Rick McWilliams Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Flying helicopters give us a unique view of the world. We go places that are inaccessible by other means. I fly from Camarillo. Much of my early helicopter student pilot training was in the wash of the Santa Clara river. As I got past the tunnel vision of learning to hover, I started seeing interesting things. The river is alive in peculiar ways. One day I found that there are large aquatic tortises that sun themselves on rocks, and then dive into the river. West of saticoy there was a homeless person with a rather neat blue canvas tent equipped with two solar panels. I am sure that he has refrigeration and television. He didn't go so far as to clear a helipad near his residence. There are some areas where communities of people live on islands in the dry river. Somebody left his jet ski in the dry river. There are many prisions of various types. I thought that they were private schools, but a closer look reveals that the fences are a bit too secure. There are car farms with tens of thousands of new cars packed solid. I guess GM will be ready when the demand for cars comes back. There are some way cool houses with beautiful gardens that sometimes have a helicopter parked in a circular lawn. Sometimes the owner will invite a strange helicopter to land. You guys see more cool stuff. Please share some of your discoveries and stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
permison Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I see farmer’s daughters. Occasionally when I go fly out west of my home airport I will get flashed by the women hanging out in the pools. Its a beautiful thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohman Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I see farmer’s daughters. Occasionally when I go fly out west of my home airport I will get flashed by the women hanging out in the pools. Its a beautiful thing You must hang out with my old CFI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Rick, just watch those low wires 2 mi south of the airport across the wash. There is that great patch of gorgeous homes about 8Mi NE of CMA...Can never pick a favorite there are so many great ones. Have you been up to the new house built out of a 747? The wing is her roof....kinda cool. Then there is the guy in Surprise Valley with the millions in imported Chinese sculptures in his yard. I'd tell you his name, but just in case....oh what the heck...Rupert Murdochs place....pretty nice view from the air. So much in LA, flew over Michael Jacksons house, Playboy mansion and Aaron Spellings house 2 weeks ago....they are about a block apart. Up over Gov Arnold's place, Eddie Murphys house, say hi to George Lucas. Then over to Malibu for another list of 100 stars, Cher's old place, Barbara Streisands place(s).....the list never ends. Last week I checked out Oprah's place while checking into SBA. I'm pretty sure they all love me hovering over them at 300 feet. Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikemv Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 What have I seen? I have traveled by helos from St. Thomas, V.I to Anchorage, Alaska, from Miami to Sept Isle in Quebec, New Hampshire to San Diego, San Diego to Vancouver, Canada. Miami to Smithers, British Columbia(12x), Teterboro, N.J. to Idaho, a lot in the Everglades and Fla, Keys. After flying out of Murmansk, Russia in a Mi8, flew a Mi2 about 150 miles into the Arctic Circle in Russia on the Kola Peninsula, an AS350 in New Zealand, way too much to mention what I have seen. XC is over 25nm correct? Some of you have been with me on these trips, you can tell what you saw if anything as you would have been busy flying the whole time! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHelicopterPilot Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 There are a lot of cool things to see from the air in a helicopter. Sadly I don't get to fly for "fun" like I want to do more of. Even so these days I still see a lot of cool things when I go out and fly, even more when I land at a scene call. What I see makes me amazed at how well built cars are now. I had more fun taking in the sights when I flew off to Catalina Island for Island Express. I saw whales, sharks, other big fish, seals and dolphins just to name a few. I remember flying up the LAX shore line at 100 feet and seeing a huge pod of dolphins. I went back and got a picture. Flight instructing was great too. I got to see a Deer up close when I did an off airport landing with a student. Let's just say we both went our own way pretty quick. Goldy, I too have seen many of the houses you are talking about. In fact Rob Lowe showed me a few including Oprahs house when I took him from the Island to SBA. I miss those days, but enjoy what I do today. JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdminLB Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 What have I seen? I have traveled by helos from St. Thomas, V.I to Anchorage, Alaska, from Miami to Sept Isle in Quebec, New Hampshire to San Diego, San Diego to Vancouver, Canada. Miami to Smithers, British Columbia(12x), Teterboro, N.J. to Idaho, a lot in the Everglades and Fla, Keys. After flying out of Murmansk, Russia in a Mi8, flew a Mi2 about 150 miles into the Arctic Circle in Russia on the Kola Peninsula, an AS350 in New Zealand, way too much to mention what I have seen. XC is over 25nm correct? Some of you have been with me on these trips, you can tell what you saw if anything as you would have been busy flying the whole time! Mike Mike, I remember we (you and I) were on a leg from somehwere to somewhere WAYYYY out in a the middle of no where.......Utah. We had some really nice boxed lunches that we had picked up from the FBO. Somewhere out near the San Rafael Swell in Utah (surely not in the State Park) I had the bright idea that I wanted to land the helicopter in nice patch of no where and enjoy my lunch under a shade tree. It was a spectacular day. You told me to pick a spot that was suitable and land. I did so, we shut down and grabbed our lunches and hopped out of the helicopter. I was so proud to come up with this idea and picked what I thought was an ideal place to eat lunch. I was thinking, I bet no one in the world has ever eaten lunch under this tree, let alone fly in by helicopter. Just as we hunkered down under the tree and started divying up the food, we were attacked by a swarm of horseflies!! We had to run for our lives (and our food). There we were, in a peaceful, quiet, remote, natural setting.........with the helicopter running, the AC on and eating our lunches from our laps. Brilliant we were that day! It's all a part of the adventure I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikemv Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 Dear Lyn, some things we will never forget. Lunch was good (inside the helo as you described) as was your approach, landing and t/o with a smile and laugh about what life brings and where! Yup, remember seeing Canyon Lands National Park, the San Rafael Reef, the Great Salt Lake, Snake River Canyon all with you and with about 20+ other lucky helo pilots! What have WE seen? Best to All, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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