Category Archives: Flying

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

Behind the Scenes: Cockpit Cam Instrument View Setup

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A video from the FlyingMAir YouTube Channel.

COME BEHIND THE SCENES at Flying M Air while I show you my new “cockpit cam instrument view” setup. This is the same setup first used in the Helicopter POV Flight: Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee video (https://youtu.be/4aktQnGbC68), although the audio connection failed me that day.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In this video, I mentioned the GoPro Tripod mount. That is not necessary. The MyPilotPro Helicopter mount comes with a GoPro-compatible mount.

Also note that the camera setup I have here is customized to raise the camera above the bar by an extra 6-8 inches. That’s so that the camera clears the shoulders of the two front seat occupants and looks down at the instrument panel (instead of through the top of the cyclic). If you do not need the camera raised, you don’t need to bother with the extra RAM Mount equipment; the MyPilotPro helicopter mount includes everything you need to mount a GoPro to a bar.

Here are some links where you can find components mentioned in this video:

MyPilotPro: https://mypilotpro.com/shop/?wpam_id=13
Helicopter Mount: https://mypilotpro.com/product/helicopter-gopro-mount/?wpam_id=13
Other airplane and helicopter mounts are available. Check their site to see what products might work best for you.

RAM Mounts: http://www.rammounts.com/
PVC Pipe Products: https://www.rammount.com/shop-all/pvc-pipes

GoPro Hero 7 Black: https://amzn.to/2Lxyzwl

Nflightcam Aviation Audio + Power Cable for GoPro Hero: https://amzn.to/31syLTm

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 this 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 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) and MyPilotPro (https://mypilotpro.com/shop/?wpam_id=13). 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 support the FlyingMAir channel? Here are four suggestions:

Helicopter Photo Flight: 737 MAX Airplanes at Moses Lake

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A video from the FlyingMAir YouTube Channel.

SIT ON THE NOSE OF MY HELICOPTER as I take a professional photographer over Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, WA to shoot photos of Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked there. There are over 100 planes, parked in three big areas, and this video gives you a good view of all of them.

The video starts with a cockpit POV radio call requesting permission from the tower to make the flight. We’d taken off at sunrise from Wenatchee, so it was still early when we arrived and there was no other aircraft traffic. The tower told us to “proceed as requested,” giving us free-rein to conduct the flight as needed. The view then switches to an unobstructed forward view from the helicopter’s nose. The photographer was sitting behind me so we both had the same view; that made it easy for me to get into position for his shots. Iit also meant that the best shots were off the right side of the aircraft and not the nose where my camera was. Still, I think you’ll agree that I got some good footage of a lot of parked planes.

A few more notes about this video:

You can find the photos David Ryder took that morning here: https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?photographer=david%20ryder&assettype=image&events=775425765&family=editorial &phrase=David%20Ryder&sort=newest#license His photos are AMAZING and I highly recommend taking a look.

David also flew with me back in 2016 to shooting aerial news photos of the aftermath of the Sleepy Hollow Fire that destroyed 25 homes in a Wenatchee subdivision.

The big runway at Grand County Airport is 13,502 feet long and 200 feet wide. This is big enough for 747 airplanes to land.

(When I did an air-to-air photo flight with the Global SuperTanker some years ago, this is where the crew landed to refuel between passes. You can learn all about that flight and see video of the inside of the Global SuperTanker here: https://aneclecticmind.com/2016/06/25/flying-with-the-global-supertanker/)

You can learn more about the retired Quantas 747 at Moses Lake here: https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Qantas-747-final-flight-14540153.php

About Me and the Helicopter

  • I have been flying since 1998. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time 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 near the beginning of the video. You can learn more about R44s here: https://robinsonheli.com/r44-specifications/ This 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

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? So do I! 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

Helicopter Flight: Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee

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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

Helicopter Flight: Icicle Creek to Wenatchee

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A cockpit POV video from the FlyingMAir YouTube Channel.

COME FLY WITH ME for the second half of my July 27 flight from Malaga to Leavenworth to Wenatchee. I start by making a U-turn in the canyon where Icicle Creek comes out of the mountains, showing off a waterfall, and taking a higher level direct flight to Wenatchee. Along the way, I talk about radio communications and helicopter operations. You’ll hear radio calls and see Penny the Tiny Dog make a half-hearted attempt to find shade in the front seat.

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

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 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.

If you’re not a subscriber, please subscribe and click to turn the notification bell on. Then share the videos you really like with your friends and family so they can enjoy them, too.

Still reading? Thanks! Maybe you’ll consider buying something from my Etsy store to help support this channel? Start here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyingMAir

Or better yet, to support this channel on an ongoing basis, consider becoming a member. This link will get you started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join

Helicopter Flight Controls: The Collective

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Another video from FlyingMAir’s YouTube Channel.

This is the second in my Helicopter Flight Control series covering the four flight controls in a helicopter. In this video, I show you the collective and how it controls main rotor blade pitch. Then I take you for a flight and demonstrate two landings and a takeoff, as well as how I can reduce/increase speed without descending/climbing. Although I don’t provide details about the cyclic, it does play a part in this video; hold your cyclic questions for that video, okay?

One thing I failed to make clear in this video: the collective controls the manifold pressure in a Robinson. It does this because the collective is tied to the throttle through the use of a correlator and electronic governor. So when I “pull pitch” — lift the collective — the throttle automatically increases to compensate for the additional drag of the blades at a higher pitch setting. When the throttle increases, the manifold pressure increases. Because of this, it’s common to use the manifold pressure setting to indicate the collective pitch setting even though manifold pressure is an engine indicator and not a main rotor blade indicator. I hope that makes sense to you; it should when you watch this entire video and listen to my manifold pressure references.

BIG DISCLAIMER: I am not nor have I ever been a flight instructor. The purpose of this video is not to teach you how to fly a helicopter. It’s simply to explain, mostly to non-pilots or fixed wing pilots, what the collective control does. If you want more information, I strongly urge you to consult the Helicopter Flying Handbook, which is FREE on the FAA Website: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/ You’ll find Chapter 3 especially informative.

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), one of which is connected to the helicopter’s intercom system with an NFlightCam audio cable (https://amzn.to/31syLTm). Both cameras record audio, but I dialed down the helicopter sound to about 25% of normal volume so it wouldn’t be annoying.
  • The camera mounts are MyPilotPro Spider Mounts (https://amzn.to/2BnbcQv” target=”_blank”>https://amzn.to/2BnbcQv and https://amzn.to/2Muou3N) which are made specifically for aircraft operations. Utilizing three suction cups, they make it possible to mount cameras on rounded surfaces. You can see one of the mounts in the video near my vertical compass. For more information about camera mounting options for aircraft, visit https://mypilotpro.com/; I will be reviewing these mounts in an upcoming video.
  • The video was edited on a Macintosh using Screenflow software. Learn more about it here: https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm
  • Additional audio in this video was recorded in Screeflow using a Røde Podcaster microphone (https://amzn.to/2IFnbNr).
  • 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 and turn on the notification bell so you don’t miss anything new! And tell your friends. I’m trying hard to deliver good videos and grow my subscriber base.

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.

If you’re not a subscriber, please subscribe and click to turn the notification bell on. Then share the videos you really like with your friends and family so they can enjoy them, too.

Still reading? Thanks! Maybe you’ll consider buying something from my Etsy store to help support this channel? Start here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyingMAir

Or better yet, to support this channel on an ongoing basis, consider becoming a member. This link will get you started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join