25 Years of Flying Helicopters
The other day, I was driving past the Clearwater Airpark when I saw a small helicopter sitting on the ramp. It immediately brought to mind my 25 years of helicopter flying and how it provided our livelyhood for those 25 years. I hope you will bear with me while I reminisce about those years.
The flying at New York Airways was a challange. Our primary routes took us to Newark, La Guardia and Kennedy airports. At that time they were among the ten busiest airports in the world. We were always in a control zone talking to the tower personel except for a short stretch when we were flying over the East River of NYC.
Our first contact was the TCA who picked us up on radar and advised us of any other aircraft in our vicinity. They turned us over to the tower who gave us traffic advisories and clearances to land and takeoff. Once on the ground we were turned over to ground control who cleared us to taxi in and out of the terminal areas. When we were departing an airport we reversed the procedure. Unlike fixed wing airplanes, who have a long runway and long straight in approaches to a landing, we landed on taxiway intersections. We had to be alert for airplanes who were taxiing as well as the trucks and baggage carts who were using the same areas. We made tight turns to space ourselves between this traffic. The area around the East River was a different challange. There was alway other aircraft in this area either other helicopters or small airplanes on amphibious floats. We landed at several heliports in this area. Primarily it was the Wall Street heliport and the heliport on top of the Pan Am building,which was about 1100 feet over the city street. We used a different technique for the takeoffs on the Pan Am building. We backed off until we were about 80 to 100 feet over the heliport then we pushed over into foward flight.
We worked a 10 hour day and were scheduled for a 30 minute lunch break. Usually we were running late so they used the lunch break to catch us up to the schedule. We flew 80 hours per month which we could usually complete in about 16 days.
While flying a helicopter there is no such thing as a relaxing moment. You cannot take your hands of the controls at any time. There are three primary controls. The cyclic stick in front of you which controls the helicopters banks and directions.
The collective, on your left side, controls your up and down. On the collective are engine controls, either a motorcycle grip or electronic beeper switches. The rudder pedals control the tail rotor on a single rotor helicopter or the differential of the two main rotors on a twin main rotor helicopter. This enables the helicopter to fly in a coordinated flight. On top of he rudder pedals are the wheel brakes. Your hands and feet must be on these controls at all time when the rotors are turning. When flying a single engine helicopter you have to have a landing area available if your engine should fail. You have about 2 seconds to lower the collective control or you will lose all of your rotor rpm's and your lift, and in about 30 seconds you will be on the ground if you are at 1000 feet of altitude. You became so compitent and it was so repetitious that it was almost as if you became part of the helicopter when you straped it on your back every day.
For about a year we flew the De Havalind Twin Otter which was a twin engine airplane. It carried about 18 passengers. It was a highly maneuverable airplane which had short field landing and takeoff capability. We did not use the active runways at the airports but used small, short runways designated for light aircraft. Sometime we would use the runways that were not active so every landing and takeoff would be with a crosswind. This shuttle was just between the airports. It was a nice change of pace from the helicopter.
You had to pass an FAA physical every 6 months and an annual company physical which was given by United Airlines. For each new helicopter you had to pass a written exam and be certified to fly that helicopter by an FAA flight test. Every 6 months you had to pass a check flight given by the company.
Now I know that it was sometimes anything but fun but now it is something to think back about. Like a lot of things in life, while you are doing it, it becomes a real chore. But looking back on it, it was a job that required real skills, real judgement and it provided for the family.
The flying at New York Airways was a challange. Our primary routes took us to Newark, La Guardia and Kennedy airports. At that time they were among the ten busiest airports in the world. We were always in a control zone talking to the tower personel except for a short stretch when we were flying over the East River of NYC.
Our first contact was the TCA who picked us up on radar and advised us of any other aircraft in our vicinity. They turned us over to the tower who gave us traffic advisories and clearances to land and takeoff. Once on the ground we were turned over to ground control who cleared us to taxi in and out of the terminal areas. When we were departing an airport we reversed the procedure. Unlike fixed wing airplanes, who have a long runway and long straight in approaches to a landing, we landed on taxiway intersections. We had to be alert for airplanes who were taxiing as well as the trucks and baggage carts who were using the same areas. We made tight turns to space ourselves between this traffic. The area around the East River was a different challange. There was alway other aircraft in this area either other helicopters or small airplanes on amphibious floats. We landed at several heliports in this area. Primarily it was the Wall Street heliport and the heliport on top of the Pan Am building,which was about 1100 feet over the city street. We used a different technique for the takeoffs on the Pan Am building. We backed off until we were about 80 to 100 feet over the heliport then we pushed over into foward flight.
We worked a 10 hour day and were scheduled for a 30 minute lunch break. Usually we were running late so they used the lunch break to catch us up to the schedule. We flew 80 hours per month which we could usually complete in about 16 days.
While flying a helicopter there is no such thing as a relaxing moment. You cannot take your hands of the controls at any time. There are three primary controls. The cyclic stick in front of you which controls the helicopters banks and directions.
The collective, on your left side, controls your up and down. On the collective are engine controls, either a motorcycle grip or electronic beeper switches. The rudder pedals control the tail rotor on a single rotor helicopter or the differential of the two main rotors on a twin main rotor helicopter. This enables the helicopter to fly in a coordinated flight. On top of he rudder pedals are the wheel brakes. Your hands and feet must be on these controls at all time when the rotors are turning. When flying a single engine helicopter you have to have a landing area available if your engine should fail. You have about 2 seconds to lower the collective control or you will lose all of your rotor rpm's and your lift, and in about 30 seconds you will be on the ground if you are at 1000 feet of altitude. You became so compitent and it was so repetitious that it was almost as if you became part of the helicopter when you straped it on your back every day.
For about a year we flew the De Havalind Twin Otter which was a twin engine airplane. It carried about 18 passengers. It was a highly maneuverable airplane which had short field landing and takeoff capability. We did not use the active runways at the airports but used small, short runways designated for light aircraft. Sometime we would use the runways that were not active so every landing and takeoff would be with a crosswind. This shuttle was just between the airports. It was a nice change of pace from the helicopter.
You had to pass an FAA physical every 6 months and an annual company physical which was given by United Airlines. For each new helicopter you had to pass a written exam and be certified to fly that helicopter by an FAA flight test. Every 6 months you had to pass a check flight given by the company.
Now I know that it was sometimes anything but fun but now it is something to think back about. Like a lot of things in life, while you are doing it, it becomes a real chore. But looking back on it, it was a job that required real skills, real judgement and it provided for the family.
posted by Joe and Eileen at 9:31 AM
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