Two videos from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.
COME FLY WITH ME as I take a flight in the Wenatchee area to show off the autumn colors. There are two versions of this video, as I explain in both videos:
The cockpit POV version of my Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee flight enables you to reference the instruments as I talk about them:
If you check out this video at 7 AM PT on Sunday, November 3, 2019, you’ll be able to participate in a “Premiere,” which includes live chat as I watch the video with multiple viewers. (It’s fun!)
The nosecam version of my Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee flight gives you a complete, unobstructed view from the nose of the helicopter
Some notes about this video (one of which applies to the cockpit POV version only):
Start to 4:20 – Yes, the carbon monoxide detector light is on during the beginning of this flight. I had been idling on the ramp for a while before the flight and when the wind blows just the right (or wrong?) way, it blows enough exhaust into the cockpit to trigger that very sensitive detector. I had opened the main (front) vent prior to starting the video and later, at 3:20, opened the vent on my side door. The light went off at around 4:20 and I closed that side vent. It really was cold!
9:50 – Hear the difference in the sound of the helicopter? I’ve reduced power and slowed down and what you’re hearing is called “blade slap.” It goes away when I pick up speed beyond around 80 knots as I start my descent.
12:40 – I’m descending at 1700 feet per minute! That’s about the same as an autorotation.
14:30 – The top end of Pitcher Canyon is on my right.
15:08 – Sorry about the throat clearing sound. I thought I edited them all out.
19:30 – There is no control tower at Wenatchee. Pilots use the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) to report location and intentions in flight. This is NOT required but is highly advisable. (Technically, a radio is not required at all for Part 91 operations at Wenatchee.)
20:15 – Yes, I can make what’s called a “quick stop” or turn very sharply away from the runway to avoid traffic there. I always look both ways and make a call before crossing the runway. If a plane is landing or taking off, I’ll usually alter my course to pass behind it.
About Me and the Helicopter
- I have been flying for about 20 years. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time is in Robinson R44, Robinson R22, and Bell 206L (Long Ranger) helicopters.
- The helicopter is a 2005 Robinson R44 Raven II — the same one that appears in the photo at the beginning of the video. You can learn more about them here: https://robinsonheli.com/r44-specifications/ I own this helicopter. It is the third helicopter I’ve owned since 2000.
- My helicopter has ADS-B Out and is picked up by radar facilities. You can see my track for recent flights on Flightradar24: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n7534D This is a great site for tracking any almost any flight, including the airlines.
About the Video
- The video was recorded with a pair of GoPro Hero 7 cameras (https://amzn.to/2Lxyzwl). The cockpit POV view comes from a camera mounted on the bar between the two front seats, which is part of the helicopter’s frame, using a MyPilotPro (https://mypilotpro.com/shop/?wpam_id=13) Helicopter Mount (https://mypilotpro.com/product/helicopter-gopro-mount/?wpam_id=13) in conjunction with a few customized RAM mount components. (I’ll do a show and tell about my camera mounts in another video.) The nosecam view comes from a camera mounted on the nose of the helicopter. That camera contributed ambient sound to both versions of this video, which includes wind, engine, and rotor noise, from the camera’s built-in speaker and has been incorporated into this video at 25% normal volume.
- Narration was done using a Røde Podcaster microphone (https://amzn.to/2IFnbNr) connected to a Macintosh. I recorded the narration while I was watching the video in the editing software because the in-flight audio feed did not work.
- The video was edited on a Macintosh using Screenflow software. Learn more about it here: https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm
- The intro music is by Bob Levitus, famed “Dr. Mac.” You can find him here: http://www.boblevitus.com/
I try to drop cockpit POV videos every Sunday morning and “extras” with more info about owning and operating a helicopter midweek. (Some channel members get early access to some of these videos.) I also host occasional livestreams with Q&A chats. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything new! And tell your friends. The more subscribers I have, the more motivated I am to keep producing videos.
Some links on my channel are affiliate links, including all links to Amazon (https://amzn.to/32PLHTD). If you click one of them and buy something, I get a small referral reward. It doesn’t cost you anything so I hope you’ll shop with one of those links. Thanks.
Want to see YOUR name on the member list? I do, too! Becoming a member financially supports this channel and gets you a handful of benefits — including discounts on merchandise in my Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyingMAir) — on an ongoing basis. The Join button or this link will get you started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join
Discover more from An Eclectic Mind
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Beautiful golden-hour views from Mission Ridge in the clear, cool air.
I’m pretty sure those yellowing trees are deciduous larch, not tamarisk. The latter tend to be more ‘shrub-like’.
Apparently — as some folks in the comments on YouTube pointed out, larch and tamarack are the same thing. https://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/programs/environmental/courses/es204/larix_laricina.php Tamarisk or salt cedar, is something else. We had tamarisk in Arizona.
I clicked on the link and saw something very odd in that distribution map.
Apparently, at least according to that map, Tamarack is abundant in BC, and Canada generally, but ‘unreported’ right next door in Washington State, just below the 49th! Natural distributions don’t work along rigid unfenced parallels but laws, classifications and terminology often do.
The map implies that Canadians call larch ‘Tamarack’ and that Americans know it as Larch, which is what we Brits call it too. In the longer-settled eastern states of both US and Canada, First Nations terminology seems more accepted by both cultures. Hence its more natural pattern of distribution in the frequency chart?
As you say, Tamarisk/Salt Cedar is something else and generally rather smaller. (See wiki on Salt Cedar)
Listening to your voice-over I confused Tamarack for Tamarisk.
I probably said tamarisk. I didn’t realize (at the time) that there were two different similarly named species.
Thanks for the ride Maria. Just a question I’ve always had, but always forget to ask. Why was runway 7/25 abandoned? Cost to maintain or repair? No biggie, just curious.
Thanks.
George
I have no idea. It might be because they have a ton of other runways? I don’t get out to Moses Lake very often.