Cross-Country Helicopter Flight from Malaga to McMinnville, Part 5
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- čas přidán 26. 09. 2020
- Join me for the fifth part of my cross-country flight from my summer base in Malaga, WA to McMinnville, OR. In this video, I depart Scappoose (where I made a precautionary landing in the previous video) and finally get across that dinky little mountain that separates me from my destination. From there, I get a special VFR clearance to cross Hillsboro's airspace and find a path between the hills to McMinnville. The weather is pretty miserable, with rain and low clouds. I had two cameras rigged up for this video -- the nosecam got wet along the way so I didn't even run it. Audio is from direct connection to the intercom so you can hear me narrate the flight and make radio calls, plus dialed down volume of the helicopter's engine/rotor noise.
You can see all of the videos for this flight here:
Part 1: • Cross-Country Helicopt...
Part 2: • Cross-Country Helicopt...
Part 3: • Cross-Country Helicopt...
Pups in a Helicopter: • Pups in a Helicopter
Part 4: • Cross-Country Helicopt...
Part 5: • Cross-Country Helicopt... (this video)
I should mention here that "cross-country" in the world of aviation is any long flight. 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.
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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.
- 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: robinsonheli.com/r44-specific... 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: www.flightradar24.com/data/ai... 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 Hero 7 cameras (amzn.to/2Lxyzwl). One of the Hero 7s is connected to the helicopter's intercom system with an NFlightCam audio cable (amzn.to/31syLTm). All cameras record audio, but I dialed down the helicopter sound by 10 decibels from normal volume so it wouldn't be annoying.
- The "cockpit cam" front-facing camera was mounted with my current Instrument Cam set up, which you can learn about in this Behind-the-Scenes video: • Behind the Scenes: Coc... . It's based upon a MyPilotPro Helicopter Mount (mypilotpro.com/product/helico...) modified to get the height I need. The rear facing camera was mounted on the cockpit bubble with a MyPilotPro Spider Swivel GoPro Windshield Mount (www.mypilotpro.com/product/my....
- The video was edited on a iMac using Davinci Resolve 16 software. Learn more about it here: www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...
- The intro music is by Bob Levitus, famed "Dr. Mac." You can find him here: www.boblevitus.com/
I TRY (really!) to drop cockpit POV videos on Sunday mornings and "extras" with more info about owning and operating a helicopter midweek. (Some channel members get early access to some of these videos.) I also host occasional livestreams with Q&A chats. SUBSCRIBE and turn on the notification bell so you don't miss anything new! And tell your friends. I'm trying hard to deliver good videos and grow my subscriber base.
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GREAT flying!!! Thank you for the terrific videos!!!!
I honestly loved riding in choppers in Vietnam, rain and all, it was when we landed and was told to get off was the bad part.
I flew flying bath tubs, AKA, Bell UH-1's in Vietnam and it was nothing to fly right on top the trees, so watching you transverse the hills and valleys trying to get to your destination was quite cool. Ive never flown anything as small as a robinson, but I expect that are fun just the same. Stay Safe, Live long!
Lots of new rules of vfr! 🤯 Heck even i was cracking my knuckles as we got closer to the clouds. 🥴 I enjoyed the site seeing above Oregon. Thanks Maria! 👍🇺🇲👍
I was a fixed wing "sunny day" recreational pilot back in the day but I felt totally safe riding along with you. I appreciated all the dialog about flying vfr minimums and you definitely are a skilled pilot
Great flight, thanks.
Nice flight. No worries.
Love your videos, cheers.
Typical northern Oregon weather..... love it, a wee bit less low scud would be better but I'll take it....... beats the smoke we have down here now. Good Flight !
Thanks so much - I enjoyed the whole trip to McMinnville!!!
You probably enjoyed it a lot better than I did! I was so glad when that trip was over!
FlyingMAir - What I saw was very cautious and competent flying. I'm sure it was nerve wracking to have to do the scud running but it was full of instruction about how to navigate through unstable conditions. Well done!!
Very clever flight,very nice landscape,all right.
Enjoyed the scenery. Rough day for you but nice for us. Thanks.
This was an epic journey. Amazing flying skills & judgement.
Nicely done in all that murky weather.
Loved this video and love watching you fly! Thanks so much for your great commentary too. Wonderful Video!
Great video!! I look forward to more.
I enjoyed the series, great flying and a stunning scenery!
Thanks!
Loved going along for the ride. This was quite some bird's eye view. Skimmimg along down really low, there were times I really wondered "where do you go from here". On the edge of my safe comfortable chair - all the way.
You were more than capable for the task at hand and had a safe flight, no surprise.
Lordy, what an ordeal. Such pretty scenery - too bad it was so stressful for you. Such a good video - thank you so much for taking us along!
Another top notch video!
I enjoyed that final leg so much Maria, you certainly did a quick turn when those clouds threatened to close you in. Your unease came across perfectly in the video, exciting watching it...well done👍
Yeah, I definitely did not want to fly into a cloud. The whole video was kind of suspenseful to me -- and I knew how it turned out. The weather looked a lot worse through the camera.
This is the one I've been waiting for. I'm just 5 miles East of KHIO, so you were in my neck of the woods. Great flying Maria!
Great decision making and a great video. I learnt a lot from that as a fairly low hours 44 pilot
I really like watching!
Been anticipating this series completion - it's been quite a ride! More messy weather! Thanks for doing this whole trip Maria - now of course beyond that annual inspection journey you'll have no heli for a few months, though maybe some footage in the can to use now and again.
Maria, just found your channel and loving it. Really feel that I`m in the aircraft with you and your just chatting away. Just watched your flight to McMinnville, amazing scenery along the way. In Wales we are back into lockdown so your channel is a real escape to the sky. Also just checked out your back catalogue of videos, WOW you have been busy! Thanks so much for sharing them so appreciated, keep up the great work.
Enjoy all your videos,,,would fly with you anytime
oooh, crap wx in Oregon, who woulda thought... AWESOME controller at Hillsboro (coaching the SVFR :-) I would totally fly with you. Last time I flew to McMinnville to visit my son in my Varieze from Kalispell, MT (3.5 hours/1 leg), it wasn't much better, say marginal VFR in the Portland area. Flew for 15 years out of Eugene. You have the same mental conversation going as I do when conditions are low. People just won't understand that you can really land anywhere...on a road or in someone's driveway if you need to. R-22 commercial pilot here. Fun flying with you, and I followed along on Google maps since I know the area. Much easier when you have an EFB to see where you are.
I WATCHED THIS BEFORE BUT CRANKED IT UP TO 2 ON THE PLAYBACK SPEED. THOUGHT THERE FOR A MOMENT AIRWOLF WAS FLYING THROUGH THE CLOUD COVER OF NW OREGON. AT ANY RATE IT WAS FUN TO WATCH.
2x speed was probably a good idea.
@@FlyingMAir DID YOU EVER GET THE ANNUAL DONE ON THE HELI?
Thank you for posting all 5 videos. Very enjoyable viewing though a bit nerve wracking during the scud running. Reminded me of my long cross country flight when I was building hours for my flight review. You are quite correct about slightly pushing the personal limits. It's what makes you develop better skills. Love the narration.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done! The frustration was palpable yet, it didn't appear you were ever in danger of anything beyond some inconvenience. _Get-there-itus_ was well tempered with an equal or greater dose of, _stay-alive-itus_ Cheers-
It's pretty easy in a helicopter. An airplane pilot wouldn't stand a chance flying in stuff like this if he needed to keep out of the clouds.
Nice svfr information, thanks for that. 9:30 Sooo close, Great edge of the seat viewing and good for us students to see real world aeronautical decision making.
Even I was in suspense when I was editing the video -- and I knew how it was going to come out! LOL.
As an airplane and Helicopter pilot, I can agree with Maria's observation about scud-running in one versus the other. And she keeps those yaw strings pointed straight up, indicating a high level of finesse. I'm just a little confused about why she was talking about flying the next day. I had assumed that she was going to just leave the aircraft with her mechanic, to do the annual inspection
Believe it or not, there was a chance the annual would have been done the next day. But my late arrival, combined with some minor things that needed repair, delayed me until May 20 at around noon.
@@FlyingMAir Thanks for your prompt reply. Happy flying!
As a pilot, let me say you are a fantastic RW pilot. :)
I have been flying egg beaters for 30 years you did a great job young lady
Thanks very much. I appreciate that from another pilot.
I'd feel safe to fly with you anyday. I could understand it must be exhausting flying in those conditions. You did an amazing job 👍
Thanks so much!
Watching from UK I've subscribed I've never actually been on a helicopter but interested in them your videos are great and very interesting you make it look so easy specially doing the cherry drying that's some skill and you heli looks brilliant keep up the good videos x
I look forward to seeing the return ✈️.
About the return... I don't think I have full footage from that. I need to look through my archives. It wasn't a fun flight either. Rain in the beginning, then turbulence to Yakima. I actually landed there and rented a car to go home. Came back for the helicopter a few days later.
@@FlyingMAir Well like you said if you don't push yourself a little you never get any better. Sorry the weather gave you trouble both ways. Sounds like the return trip was way worse so much so that you abandoned the helicopter for a few days.
For me personally I would like to see the return trip even if it isn't the whole thing. I know you try real hard to post good videos and will understand if you don't want to post only half a video.
Enjoyed the 5 part journey, Maria. Sorry that you had deal with all of that.
Yeah, me too. I was hoping for a nice easy, scenic flight.
This is fun ! You almost flew over some relatives I have on Sauvie Island at 7.45. It’s on the left side!
I’d fly with you anytime from AZ.
Interesting point about flying over the tops of the towers to avoid the power lines, but I'd be concerned about that rare situation where you have multiple power line systems crossing or layered on top of each other (particularly on a mountain slope or over a large river). In other words, there is a small chance of a wire being higher than the top of the tower (maybe not directly above it, but close by). Anyway, enjoyed the video. Stay safe!
There's always gotta be 1 👎 . Thanks for the Video !
Haters gotta hate.
Overall I think you did a good job based on the circumstances facing you and the limits of the helicopter.
You passed not far from my apartment. 😀
enjoyed the video, crappy weather to fly through.
A great video series! I'm sorry I had to drop my membership, but money is tight in this time of Covid. Hope to rejoin soon. Thanks for another great video!
No worries! I hope things settle down for you soon.
What an interesting flight, and i would have loved to be along with you on this one!...I know you didn't like it to much, but i've done some flying in a airplane with conditions similar..so loved this one, thanks be watching...
Jerry Trimble Helicopters is where I did my CFI
Good jod......I'd fly with you
If you were on board, I would not have departed Scappoose until I KNEW the way was clear. It's one thing to fly into unknown conditions when you're alone but another to do it with other souls on board. Simply said, I value my passengers' lives more than mine.
Wow, quite low trip... U was scared about hiting powerline at that height!!
Congrats..
I was definitely a lot lower than I wanted to be a few times.
Please mention the river names if you know them, I live in the area and it would help with orientation, Thanks! I love your videos!
I'll try.
There’s a Jerry Trimble Helicopters in Austin TX. Wonder if they are the same.
Had you been more familiar with the area would you have pushed it to get through instead of turning?
Probably not. It really looked as if I were going to go into the clouds if I stayed on that course.
Wish I was there... I'd be first to buy you a nice lunch!!
I really did need lunch. I hadn't eaten anything all day.
@@FlyingMAir A long flight - with marginal conditions... you make sound decisions!
How heavy does it have to be 🌧 before it is a no go? I know every make of helicopter has different limits as to what weather they are capable of flying in. I asked this question of one of our EMS pilots who is now retired and flew a A109S and for him he said as long as there is no thunderstorms or icing he was taking the flight.
It's really not the helicopter's limit as much as the pilot's limit. I am not trained to fly in instrument conditions, so I must remain able to see around me. My rule of thumb is 1/4 mile visibility without losing sight of the ground. Your EMS pilot was probably Instrument Rated in a fully equipped instrument helicopter.
@@FlyingMAir Yes the EMS pilot was instrument rated and the Augusta 109S is a fully instrument equipped helicopter.
@@FlyingMAir Even if you were instrument rated would you be able to do that in a non instrument rated helicopter?
@@FlyingMAir You did a good job working within your limits. There is that fine line one must consider as to when it becomes too unsafe to continue. The company my EMS pilot worked for has had 2 IFR crashes since 2016. The one in 2016 everyone survived and the NTSB report cited pilot error as the cause of the crash and the one in 2019 the pilot and flight nurse died while trying to land at the airport after returning from dropping a patient off at MY77. The visibility was 0.25 at the airport at the time of the ILS attempt. The final NTSB report hasn't been released yet.
You can't file IFR (and fly IFR) in a non-IFR aircraft. So it wouldn't be legal.
u seem to know ur shit i would fly with u
I did not see my name on your knowledge your subscribers
Charles, I have 65,000 subscribers. Did you see anywhere near that on the Member Wall?
The Member Wall lists channel MEMBERS -- the folks kind enough to chip in a few bucks to pay the crazy costs of flying the helicopter. You can learn more here: czcams.com/video/sHSqlQqeP1A/video.html
@@FlyingMAir And lots of one year members! 😎🤗