The Winds Of Change

[SilverHamer]

Well, things are about to become interesting for me professionally. The job contract that I have been flying on for the past 3 1/2 years here in Galveston is about to either change locations, or go to another helicopter company at another location. This doesn't mean I stand a chance of being unemployed, but it will mean that the gravy train I've been enjoying appears to be coming to a halt...at least in it's present status. I have had the best working conditions and the absolute best working location of my entire 10 year experience with this company working here in Galveston and I have been reluctant to do anything to change it, such as upgrade to a larger aircraft. The time for that, however, has arrived. If my company is retained for this job, the new location for the base, effective September first, will be in southeast Louisiana at a place called Cameron. My company's base was totally destroyed, along with the town and just about everything else between there and Lake Charles, when hurricane Rita came through in '05. Our base has never been fully rebuilt, but our competitors have rebuilt a long time ago. The oil company I have been flying for wants to use Cameron, LA for their base now. If my company is awarded the contract, my job will turn to a pile of shit as far as I'm concerned...and I don't really want to bore you with the reasons...it will just suck, and that is all you need to know...LOL.

I've always told myself that if my current job ever came to an end that I KNEW I would probably be forced to start driving back to Louisiana for work and if that happens I will take the upgrade to medium ships. So now that is about to become a reality. After I finished my work today I got onto the company intranet and officially submitted my bid for the next upgrade class, which will commence next month, date has not been firmed up yet. I looked at the list of applicants after I submitted my bid and out of 26 names, only 2 of us have a hire date earlier than 2005. I am number 2 on the list with a hire date of August 1997, and the guy in the #1 position is January 1997. So it's probably a forgone conclusion that I will be in the next class of 10 pilots to upgrade.

I have been flying one of these since 1999...it's a Bell 407. It is the only small ship that I enjoy flying, and I'm qualified to fly 2 other types. This one is the only one of the three types that has all the muscle you need to take off at max gross weight from a 25' X 25' heliport offshore on one of those hot, no wind, summer days. And it cruises at a speedy 125 knots indicated airspeed...which is somewhere around 150 mph, and will carry 6 passengers and 1 pilot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/phi_b407.jpg

This is what I should be upgrading to...this is a Sikorsky S-76. It cruises about 15 or 20 knots faster than the 407, has two engines, and carries about 10 passengers with 2 pilots. It is also certified to fly IFR (Instrument Flight Rules...or "in the clouds") which means I have a bit of brushing up and re-programming ahead of me. I have not made an IFR flight since 1993 so I am terribly rusty to say the least.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/phi_s76.jpg

The closing date for bidding on the upgrade is August 24th, this coming Friday. I will probably hear something during my break about when the class will commence, etc. I doubt I will be knocked off the list...unless for some reason I piss somebody off somewhere along the way...HAHA. That is ALWAYS a possibility.

[MarkE]

Wow...thats something...keep us posted.

You haven't flown IFR since 93??? Wow...I wouldnt think that possible in your profession. Hmmm in thinking about it...there would have to be published approach procs for the platform...right? The only approach procedures that could possibly come to mind are NDB, VOR and GPS (is there a GPS??) its not like you have an ILS on the platform hehehehehe. I never had an instrument rating but have studied it intensely, and have a lot of time under the hood. I used to think it was fun. Its like flying a flight sim, but with vertigo :)

good luck man

[Tarkus]

i'm equally stunned that you haven't logged any ifr in fourteen years - flying regularly, how is that possible? do you just have the ability to always fly under the cloud-deck (no matter what altitude)?

regardless, i'll keep my fingers crossed that whatever the future holds is as-good or better than your current gig (although trading galveston for cameron is indeed a step down).

:jam:

[MarkE]

Im guessing that Larry's company has strick WX guidelines and wind restrictions too. possibly a lot more restrictive than VFR. Have you logged any SVFR?

it must be really great to log all those VFR hours. VFR flights are so very enjoyable.

I remember one day a long time ago I was up on a flight in a Piper Archer under primo CAVU conditions with my daughter Jillian. We were flying somewhere over central CT and spotted a balloon way off in the distance. We headed there and made a few (very safe) passes around the balloon, and saw several others in the vicinity. We spent the afternoon chasing balloons!

[SilverHamer]

The only aircraft in most helicopter companies which are certified for IFR are the bigger ships...medium to heavy. We have one light ship which has a flight director in it, but with the weight of all of the associated avionics and such, we can't really use this airframe for revenue unless there are only like 2 people to be moved. The 407 could handle the weight though, but the vast majority of our single-engine light ships are utilized for day VFR (visiual flight rules) operations only. The medical ships get some night flying in, some with night vision devices, but overall, particularly in the Gulf, we are Day VFR only with our single-engine light ships.

Because the Galveston airport falls in Houston's controlled airspace, any time the weather is below 1000' and 3 miles we have to get SVFR clearance. That was a real goat-screw before we had an active control tower...before that we just had a CTAF/Unicom freq and we all gave advisories. Having the tower has made SVFR a lot safer, and better organized. In the CTAF days you had to call Houston Approach and get sequenced for SVFR arrival or departure. I have had experiences of being like #3 in line waiting for a release from Houston while I watched some ignorant fool in a Piper Aztec taxi out to the runway and just take off VFR when the field was below mins and we were all waiting for proper clearance. The first time that happened I sort of blew it off because it was just barely below 1000'...but after that, the airport manager became intimately familiar with me, both on paper and from across his desk. Now that we have an operational control tower (6am to 6pm) it is much better organized and everyone is kept honest.

Offshore Wx mins for me enroute are 500' ceilings with 3 miles vis. On land it's 200' and 2 miles, and these are minimums set forth by the company. FAA regs for over land are even less strict for helicopters (clear of clouds and 1/2 mile). Operating in the field offshore I need 300' and the ability to see my intended point of landing...but I live by the old adage..."There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots...but you just won't find any old bold pilots." I relish being old too much...LOL.

The last IFR flying I did was in a Piper Seneca when I got my multi-engine checkout...and that wasn't an honest point A to point B flight. The last one of THOSE I made was a few months prior in a UH-1V helicopter at night...patient transfer from Ft. Knox, KY to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.

So yea, taking this upgrade is going to be broadening my horizons back to where they once were before I retired from the military. I was a Standardization Instructor Pilot for the last 4 years of my service, but even before that I had a lot of time in the clouds. I did some shit flying in the military that literally makes my skin crawl to think about it today...HAHA.