Tag Archives: Flying M Air

Flying to Cyndi’s House

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Another video from the FlyingMAir YouTube channel.

Here’s another short one…

This is the second of several videos I’m releasing from a flight with a friend from the Wenatchee, WA, area to Twisp, WA and back. In this video, I fly from my house, where I’ve gone to pick up an iPad I use with Foreflight while flying, to my friend Cyndi’s house on Wenatchee Heights. Along the way, I bitch about losing the foamy thing on my microphone — I swear there’s a black hole in my helicopter — and point out the Huey base where my friend’s Stan’s bright red helicopter is parked. See if you can see Bigfoot at Cyndi’s house.

Look for subsequent videos in this series in upcoming weeks. My cameras didn’t all behave, but I got cockpit POV and Nosecam footage for most of the trip. If you haven’t subscribed yet, what are you waiting for?

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!

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

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.

Helicopter Flight: McMinnville to Yakima, Part 1

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Another video from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

Join me for the first part of my cross-country flight from McMinnville, OR back to my summer base in Malaga, WA.

In this video, I depart McMinnville, which is really rocking with pattern traffic, and head northeast into — you guessed it! — descending weather. (Seriously: just once I’d like to fly in that part of Oregon with good weather. How can people live there?) This time, I’m also dealing with a bit of wind that shakes the helicopter up every once in a while and makes me wonder whether my dogs in the back seat will puke. This part of the flight goes from McMinnville to the Columbia River and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (pun intended).

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.

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 (this video)
McMinnville to Yakima, Part 2: https://youtu.be/3mmyOMzN0Ls
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.