Category Archives: Multimedia

I get out to the movies and watch TV once in a while.

The Toilet Repair

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Why yes, I CAN “overhaul” my toilet tank — and here’s the video to prove it.

My toilet’s has been acting funky for the past 6 months or so. The main symptom was that I had to hold the flusher down for at least 3 seconds for a full flush. I got used to it. But when I returned from my trip, I found that the tank would not refill unless I opened the tank lid and poked at one of the parts so it dropped. That got old fast. I decided I needed to repair it.

I bought a Korky complete toilet repair kit which contained the complete guts of a toilet tank. They recommended that I watch a video on the installation and I did. It was helpful because although it was not narrated, it did cover all of the steps so I knew in advance what I’d be doing.

Do you like livestreams of cool things? Well, I’ve been wanting to do livestreams on my personal YouTube channel while I’m out and about in orchards, at airports, in boats, etc., but YouTube won’t let me stream from a mobile device unless I have at least 1,000 subscribers. I’m currently 45 subscribers short. How about going to my YouTube channel and clicking the Subscribe button? Thanks.

I should mention here — in case you don’t watch the narrated video below — that I knew I’d be doing this sooner or later. In an effort to reduce the accumulation of minerals inside the toilet, I’d been using bleach tablets in the tank. I was warned multiple times that it would eventually corrode the tank’s workings but I used them anyway — and will likely continue to do so. I think that the corrosion I found was a combination of those tablets putting bleach in my tank and the actual minerals in the water, which really screw up certain fixtures, like my shower head and sink sprays. The only way to resolve this issue is to install a water softener and, frankly, I don’t want to do that.

Anyway, I set to work at around 2 PM on Friday afternoon and was done by 3:30 PM. I think I spent more time fetching tools than actually doing work. I set up one of my GoPros to create a “hyperlapse” timelapse movie of the process so I could put it in this blog post. I then edited it in iMovie to make a simple, narrated video. Here it is:

The toilet works fine now and, somehow, it’s quieter — not that that really matters much to me. It’s nice to have done this on my own, considering a plumber would charge $75 just to come to my house.

Mesa to Sedona by Helicopter, Part 4

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Another video from the Flying M Air YouTube Channel.

Join me and fellow helicopter pilot Dave as we fly from Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ (FFZ) to Sedona, AZ (SEZ) along the Salt and Verde Rivers and through the Verde River Valley. I’ve cut this hour+ flight into multiple parts, each highlighting a specific area of our flight. In this video, we begin at the southern end of the Verde Valley and fly past Camp Verde, Mingus Mountain, and the former ghost town of Jerome, AZ. You’ll also get to see the open pit copper mine that Jerome was built for. The video ends when we leave Jerome for the red rock cliffs of the western edge of Sedona. Along the way, you’ll hear our in-cockpit conversation about what we’re seeing.

Dave is an airline pilot who was working through his helicopter rating. At the time of this flight, he was a private helicopter pilot; he got his commercial helicopter rating a few weeks later. Dave and I split the cost of this flight; I flew to Sedona and he flew back.

Many, many thanks to channel members and Patreon patrons. It’s your membership dollars that made this flight in Arizona possible.

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NOTE: This is the 1080 HD version of this video. An ad-free 4K UHD version of this video is available to YouTube Channel Members and Patreon Patrons at the Access Premium Content level. You can become a YouTube Channel member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join

Helicopter Cherry Drying at Hyperspeed

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Another video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Here’s something completely different. I decided to experiment with the GoPro Hero 8’s “hyperspeed” feature. It’s basically a smoothed out automated timelapse. I had the camera set up in the nosecam position and went flying. It was late in the day and a huge rainstorm had rolled through. All of my clients wanted service. The three of us took off, intending to get it all done. But the wind was howling. Turns out that another thunderstorm had formed behind the one that had just passed. Between the lightning and high winds, it was too much to fly in. We all set down to wait it out. The nosecam caught the lightning stikes.

Although I set down over an orchard almost immediately, I had to pick up and move away. My phone kept ringing and there’s no way I could answer it while hovering over the trees. To make matters worse, there’s no cell signal in the canyon I was flying in so I had to come out to the mouth of the canyon each time I answered a call. I finally got back over the trees and managed to dry one whole block before the lightning spooked me enough to land.

I landed at another orchard. One of my crew landed where he was flying and the other landed with me. We waited it out, then departed to dry one more block each before it got too dark to fly. Overall, the mission was pretty much a failure, but I know my clients understood. I got no complaints. We wound up flying the next day, too.

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Note: This is the 1080 FHD version of this video. An ad-free 4K UHD version is available to channel Members and Patrons at the Access Premium Content level. It’s my way of thanking them for their financial support to this channel.
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Mesa to Sedona by Helicopter, Part 3

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Another video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Join me and fellow helicopter pilot Dave as we fly from Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ (FFZ) to Sedona, AZ (SEZ) along the Salt and Verde Rivers and through the Verde River Valley. I’ve cut this hour+ flight into multiple parts, each highlighting a specific area of our flight. In this video, we begin at Bartlett Dam on the Verde River and fly right up the river, over Bartlett Lake, Horseshoe Lake, and the river itself. You’ll also get to see one of my favorite back-country dirt strips out in the desert. The autumn colors are on display along the river, but everything is dry and desert-like. The video ends when we break out of the canyon into the Verde Valley just south of Camp Verde. Along the way, you’ll hear our in-cockpit conversation about what we’re seeing, along with quite a few conversations about flying and owning/operating helicopters.

Dave is an airline pilot who was working through his helicopter rating. At the time of this flight, he was a private helicopter pilot; he got his commercial helicopter rating a few weeks later. Dave and I split the cost of this flight; I flew to Sedona and he flew back.

Many, many thanks to channel members and Patreon patrons. It’s your membership dollars that made this flight in Arizona possible.

-o-

NOTE: This is the 1080 HD version of this video. An ad-free 4K UHD version of this video is available to YouTube Channel Members and Patreon Patrons at the Access Premium Content level. You can become a YouTube Channel member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join

A Quick Helicopter Pickup/Dropoff

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Another video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Here’s a quick video of one of my cherry drying crew, Indy, landing at my house to pick me up and then fly me back to our landing zone. The backstory is simple: he needed to get his car moved up to my house. He could either drive up to my house and drive back to the LZ with me and then I’d drive home — total time elapsed 45 minutes — or fly up to my house, pick me up, take me to his car, and let me drive it home (total time elapsed less than 20 minutes). I let him decide and I think he chose wisely.

He wasn’t quite sure where to land when he arrived. Although the spot he first attempted was okay, it isn’t particularly level and that tends to freak some pilots out. Moving to the gravel works fine, but it’s also a bit unnerving for folks who aren’t accustomed to landing so close to a building. (For the record, he had about 30 feet between the main rotor blades and my deck.)

His departure was quite different from mine. He elected to pick up and then back up away from the house before making his turn. Again, he wasn’t that close. But when in doubt, do it the safest way. I think being that close to the house was kind of unnerving. When I depart from that spot, I usually pivot over the grass and dive into the valley to gain speed before climbing out or descending to that landing zone. Whatever works and is safe, right?

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Note: This is the 1080 FHD version of this video. An ad-free 4K UHD version is available to channel Members and Patrons at the Access Premium Content level. It’s my way of thanking them for their financial support to this channel.
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