aero Club. This seems to be such a common thing that I like to say “You can’t spit on the ramp here at Hanscom without hitting a leftover computer nerd from the 90’s.”

East Coast Aero Club was started in 1985 by a U.S. Air Force Officer. When I signed up as a student they had about 20 fixed-wing aircraft and no helicopters. I didn’t even know that helicopter training existed for civilians. My initial goal was simply to be able to fly around on good VFR days, look at the ground and land back at the airport without bending anything. Fairly quickly, however, I decided that it would be nice to use the airplane for travel and the only way to do that was by adding an instrument rating.

Once I got the instrument rating, which I studied for by flying to Alaska with an instructor, I decided that the new goal was to become a competent aviator. By that time, East Coast Aero Club had added a Robinson R22 and a weekend helicopter instructor. I took one lesson and was hooked on the visibility, flexibility and challenge. I ended up finishing a private add-on rating even though I didn’t have any idea what I would do with it and despite the fact that the Club got rid of the R22, which wasn’t flying much because the instructor was only available on weekends.

When I had finished my airplane instructor rating, I approached Colonel Mark Holzwarth, the founder and owner of East Coast Aero Club and said that I was ready for my first students. He said, “That’s great, but we have plenty of airplane instructors right now; how about if you get your helicopter CFI and we can start up helicopters again?”

I agreed to finish up the CFI-H at my own expense, flying out to Mauna Loa Helicopters in Hawaii to escape the depths of a Boston winter. “I’ll pay you $8 per hour” Mark continued. I said that was fine, since I hadn’t gotten into this for the money. “Only one more thing” he added, “I don’t have any money, so I need you to buy a couple of helicopters and lease them back to the club.” I’d already agreed to the first two conditions and it seemed churlish to turn down this last request, so I began shopping Opposite and top: Typical wooden period mansions that can be seen on the Atlantic coast, between Boston for an R22. and Rockport. Above: structor Joris Naiman prepares the ECAC R22 for another day of training.

ROBBIE | EAST COAST AERO CLUB 179

At about the same time, my slot in the factory safety course finally came up and, while at the Torrance factory, we were treated to a lecture by Frank Robinson who said that he hadn’t designed the R22 as a trainer, that it shouldn’t be used for training, and that the R44 Raven I was the right machine for flight schools. He said that he was thinking of giving a discount to flight schools which used the R44 for primary training. I raised my hand and said “I’ll write you a check for an R44 today if you can price it so that we won’t have to charge more than $300 per hour in order to break even” (at the time, R22’s were renting for $180-200 per hour). Frank replied, “There will be a three helicopter minimum.” I said “OK, I’ll buy three. I have the money in my checking account.” He said, “Well, I haven’t figured out exactly how it is going to work.”

That was November 2005 and Frank still hasn’t announced any discount for using R44’s as primary trainers. Despite the lack of assistance from Robinson, I decided that we could afford to do an experiment. Without ever having flown in an R44, I bought one and figured that we could rent it for $299 an hour wet and that we would break even if the machine flew 600 hours per year. That was at a time when everyone else in the U.S. was charging $400 an hour or more and the ship was renting for $900 an hour in Europe, so I figured we would be swamped with European time-builders hopping over from London for a week at a time.

At the same time, I purchased an R22 for immediate delivery from Silver State Helicopters, the largest civilian helicopter flight school in the world. They’d ordered 70 R22’s at the beginning of the year and didn’t need them all. The R22 was very helpful because Pathfinder Insurance requires instructors to have 500 hours total time before they can teach in the R44, but only 300 for teaching in the R22. I used the R22 as

Left: Philip’s R44 passing over the double arched portico of downtown Boston’s Rowe’s Wharf. The New England Aquarium is at the top right of the picture. Right: The Bunker Hill Monument, at 221 feet, stands on the site of the first major Left: battle of the American Revolution, fought on Breed’s Hill on 17th June 1775. The poorly trained and ill prepared colonial forces repelled two major assaults by the British Army before retreating. Almost half of the British soldiers were either killed or injured. Although the colonists lost the battle, their bravery and strength against the British encouraged them to fight on.

ROBBIE | EAST COAST AERO CLUB a time-builder while waiting for our R44 to be delivered in June 2006. We signed up Mike Rhodes and Paul Cantrell, two of the most experienced and patient helicopter CFI’s in the Boston area.

How well did the $299 an hour R44 work? Let’s just say that now I know why every other flight school uses the R22. We had the lowest price in the world, literally one third the cost of flying the same ship in Europe, and the ship spent most of its time in the hangar. We have a very high Google rank when people search for “helicopter training” or “Robinson R44” and it still baffles me that people would go to Florida and pay 50 per cent more to fly with a kid fresh from CFI training when they could have flown our helicopter with Paul Cantrell, a guy who has been teaching for more than 20 years and has over 3000 hours in the Robinsons. I was also shocked at how few of our 400 active fixed-wing customers wanted to add helicopter ratings. These are folks who will not blink at paying $1 million for an apartment in Boston or Cambridge, but apparently $12,000 is too much for a lifetime rating and skill. Every year Americans get richer and every year a smaller number begin flight training. It seems as though the only significant market for helicopter training in the U.S. is for young people who are going to borrow a lot of money and then become career helicopter pilots (this was Silver State’s market, until they went bankrupt in February 2008).

If the R44 primary trainer didn’t work well as a business, it worked great as a helicopter and we’ve had a lot of fun. In many ways, I think the R44 is a better machine for low- time pilots than a jet-powered helicopter. I’ve seen low-time pilots approach with a high descent rate and almost no power. When they’re 20 feet from the ground, they pull in collective to arrest their descent. With the R44’s piston engine, they can go from idle to full power almost instantly. Loading up the rotors with pitch doesn’t result in the

Far right: Concord, Massachusetts at sunset. Right: The Crane Mansion on Castle Hill. Castle Hill is a 165- acre drumlin surrounded by sea and saltmarsh, and is part of the 2,100-acre Crane Estate located in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The former summer home of Mr and Mrs Richard T. Crane, Jr., the estate includes a historic mansion, 21 outbuildings and designed landscapes overlooking Ipswich Bay, on the seacoast off Route 1, north of Boston. The Crane Company (NYSE: CR) is an American industrial products company based in Stamford, Connecticut. Founded as Crane Brass & Bell Foundry in 1855, by Richard Teller Crane, the company is best known to the consumer public as a large manufacturer of vending machines.

182 blades slowing down because the Lycoming engine is right there. A turbine engine When we head south, it is usually because some friends want to go to Manhattan. Our won’t spool up quite that fast and sometimes I wonder if they would have had a hard R44 has no factory options, which gives it a 670 lb. full fuel payload. We fill the seats landing in a Jet Ranger. and the tanks and make the trip from Bedford to the Downtown/Wall Street heliport in a little over 1.5 hours. If the passengers live near Hanscom, it actually saves them a lot Another great feature of the R44 is the low noise level compared to the jet-powered of time compared to taking a commercial airline flight and then fighting through New monsters. We often take students to restaurants in New Hampshire, land in the York City traffic. Parking is $50 an hour, so it is best not to linger! backyard and sit down for lunch. The neighbors wouldn’t appreciate that in most turbine ships. Is the R44 my dream helicopter? Well, an EC120 with air conditioning would be nice, but I’d rather have an R44 and use the $1 million in savings to buy a lake house in New Our maintenance experience with the Robinsons has been excellent. Spare parts are Hampshire or Maine with a helipad on which to land the R44. shipped the same day that they are ordered. Except for the 100-hour inspections, we have barely had any downtime. After the cross-country trip from Los Angeles, we Plans for the future? We’ve had so much fun losing money on one R44 that we’ve landed at Hanscom Field without a single squawk for the mechanic. I only canceled ordered three more. One is an IFR trainer so that we can work with students on one flight in the R44 in a 20-month period. A wiring harness in the tail chafed and was instrument ratings. One is a 2008 replacement for our 2006, which we plan to sell. shorting out the nav lights (it was a night flight). I’ve owned two brand-new fixed wing One is an R44 Raven II with air conditioning that should make summer flying a lot four-seaters and the Robinsons have spent much less time in the shop than either of more pleasant. those airplanes.

We love our students and the long-term friendships that we’ve built with interesting people by flying patterns to Taxiway Romeo on the northwest side of the field. However, our favorite flights are sightseeing rides for folks who’ve never been in a helicopter before. We lift from Hanscom and fly into the Boston Class B airspace, which is one of the busiest airspaces in the U.S. Nonetheless, the controllers are always helpful and let us do whatever we want around downtown Boston, as long as we stay below 1000 feet and west of the main runways. Unlike Europe and most other parts of the world, there are no altitude restrictions on helicopters in the U.S. As long as we have a place where we can land without causing a hazard to persons or property on the surface, we can fly as low as we want to (typically we fly about 500 feet above the river and harbor).

Heading north up the shoreline from Boston is also very scenic. Cape Ann has a rocky coast, beautiful houses and a lot of harbors with sailboats. Just before we get to the Above: Philip and friend flying over Concord at sunset. Opposite left to right: The States Capital building in Crane Mansion, former home of the plumbing tycoons, I tell my passengers “we’re Boston. Leaving Hanscombe Field alongside a jet. Over a typical US school bus. Passing the USS constitution. going to fly around a house that is just like the one where I grew up.” Instructor Joris Naiman approaching Hanscombe Field. Over an Atlantic Ocean beach.

184 ROBBIE | EAST COAST AERO CLUB

WANAKA HELICOPTERS WANAKA, NEW ZEALAND Simon Spencer-Bower

Wanaka Helicopters based in the spectacular lakes region of New Zealand’s South Island, specialises in scenic flights, training and charter operations.

y flying career started when I learnt to fly in a little Piper Cub as soon as I left school back in 1967. A fellow aviator and old family friend insisted that I learn on a Piper Cub, instead of a modern trainer nose wheel trainer like a Cherokee or a Cessna, because he considered that tail wheel experience wouldM be far more valuable to me than tricycle undercarriage experience. He was right, because this ‘tail dragger’ experience led to some very interesting and exciting flying later on.

I grew up on a sheep station and was soon trying to figure out a way of incorporating aviation into farming, so in 1974 I bought an old Tiger Moth for next to nothing, convinced it would be useful for checking on the stock. I acted against everyone’s advice. Everyone told me that they were old, cold and slow, never built to last and besides, they didn’t have a roof over your head! But I loved it and soon found that, in addition to the thrill of open cockpit flying, the Tiger Moth aerobated quite well, which I ended up doing a lot of. I flew privately for a number of years, working on passing my Commercial Pilot exams while pursuing my farming career and I got my commercial

people, after I had taken a ride in one, I found there was no known cure for the The Tiger ‘helicopter bug’ other than a big chequebook. I was hooked and, in the late 1970’s, Moth was I bought an old F28A Enstrom helicopter. Back then there were very few civilian helicopter instructors around and privately owned helicopters were a rarity. I managed obviously to find an instructor to teach me to solo stage but then basically had to teach myself not the best the rest. machine for The Enstrom taught me to be very careful about conserving energy and not exceeding mustering limitations. I used it for farm work but found it was too underpowered for the sheep. mountainous environment I was working in and I eventually traded it for a Hughes 269 and then later traded that for a Robinson R22.

The fact that it was hard to get any helicopter instruction led me to explore the ticket in the early 1970’s. Not long after that I had a farming accident whilst driving possibility of a commercial opportunity in that area. There were more and more a bulldozer, where I cracked my skull and severed an audio nerve which left me enquiries for helicopter flight training and I did not want others to go through the ‘do- permanently deaf in one ear and my balance was also affected. it-yourself’ route that I had had to take. I found an excellent instructor and started my helicopter flight training school near Christchurch in 1980, which later developed into a After some operations and tests I was told that there was no ‘fix’ for the hearing loss commercial operation as well. and that I would eventually learn to compensate for the loss of balance. I was also told that this was end of my flying career. That was not the news I wanted to hear and When I first flew a Robinson R22 I found it quite unstable after flying other three bladed I reasoned that because I still had my old Tiger Moth, I was dammed if I was going to machines like the Enstrom and the Hughes 300. But once I mastered it, I realised that give up flying. I eventually got my medical ‘fit to fly’ back and worked on the balance it would produce a very good standard of pilot. It was much easier for pilots trained in thing using various techniques, one of which was doing countless hours of aerobatics the R22 to convert onto other two bladed machines like a Jet Ranger or R44, than for in the Tiger Moth. My aerobatics got better and better and eventually I got to the pilots who had trained on the more stable three bladed helicopters. point that I started to win the New Zealand Tiger Moth Aerobatic Championships and eventually represented New Zealand at the World Vintage Aerobatic Championships, The R22 acquired some unwarranted flack in the early days because pilots would see and got third! My aerobatic and tail wheel experience led to my being invited to fly the small R22 and think, ‘Oh this has got to be easy’ but it wasn’t! A number of high some of the elite warbird aircraft of Sir Tim Wallis’s Alpine Fighter Collection here at time pilots, who were used to larger machines, were getting into a little R22 and ending Wanaka, flying such wonderful aircraft as the Zero, Spitfire, Yak 3 and others. It was a up hurting or killing themselves. In addition the R22 inherited all the low time pilots so it good example of turning something bad into something good. got a bad name, and of course this took a long time to shake off.

The Tiger Moth was obviously not the best machine for mustering sheep, and it was hard to convince the accountant that the Tiger was a bona-fide piece of farm Previous pages: Simon Spencer-Bower lands his R22 Beta II on an alpine ridge just above Wanaka township. Right: An R44 in the alpine hills above Glendhu Bay, just south of Lake Wanaka township. Lake Wanaka is an machinery! Helicopters just happened to come along at the right time. Like most ideal geographic location to discover the majestic alpine scenery of the Mount Aspiring National Park.

Frank Robinson himself took it on board to educate operators of his helicopters and started up the Robinson Safety Course which was one of the best things that happened with the Robinson helicopters. It completely turned around the accident rate and has been attended by thousands of pilots and instructors around the world, of which I was one. There have rarely been any unreliability problems with these machines and statistically they are now the world’s safest helicopters. The Robinson R22 is an exceptional trainer, as is the R44. I have over 17,000 flying hours, of which over 11,000 hours of those are in the R22. In all of those 11,000 R22 hours I have only had one unreliability problem that caused any major concern. I believe that is a pretty amazing record considering most of that flying has been in and around mountainous environments.

In the mid 1990’s we decided to expand the Christchurch operation and open a branch in the scenic Southern Lakes resort town of Wanaka. Wanaka is one of those places that once you visit you never want to leave. It is so beautiful here. This area is the most scenic part of New Zealand. I used to bring the helicopter down here on holiday and found there was an un-tapped market. Nobody was offering tourist flights over this amazing landscape and the demand for flight training was also high. The plan was to move here for a couple of years then move back to Christchurch. That was fifteen years ago and we are still here! We eventually closed up the Christchurch branch and concentrated all our efforts in Wanaka.

Wanaka Helicopters now operates four R22’s, two R44’s and one AS350 Squirrel and employs five pilots. Our flight training school is very busy all year round and the annual utilisation is around 3000 hours comprising about 50/50 commercial work and flight training. Our training environment is an exceptionally good one. We can produce pilots that have a lot more experience than just the bare necessities to pass a commercial flight test. I have always maintained a very practical and common-sense approach to flight training which I think goes back to my farming upbringing.

Far right: An R44 from Wanaka Helicopters waits to pick up passengers from the grounds of the Edgewater Resort at dusk. Right: An R22 Beta II from Wanaka Helicopters over Glendhu Bay.

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A flight to the rugged West Coast, across the Southern Alps is the perfect opportunity to see first hand how the landscape changes dramatically. Here the heavy rainfall creates its own form of magic. Opposite: A typical weathered West Coast farm. Top left: The Fox Glacier. Top right: Rainbow falls on the Haast Pass. Lower left: Lake Matheson, commonly known as ‘The Mirror Lake’ is a sightseeing highpoint. Above: Our Lady of the River, a small chapel north of the Haast Pass.

193 It is okay to teach flight training straight out of the book, getting all ‘the numbers right’, Wanaka Helicopters offers Lord of the Rings but in my opinion a sheltered training environment may not give you the skills for (LOTR) tours throughout survival. Also, to me flight training is not just about learning to fly, it incorporates much the stunning Fiordland more than just flying skills. National Park area. Flights take in many of the locations depicted It is about decision-making, survival instincts, public relations and a host of other in the motion picture series, including the ‘people skills’ that will make you more employable. All our pilots have to be flight ‘Misty Mountains’ plus instructors so when the commercial work is not so busy they can be fully utilised such magical places as on flight training ops. Our training environment is an exceptionally good one having Caradhras, Isengard and Lothlorien. Guests even an inland stable weather pattern, but more importantly having the proximity of the get to interact with various mountains so close at hand. film artefacts including clothing and weapons. Here a tour guide and Because of New Zealand’s mountainous environment it is compulsory to complete guest carry out a mock mountain flight training as part of a helicopter license. We are fortunate here in that battle in a typical LOTR location. we are able to operate and land in the mountains and not just fly over them as in some countries. We have recently developed an Advanced Helicopter Mountain Flying Course especially targeted for those pilots who want to experience and learn much more than that taught in basic training. We combine theory with flying and can teach and show experience in all the areas encountered during normal operational mountain flying, and also in the not so normal cases such as high density altitudes, snow, limited visibility, high winds and such like. The R22 is ideal for this, as it really Over the years I have had the odd fright but only one accident which was due to emphasises the importance of getting techniques and power management right, a mechanical problem. Most of the frights were during my first 1000 hours when especially at higher altitudes. my enthusiasm exceeded my experience and the incidences were associated with either wind, low visibility or running out of power. I have had one wire strike where I We have two very special areas right on our doorstep; the Fiordland National Park bounced off a wire during a steep descent down a valley. What I learnt from that was and the Mount Aspiring National Park, both of which are World Heritage National that although keeping a good lookout is important, it is probably more important to Parks. This whole area has been made famous by the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films and understand where wires are going to be and if you have to operate in that environment people come here to immerse themselves into it. It’s such a privilege to be here and then do a recce of the area beforehand. The wires may be invisible but any signs of fly, it’s like flying in paradise! The helicopter allows us the privilege to interact with the habitation usually means potential hazards. environment. We don’t just fly over the countryside and mountains, we fly amongst it, landing in amazing places, seeing incredible sights. The scenery changes so rapidly The R22 and R44 will always be the backbone of our operation. Probably the single here that you can see flat plains, rolling hills, sheep and cattle stations, cities, pristine most important reason for remaining with the Robinson type is its reliability and its a blue lakes, glaciers, 10,000 foot high mountains, seacoasts and fiords all in one flight! bility to generate an income sufficient enough to carry on in what must be the ‘best job Where else in the world can you do that? in the world’.

194 ROBBIE | WANAKA HELICOPTERS CHAPTER TITLE Above top: The author photographed Simon Spencer-Bower flying a restored DH Fox Moth over Lake Wanaka in late 1997. This classic biplane of the 1930s was operated by the Alpine Fighter Collection for some time but is now in Canada registered as CF-YBM. Above: Simon Spencer-Bower. Opposite: Simon and passenger land atop an Alpine spur overlooking Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.

196 ROBBIE | WANAKA HELICOPTERS

From left to right: Navigating a low, fast turn over the Clutha River. The R44 on a spur of the Southern Alps, overlooking Wanaka township. A guest holding genuine sword from the motion picture ‘Lord of the Rings’ (LOTR) as used in the Wanaka Helicopters tours. A Wanaka Helicopters R44 Raven II heading into the mountains behind Lake Hawea. Simon talks through a students up and coming first trial flight. An R22 Beta II over Lake Hawea. An R44 bringing tourists into a LOTR location.

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SOKHA HELICOPTERS ANGKOR, CAMBODIA

Edward Mott

Sokha Helicopters operate out of Siem Reap, near the ancient ruins of the Khymer Kingdom of Angkor in Cambodia. They offer tours to all the ruined temples, plus the Tonle Sap lake, as well as providing charter flights and filming services throughout Cambodia. Opposite: A Khmer classical dancer performing in the Bayon, the spiritual centre of Angkor Thom. The dancers are also known as the Khmer royal ballet, the Cambodian court dance and the Apsara dancers. This page: A Sokha R44 Raven II low over a rice field near Tônlé Sap lake, the largest in SE Asia. and Kata Tjuta. One day out of the blue I was asked if I wanted to go to Cambodia. I said ‘let’s go for it’. I have been over here now for over fourteen months and its been a real eye opener. There were a lot of challenges in the beginning. The company was set up but it was still in its teething stages. I remember going on my first orientation tour flight, and the guys were still reading from the guidebooks and local maps, saying ‘I think we go over here etc’.

There are still challenges with communicating with the tower, as english is their second language. The funny thing is that we have an Austrian pilot who works with us, and the locals understand him better than us Aussies! I think our colloquiums don’t help, so I try and minimize these whenever I can.

’It’s simply amazing where you can put a Robbie’

Before I came here I knew nothing about Cambodia, short of the fact that it had been, or still was, a war zone. I knew nothing about the Angkor ruins. About a week before I left Australia I was given book and started reading about this place that I was coming have wanted to fly helicopters all my life. We used to spend our summers down on to. When I arrived I was gobsmacked. I was really surprised at how developed the the Mornington Peninsular and our house was right across the road from a Search country was, as my initial thoughts were straw huts, rice fields and jungle. I was very and Rescue helicopter operation . When I was four years old, my parents said that naive about the whole thing. Take Siem Reap for instance. Ten years ago there were I would jump out of bed at two in the morning and stand by the window and watch just four hotels, one of which was the old FCC, the Foreign Correspondent’s Club. Ithem take off and land. So every birthday my presents would always be helicopter Now there are over one hundred. The growth in tourism in Cambodia is just staggering. related in some way. Any program on TV they would say ‘Look Ed, there’s a helicopter’ Most of the people coming into Cambodia head straight for Siem Reap to see the ruins and of course I would be glued to it. and then they head back. They don’t venture anywhere else. Often they don’t even get to the capital Phnom Penh which is only a day trip by bus or a short flight. I knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a pilot. I was working in London for a while in a snowboarding shop (it’s my other passion), when my Dad gave me the call What really surprised me about the locals is how polite they are, how there is no that I should start thinking about getting a real job, and asked me what I wanted to do. such thing as road rage or anger anywhere. It is a smooth running, civil atmosphere. I said ‘Dad, you know what I want to do!’ It was a given. Considering what has happened within most of their parent’s lifetimes, it is staggering that they are like they are. They are so eager and genuinely interested to learn about My family had given me a trial helicopter flight for my 21st birthday and I knew then that where you’re from, what your society and culture is like, then to teach you about this was it, it was what I wanted more than anything else. So I went and did my training theirs. In the time I have been here, I have learnt enough Khmer to have pretty decent at the Helicopter Group at Moorabbin in Melbourne, with Michael van Der Zypp. I then conversations with them and I really respect who they are. In my limited travels around went to Ayers Rock and got most of my hours there doing scenic flights around Uluru SE Asia, Cambodia has got to be by far the most open culture I have found.

204 ROBBIE | SOKHA HELICOPTERSA Opposite: The Phnom Kulin waterfall is about 50 kilometres from Siem Reap and is the original site where the ‘500 year age of Angkor’ started. The site contains many ruins from the period. This page: An aerial view of the magnificent Khymer structure of Angkor Wat. The temple complex is surrounded by a moat measuring 1300 x 1500 meters, with the temple itself being 1 kilometer square. The name Angkor simply means ‘Capital, or Holy City’ and now refers to the capital city of the Khymer Empire that existed in Cambodia between the 9th and 13th centuries AD.

CHAPTER TITLE

The Khymer civilization was equal if not superior to the Mayas of Mexico, or the Egyptians.

I would describe our operation at Sokha as ‘the tour guide from the sky’! All of our tours take in the Angkor temples. It is quite neat to see people’s reactions when they see just how huge the area is, especially the size of the moat. They get to appreciate the fact that east to west and north to south of the Angkor Wat complex is only 0.5 degrees out on the compass heading. The more I get to know about this place, the more I am staggered at the facts and figures. The Khmer civilization was equal if not superior to the Mayas of Mexico, or the Egyptians. I have no idea why we in the west never learnt about these civilizations at school. Much like the wonders of Stonehenge and other ancient sites, the stones for Angkor were bought from the hills at Phnom Kulen, which is about 50 kilometers away. By river? Who knows. By whatever means, it was a massive feat.

It’s interesting too when we take people up to Phnom Kulen, we pass over these huge circular patches in the forest. The culture here is based heavily on the use of wood, they use it inside and out in their building. They have cleared out massive areas of native forest, though now it’s illegal to do this. You would think that it would be clear- cut, but they do circular cuts about 60 meters across, then move on to another patch and cut again. The smart thing about this is that you can’t see it from the ground.

207 From the air it looks like some sort of alien handiwork. The ones we flew over today are quite old, but it’s quite shocking to see the complete destruction of the forest done this way.

When new pilots come over here for the first time we have to really impress on them not to take risks with the weather here. During the Monsoon season it can bite you if you take risks. Don’t try and push on, find a rice paddy and put down for an half hour or so until it passes away. I have had to do this about four times so far because the front comes in so fast that you can’t pre-judge it.

A lot of the guys here have come from Ayers Rock, where they are used to stable blue skies, so we really need to instill in them a respect for the weather here.

It still impresses me the way these machines take off, even after all this time. When Michael was landing after the photo shoot last night, I watched him come in and I was that little kid on summer holiday again. I just went straight back there and felt the awe again. It was amazing, just the floating back to earth again, it’s a beautiful thing. So I know that I am doing the right thing.

I remember back in Oz we would often have flights booked a week in advance. Here we may get the call at eleven at night for a 0700 takeoff so it keeps us on our toes. Because there are a lot of new businesses starting up, with foreign investors being attracted to the place due to rubber plantations and gold mining, we get a lot of charters into the interior or down to the coast. Every day is an unknown and flying is a daily adventure.

Maps here are almost non-existent, so we have to plot and fly by roads, rivers, anything. It’s pretty seat of the pants stuff combining Google Earth, line of sight, GPS

Left: The effects that time and the fast growing foliage has on the ancient stones at Ta Prohm. This was part of the location for the film ‘Tomb Raider’.Right top: Aerial view of the vast Angkot Wat complex showing the moat that surrounds it on all sides. Angkor Wat, was built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II. Right lower: The temple of Baksei Chamkrong was dedicated by Rajendravarman in 948 A.D.

208 ROBBIE | SOKHA HELICOPTERS etc. A lot of the places we fly to have never had anyone land there before; the people have never seen a helicopter. It’s neat to know that when you leave your nice secure helipad, you are going to be doing one of those confined area landings that you were taught about back in your training days. You piloting skills improve dramatically. You know that you may be the first person ever to go to this or that village, so it is pretty amazing. You have to assess the site instantly and you often have to be a bit creative.

Our tours, apart from the temples here, also take in the Tonle Sap Lake, which is the largest in SE Asia. It’s the overflow from the Mekong River, starting all the way up in the Himalayas, going through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before entering the sea. When it gets to Phnom Penh it reverses its flow, I think it’s the only river that does this! It comes back into the Tonle Sap River to form this huge lake. It swells up to three times its size in the wet season.

The floating village, which we flew over today is totally self sufficient, some even have floating gardens and aquariums, pig pens, pet crocs, you name it. They flow with the water. If the water is not abundant they will be out on the lake, all of them! The whole community just up-anchors and moves as one. They also harvest the unique soft skinned Crocodile, which they use for handbags and shoes etc. The sad thing is that they have hunted them almost to extinction. However, as they have these croc pens in the water back yard, they are preserving the species. So in a weird twist of fate they are saving what they are hunting.

They are really pushing now for conservation in this country, it’s really great to see. Considering what has happened here, the overflow from the Vietnam war took a heavy toll on Cambodia, as did the subsequent Khmer Rouge when they came in. They suffered just over three years of total terror, then the Vietnamese came in and rescued them from the genocidal maniac Pol Pot and then the Vietnamese themselves were here for ten years. So they have really only been on their own for just on twenty years. There is still a lot of corruption here, therefore conservation is not at the forefront of the politicians’ minds but it is improving nonetheless, mostly of course by the non- government organizations. The Green Gecko Project is a perfect example; this is an organization to get the kids off the streets which was started by an Aussie lady who saw what was happening here.

ROBBIE | SOKHA HELICOPTERS 209 Above: The FCC Hotel (Foreign Correspondent’s Club), located in a former governor’s mansion beside the Siem Reap River, in Siem Reap is a popular international stylish boutique hotel. Centre: A Sokha R44 Raven II over the ‘Green Gecko’ orphanage in Siem Reap. Far right: A Sokha R44 Raven II over the floating village on the edge of the Tonle Sap lake.

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Now the project has grown and over 60 kids have been sent to high quality schools The smile that came over the girls face was the most moving thing I have ever seen, so they can get a good education. These amazing people coming over here doing it was just tear jerking. The woman saw the smile on my face and there and then any unselfish acts is the only way the system will start to slowly change. language barrier was not an issue. They walked around the entire aircraft, tail rotor and all. She had obviously heard us come in, and now she was touching the metal In the time we have been involved here, a few of the kids are now aspiring to become and glass of the machine. I could only imagine what that was being translated into. As helicopter pilots! So in an odd twist of fate, my standing watching the SAR helicopters a pilot you don’t want people’s greasy hands over the clear perspex, but this simply back as a kid, has now turned full circle with a local kid watching us doing scenic stopped me in my tracks. If I had had more fuel I would have taken them both flying. flights and wanting to do the same. Often if we have the third seat free during a The village is now part of the route we use, so I always do a small deviation and do a scenic flight, we will offer to take a local tour guide or TukTuk driver up. This does two fly by. The kids race out and it is really great to see them and I always wonder if that girl positive things; firstly the guide knows what we are selling so he can then better sell is listening. the experience to his passengers, and secondly we get a local in-flight guide to explain about the temples to our passengers as we pass over them! We ask pointed questions to our guides and let them do the talking so it is a perfect association. Most of these guides and drivers have never flown in anything, let alone a helicopter. Often we have upwards of 200-300 people at the fence just watching our helicopters take-off and land.

Every time we do a remote landing site inland or in the hills, we are swamped by hundreds of children. One of the most beautiful things I have witnessed since being here happened at a remote mountain site. An American passenger was looking for a sick friend. He had received a letter from her and was desperate to find her. He did not know the exact location but knew the vicinity. So we landed the Robbie at a number of villages but no-one had ever heard of her. Finally he asked to try just one last village and sure enough they knew of her. So we shut down and waited for the guy to find his friend with the interpreter.

There were hoards of people, about 200 hundred, including adults and lots of children. We were obviously watching the tail rotor and other important bits! You would not have known there was a helicopter there for the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this 40 odd year old woman with a young teenager on her arm. The crowd let them pass and they came towards the chopper. I watched with interest as the woman was just pushing everyone out of the way to get here. The woman raised the girls hand up Above: A village, typical of the type the Sokha helicopter crews encounter throughout the year. The hilltop ruins of Phnom Krom, dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and lets her feel the helicopter. I soon began to realize that the young girl was blind. Right: with the floating village of Tonle Sap lake in the background.Far right: Oun Sokha, a local The woman was talking her through what she was touching. TukTuk driver has his first experience of flying in a helicopter.

212 ROBBIE | SOKHA HELICOPTERSA

Above: Chief pilot Edward Mott. Left top: The mount temple of Phnom Bakeng was the first temple to be built in the Angkor area, following the move of the Khymer empire to move from Rolous. Left lower: The temple- mountain complex of Pre Rup. Far left: A Sokha R44 Raven II over a typical rice plantation.

215 CHAPTER TITLE From left to right: Meterorite Crater and Forest fire, Arizona. Glacier ice, Alaska. Surf and cliff, Hawaii. Flowing Magma, Hawaii. Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), Australia. Tussock grass and snow, New Zealand.

217 Above: An R44 Clipper II silhouetted against the setting sun. Right: The memorial to Captain James Cook in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, commemorates the spot where he was killed by Hawaiian natives on February 14, 1779. Far right: Animal handlers care for a sedated Zebra in Pretoria, South Africa.

218 219 Rotorvation instructor Newton Pellatt approaches the Western Australian port of Fremantle at sunset.

220 CHAPTER TITLE 221 PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES

It is customary, wherever posible, for an Air-to-Air (A2A) photographer to fly with the doors off, or canopy open. In a helicopter this offers an amazing window of opportunity, I can even stand outside on the skids for an even greater visual coverage of my subject. For this book I have been privileged enough to be able to do this over some of the world’s most stunning locations. To me there is simply no other feeling that comes close to having the world fly by with nothing between you and your earth bound subject, or your subject aircraft. I used to be a part time skydiver many years ago, but it was fast, with not much time in terms of photography, to take in what was around you. In a helicopter with the doors removed it is simply spectacular. So being a skydiver has certainly helped me appreciate this very intimate and elevated position.

This production was shot entirely with digital cameras, the Nikon D200 and D300. Nearly all images were saved in high resolution JPEG, with a few recorded in the RAW format. I always shoot with the end use in mind, therefore my images are never going to be more than say A3, a double page spread. This way I can keep the ease of useage and portability of the small format camera. In the ever changing aerial environment this is crucial. Things happen very quickly and you need to be able to react instantly.

Photos credits of the author. Top & panorama: Lorna McKay, Wanaka NZ. Centre left: Robyn Davison, Ardmore Helicopters, NZ. Centre: Ken Allen captures a very tired author! Helireef. Centre right: Kelti Gadd, Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Bottom left: Elise de Villiers, Bassair, South Africa. Bottom centre: Alexis Bachofen, Rotorvation WA. Bottom right: Elise de Villiers, Bassair, South Africa Opposite: Self portrait of the author’s feet whilst shooting John and Charlotte at work in the Bassair R22, Kroonstad, South Africa (page 29).

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book was a huge undertaking in terms of the geographical area covered and the HELISTAR (Taupo, New Zealand) logistics involved in getting multiple helicopters in the air. For recognising the value of Bruce Lilburn, Tina King. The Pillars, Bonshaw Park. ARDMORE HELICOPTERS (Auckland, New Zealand) such an enterprise, and willing to take part in it, I wish to sincerely thank the following Roger Kyle, Steve Logan, Robyn Davison. people and organisations. They were simply the best, and they went out of their way to ROTORVATION HELICOPTER SERVICES (Perth, Western Australia) ensure that I was given every opportunity, and was put into the best possible position David Adamson, Newton Pellat, Owen Maitland, Ali Telling, Nigel Joyce, Robin Olson, Simon Hollway. to obtain the images that made it into this great book. In particular I would like to thank AYERS ROCK HELICOPTERS / THE HELICOPTER GROUP (Ayers Rock, Australia) my flying partner David Adamson for his passionate belief in the Robinson helicopter. Michael Van der Zypp, Ed Connellan, Thørbjørn Jans, Adrian Smrk, Matt Stoios, Chris Wakefield, Brett Hill, Karin Barschow, Fiona Ward, Deanne Hobbs. Without his superb skill in the air, and knowing exactly what I was looking for, many HELIREEF (Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia) of the images in this book would simply have not been possible to achieve. The initial Ken Allen, Alan Sweeney, Gary Kilby. experience gained in Perth, Western Australia with David in 2007 set the standard for SOKHA HELICOPTERS (Angkor, Cambodia) what I was to achieve later in the various shoots around the globe. Edward Mott, Michael Daverington, Oun Sokha, Michael van Der Zypp, Tess Davison, Harry Green, Alexis Bachofen.

BASSAIR AVIATION (Kroonstadt, South Africa) For cameraship assistance, flying buddies and general help in the skies around the planet, I would lke John Bassi, Elise de Villiers, Charlotte Mouiex and all at the Lechwe Resort. to thank Lorna McKay and my sister Robyn Davison. Lastly I wish to thank NORCOPTER (Sola, Norway) Alexis Bachofen for appearing literally out of the blue! Jørgen Li, Kjetil Føyen, Stein Erik Warren. RUSSELL HARRISON PLC (Oxford, UK) For picture caption material obtained from websites the publishers wish to acknowledge the following Russell Harrison, Richard Leonard, Lorna McKay. on-line resouces; EAST COAST AERO CLUB (Boston, Massachusetts USA) http://www.adlertag.de/heute/restoration.htm Philip Greenspun, Kasim Te, Joris Naiman & Kyle Nicholls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Hill,_Ipswich,_Massachusetts Camera: Beta II - N211SH. http://www.mytravelguide.com/attractions/profile-79026605-United_States_Massachusetts_Boston_ Subject: Raven II - N404WT. USS_Constitution.html FLYING M AIR (Wickenburg, Arizona) http://www.cityofboston.gov Maria Langer, Mike Chilingerian. ALPINE AIR ALASKA (Girdwood, Alaska) Grateful thanks to the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department for detailed information on the Little Keith and Deb Essex, Andy Wallace, Amanda. Colorado River Canyon: http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/littlecolorado.htm. MAUNA LOA HELICOPTERS (Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu) Thanks to Wikipedia for information on Sedona: Ben Fouts, Keltie Gadd, Doug Froning, Noah Haydyn-Myer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedona,_Arizona#Geography_and_geology WANAKA HELICOPTERS (Wanaka, New Zealand) Simon Spencer-Bower, Stephen Combe, Andy Clayton, Graham Stott. Leigh Stock at the Edgewater Resort, Lorna McKay. WINDHAWK HELICOPTERS (Marlborough, New Zealand) Right: Self portrait by the author with David Adamson in an R22 Beta II during a cattle muster in the far Ben,Tim Barnett and family. north of Western Australia. ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY (Torrance, California, USA) Overleaf: The author shooting the Sokha Helicopters story over Cambodia. Frank Robinson, Loretta Connely, Milly Donahue. PHOTO BY ALEXIS BACHOFEN.