Tag Archives: cherry drying

Helicopter Cherry Drying: A Closer Look at the Fruit

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Take a stroll with me through a wet orchard while I explain why we dry cherries with a helicopter and how the process works. In this video, the rain restarted when I was halfway finished drying a 17 acre orchard, so I landed there to wait it out. I decided to take a walk among the trees to see if the fruit was as wet as the orchard manager claimed. (It was.) This video shows you what the fruit likes on the trees on the lower branches (where I can reach) and how water gathers in the stem cups/bowls.

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.
  • 2019 was my twelfth season drying cherries in central Washington state.
  • 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’m trying to drop cockpit POV videos every Sunday morning and “extras” with more info about owning and operating a helicopter and doing the work I do midweek. 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.

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

Time-lapse: Loading a Huey Helicopter onto a Trailer with a Crane

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A video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time yesterday with a Huey pilot who had just finished up his cherry drying contract and was prepping to take the helicopter back to Montana. We traded favors: he let me fly his Huey (video to come) in exchange for me helping him to get his helicopter trailer under the Huey while it was supported from a crane. You see, my truck has a gooseneck hitch in its bed, which is the one thing he needed that he didn’t have. (I think I got the better deal.)

In any case, as part of the day’s activities, I set up my BOGO iPhone in time-lapse mode on a tripod while he prepped the crane truck and helicopter and lifted the helicopter onto the trailer. What took a lot longer than an hour is condensed down to just 36 seconds here. Enjoy.

I don’t know much about this helicopter except that it’s a 1962 Bell UH-1 that saw action — with the bullet holes to prove it — in Vietnam and Nicaragua. It’s got a bare bones interior with just two pilot seats and a big empty cargo area. It holds about 125 gallons of fuel, which it burns off in about 90 minutes and costs approximately $1200/hour to operate. It usually cruises at 60 to 80 knots.

This is one of the video “extras” I release on the FlyingMAir YouTube channel midweek. I normally release cockpit POV videos on Sunday mornings. I hope you’ll check them out.

More Helicopter Cherry Drying

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A video on the FlyingMAir YouTube Channel.

COME FLY WITH ME while I dry cherries in three different orchards after a heavy rain.

This is the last cherry drying video this season — I promise! It’s very long — despite heavy editing — because I do a lot of talking about my drying work and cherries, including orchards, growing, picking, and those light-colored tarps under the cherry trees. You’ll also hear me talking to the two other pilots on my team as I coordinate our efforts. If you’ve got sharp eyes, you’ll even see them in flight. Along the way, I have a close encounter with two wind machines and deal with a minor in-flight “emergency.” On flight segments from orchard to orchard, you get a glimpse of the amazing scenery in the Wenatchee area of Washington State.

So grab a favorite beverage or bag of popcorn or chips (or bowl of cherries) and settle down beside me in the cockpit to learn some things about cherry farming that you probably didn’t know.

Some questions answered:

About Cherry Drying:

About Me and the Helicopter

  • I have been flying for about 20 years. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time is in R44, R22, Bell 206L (Long Ranger), and Bell 47 helicopters.
  • The helicopter is a 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 cameras, one of which is connected to the helicopter’s intercom system. Both cameras record audio, but I dialed down the helicopter sound to about 25% of normal volume so it wouldn’t be annoying. I wouldn’t mind leaving it out altogether, but lots of folks seem to want it, so there it is.
  • The video was edited on a Macintosh using Screenflow software. (Screenflow was the only affordable software I could find that allowed me to do picture-in-picture.) 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’m trying to drop flying videos like this one every Sunday morning and usually drop “extras” with more info about owning and operating a helicopter midweek. I’m also working on putting together occasional livestreams with Q&A chat. 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.

Still reading? Thanks! Maybe you’ll consider buying a T-shirt, mug, or sticker to help fund my video equipment acquisitions? Check out the Teespring links on the video page.