New York helicopters/ Island Helicopters

[SikPilot]

Any of you guys ever fly for Island Helicopters/ NY helicopters based in Garden City Long Island back in the 70's/80's/90's?????

 

I heard you could get a job with them flying as a copilot on an S58T with only 200 hours. That must have been great. Anyone have any stories or pics?

[Superglide]

I interviewed for a co pilot's position and was offered the job in 1989 for a whopping 13K per year,I had a little over 200 hours,and stayed at my regular job.

[Rotorhead8500]

Do either of you have the contact information for New York Helicopters? I am at the point where that sounds good to me!

[500pilot]

Do either of you have the contact information for New York Helicopters? I am at the point where that sounds good to me!

 

 

Island Helicopters went tits up in the 90's. There is a New York Helicopters flying 206's out of Farmingdale but they require 1000pic.

[Rotorhead8500]

Island Helicopters went tits up in the 90's. There is a New York Helicopters flying 206's out of Farmingdale but they require 1000pic.

Ok so where are there decent jobs at 200 hours around here without a CFI ticket?

[jbmcine]

Many times, during the eighties and nineties, I chartered Island

 

Helicopters for motion picture photography.

 

I am not a pilot but I remember the pilot - Al Cerullo and the aircraft -

 

Aerospatiale Twin Engine, all Black with a permanent starboard side

 

photo mount. Doing 360's over the World Trade Twin Towers at 200'

 

was a real thrill. I remember Al was a member of SAG. On a all day

 

shoot, he would radio ahead for Ziti. His aircraft was always heavier

 

after an Italian lunch.

 

 

If anyone remembers Al, please contact me: blair3795@mac.com

 

Thanks, John McGinnis, IN

 

[supergokougt]

Ok so where are there decent jobs at 200 hours around here without a CFI ticket?

 

Search down the R44 tour/photo stuff. Atlantic CIty is where I built hours over a few seasons.

[Nearly Retired]

Al Cerullo is a great guy! He was one of my first helicopter instructors back in 1972 or so. At the time I was in high school and working as a line boy at one of the NYC heliports. He (and others) spent countless hours talking to me about flying, prepping me to eventually be one of them. Talk about generous! He had a maroon '67 Corvette, and he used to take me with him when he'd go compete in gymkhanas and stuff. He lived on Long Island, but he'd drive all the way up into The Bronx where I lived, just to pick me up and drive *back* to Long Island for the event! Like I said, Al Cerullo is a great guy and I'll forever be in his debt.

 

And, Al is an awesome pilot! But he's kind of short, and so he did not hold the cyclic in the "traditional" way (arm on thigh, holding the grip low). Al held the cyclic up high, with his hand cupped over the top of the grip. He flew with some friction so the stick didn't do a lot of jiggling around as he flew...flew MOVIES. I figured that if he could fly smoothly enough for movie work while gripping the cyclic like that, I could learn how to do it too. In fact, somewhere I have a picture of him flying like that in a 206L.

 

In 1976 I was a charter dispatcher for Island. I had to assign ships and pilots to the jobs we had scheduled each day. As a line pilot, Al flew everything, including flying sightseers in an old 206A (N7882S). He never complained. Every morning...EVERY MORNING he'd show up with a big smile on his face, ready to fly...whatever. Never once have I seen Al get crabby or be in a bad mood. It's an outlook on life that I have tried over the years to duplicate myself - without much success, I'm afraid.

 

Al started doing film work pretty much by default - nobody else really wanted to do those jobs because a lot of times the shoots involved really, really early-morning departures or really, really late night returns...not to mention setting up the Tyler or Continental mounts. So Al started doing them...door-off photo shoots in the middle of winter. I mean, damn! But Al did 'em all, and soon he became the go-to guy on the east coast for film work. Check out his website, Hoverviews to see how many movies, tv commercials and music videos he's worked on.

 

I worked full-time at Island/NYH in Garden City, NY starting in1976. I began flying for them as an SIC in the S-58T and then became PIC in the 206 until about '84 when DHL Airways got their own ships and hired the pilots that had been flying for them when they contracted with Island (I had been one of them). During my time there I worked with some really great people. I also flew some fun jobs, and learned a lot while doing umpteen-thousand approaches into E34th Street when I was doing sightseeing tours in a "straight" 206L. I've had a long, happy career flying these crazy contraptions, and it's in large part thanks to guys like Al Cerullo.

 

I was going through my stuff - I know I have some pictures of Al. Alas, I can't find them. Yet. I will, and I'll edit this post when I do.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Nearly Retired

[Azhigher]

 

Search down the R44 tour/photo stuff. Atlantic CIty is where I built hours over a few seasons.

 

Good info, just 10 years after the original post was made. =P

[Dave Fields]

I worked there starting as line service while attending vo-tech for my A & P, Al took me on many filming excursions , very generous with his time , and I remember the Vette. Mechanics crew very dedicated to the high standards required , great memories of the crew . Highlights of my young life - DSF , now living in Massachusetts - fly on -

 

[John McGinnis, Director]

I went up, with Al , several times on film jobs.  Once, we were about 300’ or more above the WTC.  I was shooting from an open door , looking straight down to the street below .  Al did several 360’s over the Towers and then we moved on .

‘It was a ‘movie moment ‘ that I will remember forever .  But Al made it safe and comfortable for my camera and I .

‘At one point , Al radioed in for food for us all .  It was his favorite - ZITI .  Each is us received about a 5 pound container .  It was a heavy lunch but very tasty !

Al was a man , in my life , that left a life long memory of an outstanding Pilot and Person .  AD ASTRA , CAPTAIN AL !

 

[Col.F.E.Cochrane]

Hi guys.. I've been reading your posts about Island Helicopters. Back in the 1980's I used to spend a lot of time at the 34th street Heliport, watching and videotaping the helicopters coming and going, sometimes all day! Island and New York Helicopter flights never seemed to stop. I've never forgotten those days, and as a tribute, I created a few Island Helicopters liveries for the 2020 Microsoft Flight Simulator, with some with actual videos from the 80's, on my flightsim.to page Col.F.E.Cochrane

Take a look. I hope you enjoy them, ..and thanks for the great lifelong memories!

[mboss56]

I was just talking with a friend about NYC as a sort of Mecca back in the 70's, 80's through the 2000's as a place where there were co-pilot positions aplenty. 

I worked at Island starting in '82 as a copilot on a Twin Star on a contract with Merck Pharmaceuticals with 150 hrs then switched to NY helicopters on the S58ET's flying to the airports, (JFK, LGA, EWR, and 34th St). Pay was $12K/yr and that was up from about $9K for the Vietnam guys a year or so prior. After that, it was on to Omniflight and the PanAm thing with 222's and the Westland 30, Damin Aviation, a smattering of 135 operators, Trump with S61N's, (I didn't fly the Chinooks), A dozen different airframes, sight-seeing, charter, photo work, airlines, (3). 

It was a time of opportunity and, from what I'm hearing now, unique in that. I'm not even sure there's much sight-seeing left now. If you have any questions, ask away.   

[BaileyPaynep]

Good info, just 10 years after the original post was made. =P

 

[RetreatingBladeStall]

I remember Al Cerullo. I worked for Island helicopter in the late 80's as a mechanic.

My most memorable experience was when we had to change out a high time engine on the Twin Star. After removal of the high time engine the accessory drives and other items were being installed to the new engine when it was found that the new engine was the wrong dash number for that application. There was a scheduled movie shoot for the morning so we had to scramble to reassemble and reinstall the high time engine back into the AC because there were a few hours (~5) left on it that could be used.

Deep into the night, after reinstalling the engine, we had to go up and do the required engine testing. You know the testing where you go up, stabilize at altitude and read the gauges for OAT (Outside Air Temp) and EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp) then plot the readings on the graph and see if it was producing power in the acceptable band. Well we went up in the wee hours over Long Island and he rolled off the good engine and we took the readings as a baseline, graph it, power is good. He rolled up the reinstalled engine and rolled off the good engine and we took more readings. Power output was bad, under the acceptable band. He rolled up the good engine and we climbed higher to find some colder air to retest in. He rolled off the reinstalled engine and I graphed the readings, power output = good. He then rolled up the reinstalled engine and rolled off the good engine and I took the readings, power output = bad. We determined that this engine wasn't going to pass so we should go back and land. 

He went to roll up the good engine and it wouldn't come above idle. He cycled the throttle multiple times and the good engine would not come off of idle. So we are flying around on the good engine that won't come off of idle and a bad engine that won't produce enough power. In the middle of the night we were trying to get back to the heliport on a single bad engine. Thoughts run through your head. We got back, obviously, and we left the AC running on the cart and looked into the engine bay and could not get the good engines throttle control to respond to the throttle inputs. This meant more maintenance would be required. I left that morning to contemplate some of the decisions that were made to create that situation.