Category Archives: Flying

Stories about flying — for pleasure or for hire — and the things I’ve learned.

Cross-Country Helicopter Flight from Malaga to McMinnville, Part 2

Posted on by
Comment

Another cockpit POV video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Join me for the second 20 or so minutes of my cross-country flight from my summer base in Malaga, WA to McMinnville, OR. In this flight, I cruise from Ellensburg, WA over the Cascade Mountains near White Pass, dodging low clouds that force me to wander off my desired course. Along the way, you’ll see remote forest and grasslands, rocky cliffs, snow-covered ridges, and even Mount Rainier, off in the distance. I had three cameras rigged up for this video and I switch from cockpit cam to nose cam with occasional inset views of me looking at the camera. Audio is from direct connection to the intercom so you can hear me talk — no radio calls in this video — plus dialed down volume of the helicopter’s engine/rotor noise.

Important Note: This video is being released as a Premiere on Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 7:30 AM Pacific time. That means you can’t see it until after that time. If you tune in for the Premiere, you’ll be able to join a live chat with other viewers (and me) to comment on the video and ask/answer questions. It’s actually a lot of fun. If you view anytime after that, you’ll just see the video, although I believe the premiere chat comments might be visible on the Web.

You can see all of the videos for this flight here:
Part 1: https://youtu.be/pgKDciGP4eA
Part 2: https://youtu.be/CmupuFDXa4Q (this video)
Part 3: https://youtu.be/vyveMEm_MhQ
Pups in a Helicopter: https://youtu.be/eEVq9sRlJK8
Part 4: https://youtu.be/3KXR_D3SliA
Part 5: https://youtu.be/eghRyzhPigg

I should mention here that “cross-country” in the world of aviation is any long flight. For airplanes, it’s 50 miles or more; for helicopters, it’s 25 miles or more. This is only part of a 178 nautical mile trip.

Huey Helicopter Brownout Landing

Posted on by
2

A very short, sweet-sounding video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Join me at the “Huey Camp” landing zone while one of the three Hueys on cherry drying contract lands at its base after a short maintenance flight, stirring up a ton of dust. Love helicopter sound? Turn the audio way up for this one!

And no, he wasn’t nearly as close to that fuel truck as he looks in the video.

Hiller Helicopter Flight

Posted on by
2

Another cockpit POV video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Join me and my friend Captain Michael Tragarz for a flight in his Hiller Helicopter. We lift off from his home at a Phoenix area airpark, head north west, and then turn to the south for a flight around part of South Mountain. I narrate part of the flight but most of it is just the sound of this classic helicopter as it flies low level over the Arizona desert.

Bell 206B III JetRanger Startup

Posted on by
Comment

Another “extras” video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Join JetRanger pilot CJ for a narrated startup of his Bell 206B III JetRanger. After a quick introduction, CJ hops into the cockpit and runs through the startup process while I try to keep up with my video camera. The sound is quite loud once the engine is running, but you can hear CJ pretty well and get a good idea of how this helicopter starts.

Helicopter Flight around Grand Coulee Dam

Posted on by
Comment

Another cockpit POV video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Join me and a client for a flight up the north end of Banks Lake to the Grand Coulee Dam and back. To protect the privacy of my client, I cut out the in-cockpit audio and replaced it with a voiceover narration that talks about points of interest.