Author Archives: Maria Langer

Helicopter Flight: Nick Over the Rocks, Part 5

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A video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

COME FLY WITH ME as I take Central Washington University geology professor and star of “Nick on the Rocks” Nick Zentner on a helicopter tour of the Columbia River Valley downriver from Wenatchee, WA. This is the third part of our second flight together and we start not far from the mouth of Potholes Coulee and Quincy Lakes and head south almost as far as Vantage. Near the end, we search for — and eventually find — a standing petrified wood log. The nosecam footage is amazing and Nick points out many geological features along the way. This is part 5 of a multi-part series.

Note: In Parts, 3, 4, 5 and beyond of this video, you’ll hear Nick and I talking about unreliable video cameras. That’s because of the camera failure I had on my first flight with Nick, which you can see for yourself in Part 2.

Places mentioned in this video:

About Me and the Helicopter

  • I have been flying since 1998. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time (as of 2019) is in Robinson R44, Robinson R22, and Bell 206L (Long Ranger) helicopters.
  • My 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 Nick Zentner

About the Video

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 and patrons 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 like this one.

Any Amazon links on my channel are affiliate links (https://amzn.to/32PLHTD). If you click one of them and buy something, Amazon sends me a few pennies. Enough pennies make a dollar. Enough dollars buy new equipment. It doesn’t cost you anything so I hope you’ll shop with one of those links. Thanks.

Flying a helicopter is expensive and I’m not rich. Want to support the FlyingMAir channel and help me keep producing videos like this one? Here are four suggestions:

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: The Cold

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I battle a cold while I travel.

There’s not much that’s worse than having a cold when you’re on the road. Having a drippy runny nose and a mild cough when you’re forced to cover hundreds of miles in less than perfect driving conditions. Feeling your nose get raw as you try to soak up all that watery snot with whatever paper products are available. Feeling ever muscle in your body ache when you get out to refuel. Ugh.

That was me on the second day of my trip. The drip started slowly but was in full faucet mode by the time I reached Las Vegas and set up “camp” at the KOA. The only medicine I had was Benadryl and I took it. I got plenty of rest but the cold was worse the next day. I drove with the tissue box beside me.

My first stop in Wickenburg on Thursday was the local CVS pharmacy. That’s where I bought my preferred cold remedy: Alka-Seltzer Plus Day/Night. Plop plop fizz fizz. This stuff calms cold symptoms so I can do what I have to do during the day and sleep like the dead at night.

Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
Armed for cold fighting. CVS also had my very favorite tissues: Puffs with Vicks. I absolutely love the eucalyptus aroma.

And I really did need this stuff. On arrival in Wickenburg, I almost immediately had to set up my jewelry booth at my first show of the season. When I was finished near sunset, I went back to my camper, dosed up, and passed out — which is exactly what I needed to do.

The next day — Friday — my cold peaked. I could tell it had reached its absolute worst point. At one point, I actually fell asleep sitting in my booth. I had enough energy to join my friends for grilled salmon at our campers before repeating my evening ritual. I was dead asleep by 8 PM.

I was over the hump on Saturday with a nasty headache but clear sinuses. Ibuprofen with my daytime dose had me fully functional for the second day of the show. I was even able to make three pendants, including a custom pendant for a customer.

As I type this Sunday morning, I’m back to 90% of what I should be. I’ll continue taking it easy for the next few days to avoid a relapse.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: At the Colorado River Overlook

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I stop at an overlook for a look at the river.

I left Vegas on Thursday morning and started the final leg of the drive to my first destination: Wickenburg, AZ. This meant a lengthy drive down US 93, including a segment that I used to think was the longest, straightest piece of road in the world. (I’ve since driven on longer, straighter pieces of road, including just the day before.) I wasn’t in any big hurry, so when I got to the Colorado River overlook just before the turnoff to Willow Creek, I pulled in for a look.

Colorado River from Overlook
It was a beautiful day and the view down into the gorge to the river was clear.

I remembered all the times I’d flown up the river on my way to Vegas. This stretch had always been my favorite: the canyon narrowing down after the oh-so-boring Lake Mohave basin. The twisting turns, the nearly bare rock walls, the sudden appearance of the Hoover Dam. Things are different now with the bridge appearing before the dam. I remember the first time I overflew it while it was still under construction. My thought was WTF? I didn’t even know the bridge had been planned.

Penny at Viewpoint
Penny reluctantly posed for a photo on the short wall between the parking area and the view beyond.

There were only two other groups there when I arrived. One was a guy in a compact car who was apparently videoing the view with his phone (in portrait mode, of course 🙄). The other was a huge truck bearing two airplane wings and support vehicles for its wide load. The drivers were gathered to chat. Perhaps they were waiting for the rest of the plane? Or taking a break before the long, boring drive ahead?

Got Wings?
Got wings?

Of course, I also took the obligatory shot of my rig parked beside the big truck. I’m really happy with the way it’s working out. The trailer tows like it’s nothing and really helps me keep my living space under control. I think I might add a little air to the truck’s rear air bags the next time I load it up. It’s riding a tiny bit low in the back.

My Rig
Truck, house, and garage. Living small and mobile for the winter.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: “Camping” in Las Vegas

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I make my last on-the-grid stop count.

I spent my second night on the road at the Sam’s Town KOA Kampground in Las Vegas. This has become a bit of a tradition for me. Since this is usually the last night I have an opportunity to plug in, get water, and dump my tanks before spending two more more weeks camped out in the desert with friends, I always opt for a full hookup campsite. This particular campground is convenient and usually — but not on this trip — cheap. This time, they hit me up for a very long drive-thru campsite that was a lot bigger than I needed, claiming shorter sites weren’t available. That turned out to be bullshit so I’ll probably look for a different destination on future trips south. $60 is a bit rich for an overnight stop.

I should say up front that I hate KOA-style “camping.” It’s not camping at all. It’s parking with a connection to water, electricity, cable television, and a sewer hookup. The sites are so close together I don’t know why they even bother with the narrow island of dirt and trees between sites that face each other. People who claim to be “camping” at a KOA are deluding themselves.

KOA
Here’s my rig parked between two others at the KOA. My space was over 70 feet long; all I needed was about 40.

But my site was about what I expected and it met my needs. I arrived long before sunset and got a chance to glimpse the sky’s changing colors through the field of RVs around me.

Sunset
As you can see in this photo, the weather cleared that afternoon and evening in Las Vegas. It was nice to see blue sky for the first time since my departure from home.

After taking Penny for a walk — her first since departing Glenns Ferry that morning — I hooked up power, sewer, and water and went in for the night. My nose had begun running earlier in the day and it was becoming apparent that I’d caught a cold. Although I did toy with the idea of going into Sam’s to look at their Holiday light show and maybe get some dinner, I recalled how sick I’d gotten after the last meal I had in their steakhouse. I decided to stay in for the night and was dead asleep before 8 AM.

In the morning, I felt rested but no better. I made and ate breakfast, walked Penny, took a hot shower in the otherwise empty shower building, put on clean clothes, and took my time about packing up. By 8:30 AM, with waste tanks empty and fresh water tank filled, I was ready to hit the road again for the last day of my drive.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: A Foggy Drive

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Can’t enjoy the scenery when you can’t see it.

Although it was an outstandingly beautiful morning in Twin Falls, ID, 15 minutes south on US 93 put me in thick fog. Visibility, at times, dropped to far less than 1/4 mile as the road rose and then fell through the fog layers.

Fog
There wasn’t much to see because of the thick fog and I had to keep focused on what was in front of me anyway. Photo includes a meat and cheese snack on the dashboard, which I bought in Starbucks to eat along the way.

Miraculously, I was able to stick to the speed limit — 70 mph — for most of my drive. The road is painfully straight in most places and there was very little other traffic.

The fog came and went pretty much all day long, finally lifting as I descended on the final stretch of US 93 before it intersects with I-15. By that time, I’d driven through rain and snow and had been stuck behind a semi with broken brake lights (and apparently broken cruise control) for about 100 miles. I was a very happy camper when I finally got around him.