A Quick Trip Home – By Helicopter

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Another video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Since last week’s video was so long, I thought I’d treat you to a shorter one this week.

This is the first of several videos I’ll be releasing from a flight with a friend from the Wenatchee, WA, area to Twisp, WA. In this video, I’ve come down to fetch the helicopter at its summer landing zone and realized that I’ve forgotten something important at home. (For the life of me, I can’t remember what it was now.) Rather than make the 30 minute round-trip drive back up to my house — four miles each way on mostly gravel roads — I decided to just fly up, park the helicopter in my side yard, shut down, and run inside to get what I need. That’s what this little video is all about.

Look for subsequent videos in this series in upcoming weeks. My cameras didn’t all behave, but I’m pretty sure I got cockpit POV footage for each part of the trip. We’ll see!

AMA Livestream with Helicopter Pilot Maria Langer

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Recording of the Ask Me Anything livestream I did on YouTube on November 1, 2020.

Thanks to the folks who joined me for this AMA. I think I answered a lot of questions.

Here are some of the videos I referred to in this livestream:

Channel Membership Video: https://youtu.be/sHSqlQqeP1A

Autorotation Practice: https://youtu.be/W9UEqinM0Js

Cyclic: https://youtu.be/ZcqrPXgEWM0
Collective: https://youtu.be/kDqUnirx4Gc
Pedals: https://youtu.be/ohU6LssRgLY

Cost of Helicopter: https://youtu.be/3Cbr4xZObNk

Cherry Drying (Long with explanations): https://youtu.be/t_7W8b0Ej0U

Also:

Blog post explaining the “deadman’s curve”:
https://aneclecticmind.com/2008/04/27/the-deadmans-curve/

Helicopter Flight: McMinnville to Yakima, Part 3

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Another video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Join me for the third part of my cross-country flight from McMinnville, OR back to my summer base in Malaga, WA. In this video, I turn left from the Columbia River and begin a flight up a valley toward Yakima. By this time, the wind is fierce and the helicopter is being bounced around in turbulence. I fly in valleys, over forested areas, and across the hilly grasslands of the Yakama Reservation. I talk some and tell a few stories, but at this point I’m pretty sick of flying and just want to get there. Headwinds and turbulence that force me to slow down make the flight grueling, despite the blue skies and scenery. This is a very long video and although I like to keep them short, I didn’t want to cut this one in half. Audio is from direct connection to the intercom, so you can hear radio chatter and me narrate the flight and make radio calls, plus dialed down volume of the helicopter’s engine/rotor noise. I included a bit of “nosecam” video, too.

Here are the videos in this series. I’ve already published videos that cover the last part of this flight, which was done a few days later:

McMinnville to Yakima, Part 1: https://youtu.be/6x6XY3-uZjo
McMinnville to Yakima, Part 2: https://youtu.be/3mmyOMzN0Ls
McMinnville to Yakima, Part 3: https://youtu.be/eaYIAFirT4o (this video)
Yakima River Canyon: https://youtu.be/1HZi_UHjK0I
Kittitas to Malaga: https://youtu.be/cRuUhyCQWMA

The Gallery Exhibit

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I submit 10 pieces of jewelry to a gallery’s “Gems and Geology Holiday Gift Show.”

I’ve come a long way since I started making jewelry — mostly wire-framed pendants — with rocks. Over time, I’ve stepped up my game by taking classes and trying new techniques. The results are promising. And encouraging.

My friend Cyndi told me about a special exhibit at a gallery we both sell our work at. (Cyndi makes metal art; you can find it on Etsy.) The theme was Gems and Geology, which is pretty much what my jewelry is all about. Although I’d missed the first deadline — intent to submit with digital samples — I wrote to them anyway. I got an enthusiastic response:

We’d love to have your work in our show! … This is just the type of work we were hoping for! I am so glad you reached out.

Whew!

I got to work making pieces that I thought would be appropriate for a real gallery show. I already knew that this particular gallery did not like my wire work, mostly because it simply doesn’t sell there. (Oddly, it sells remarkably well at another gallery in Ellensburg; go figure.) That meant prong and bezel settings, which I was just starting to get comfortable doing.

I made the mistake early on of sharing a photo of one of my pieces on Twitter. Someone wanted to buy it. While I love selling jewelry, I was really hoping to send that one to the gallery. Still, I had plenty of time to make a replacement and I did.

I finished making the 10 pieces two days ago. I spent this morning photographing them for publicity materials. I figured I may as well share the photos here, too.

Labradorite Pendant
Labradorite bezel and prong set on textured, reclaimed silver. Black leather cord with sterling clasp. (Learn more about my reclaimed silver in this blog post.)

Kona Dolomite Pendant
Kona Dolomite prong set on polished Argentium silver. Sterling silver chain. (This was not made specifically for the show but meets the requirements.)

Crazy Lace Agate
Crazy Lace Agate bezel and prong set on textured Argentium silver. Black leather cord with sterling clasp. (This was not made specifically for the show but meets the requirements.)

Azurite and Malachite Pendant
Azurite and Malachite bezel set on textured reclaimed silver. Sterling silver chain.

Brazilian Agate Pendant
Brazilian Agate prong set on textured reclaimed silver. Sterling silver chain.

Montana Moss Agate Pendant
Montana Moss Agate prong set on a textured sterling silver frame. Sterling silver chain.

Turquoise Pendant
Two genuine turquoise cabochons prong set on textured and hinged copper. Black silk cord with hand-formed copper clasp. (This was not made specifically for the show but meets the requirements.)

Kingman Turquoise with Spiny Oyster Shell Pendant
Kingman Turquoise and Orange Spiny Oyster Shell with bronze prong set in textured sterling silver. Sterling silver chain. (This was not made specifically for the show but meets the requirements.)

African Queen Jasper Set
African Queen Jasper bezel set in copper for earrings and a pendant. Black leather cord with sterling silver clasp for pendant; hypo-allergenic niobium ear wires for earrings. This is my current “masterpiece.”

Malachite Set
Malachite prong set on textured reclaimed silver with malachite bead earrings. Sterling silver chain; sterling silver ear wires.

Keep in mind that none of these are currently available for sale. If you want them, you’ll need to go to Confluence Gallery in Twisp, WA between November 28 and January 9. (Twisp is actually a great destination in the winter, especially for cross-country skiing. The Methow Valley has hundreds of miles of well-groomed cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails and was my Christmas destination before I started going south for the winter.)

If you like what you see here, you’ll probably like some of the jewelry in my Etsy store. Go check it out!

Helicopter Flight: McMinnville to Yakima, Part 2

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Another video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Join me for the second part of my cross-country flight from McMinnville, OR back to my summer base in Malaga, WA. In this video, I descend down into the Columbia River Gorge to fly upriver below the clouds. As the clouds lift, the wind picks up. Along the way, there’s lots of rain on the windscreen, an airplane passing in the opposite direction, and waterfalls along the oregon cliffs. This part of the flight goes from Columbia River east of Troutdale and ends after a “left turn” into a valley across the river from Hood River. Audio is from direct connection to the intercom, so you can hear radio chatter and me narrate the flight and make radio calls, plus dialed down volume of the helicopter’s engine/rotor noise. I included a bit of “nosecam” video, too.

Here are the videos in this series. I’ve already published videos that cover the last part of this flight, which was done a few days later:

McMinnville to Yakima, Part 1: https://youtu.be/6x6XY3-uZjo
McMinnville to Yakima, Part 2: https://youtu.be/3mmyOMzN0Ls (this video)
McMinnville to Yakima, Part 3: to come
Yakima River Canyon: https://youtu.be/1HZi_UHjK0I
Kittitas to Malaga: https://youtu.be/cRuUhyCQWMA

I should mention here that “cross-country” in the world of aviation is any long flight where you land at a different place from where you started. 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.