Cine-Exec Part 3....1987

I worked at Cine-Exec for almost two years.  It was good to be back working for Jim Deeth at the helm.  In the short few years I had know Jim, we had developed a great working relationship.  Jim was partnered with a professional photography, Dan Wolfe, who was the owner of the company.  Again, a group of good pilots and staff makes the job so much easier.  Most of the time I was working out of the satellite office located at the Long Beach, CA airport. On occasion, I would be asked to  do some flights for the Burbank office.


I received a call from Jim Deeth to tell me that we were leasing two of our Bell BH-206 JetRangers to a new start up company that was located at the Grand Canyon.  Isn't it strange how a turn of events, will bring back those we know, back into the same circle.  It seems that Dan OConnell who was a good friend of mine and someone I've mentioned in previous posts, is starting a new company called Helitech,  Dan had worked for me back in my days at McCulloch Aircraft and then later on I had worked for Dan at Grand Canyon Helicopters.  The two helicopters were ferried to the Grand Canyon and they would begin their flight operations doing tour flights over the canyon.  Dan OConnell was one of those people, that could create a successful operation with a minimum of staff and equipment.  The tour flight business was a good attraction for people visiting the canyon and even on a short flight, you see so much more. On the second day of their newly formed company, this is an account of what was to happen.


On the morning of the accident Grand Canyon Airlines Canyon 6 took off from Grand Canyon National Park Airport at 8:55am for a sightseeing flight over Grand Canyon National Park with two pilots and 18 passengers on board; the pilots were operating their second scenic flight for the day.^[1] At 9:13am a Bell 206 call sign Tech 2 operated by Helitech took off from the company's heliport in Tusayan, Arizona for a 30 minute sightseeing flight.^[1] At approximately 9:33 at an altitude of approximately 6,500 ft (1,981 m) the Bell 206 and DHC-6 collided, with the helicopter on the left of the Twin Otter and the two aircraft traveling at approximately right angles to each other.^[1] The helicopter's main rotor struck the nose landing gear and tail of the Twin Otter.^[1] The Bell 206's main rotor was torn off and disintegrated; and the Twin Otter's tail separated; causing both aircraft to crash.^[1] All 20 passengers and crew on Canyon 6, and the pilot and four passengers on the Bell 206, were killed in the accident.^[1]

De Havilland Twin Otter

Bell BH 206 JetRanger similar to one used on tour flights

<sup>Over the years that tour companies have operated these types of flights, the safety record is very good.  At that time, their was no traffic control of the aircraft that did these types of flights.  The different companies regulated themselves and the routes for each type of tour flight was pretty much the same for each company.  Pilots made radio calls in the blind when entering and departing the canyon and also when over prominent landmarks in the canyon.  If you stood on the rim of the canyon and looked out to see either an airplane or helicopter that was doing one of these flights, it would look like a small dot in a picture.  That is why the radio calls were so important for aircraft separation.
Sometimes though, the system fails and the result is a tragic accident.  These two flight crews were highly competent and just failed to  see each other in time to avoid this mid air collision.  A TWA Constellation aircraft and a United DC-6 collided over the canyon in the 50's doing just this same thing, giving their passengers a look at the canyon.

The reason I would mention any of this, is once more, I was involved in an accident investigation.  Maybe on a smaller scale, but all the elements of how an accident is investigated were carried out the same way as any other aircraft accident involving fatalities.  The following groups or teams were brought in to begin the investigation.  The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), De Havilland Aircraft Co. manufacture of the Twin Otter, Bell Helicopter Co. manufacture of the Bell BH 206 JetRanger, representative members of both tour companies involved, local law enforcement and a representative of the owners of each aircraft involved.
One of the two JetRangers that was leased by our company to the tour operator in the canyon was owned by a company in Santa Barbara, CA..  So the owner asked if one of our people would represent him during the investigation.  I had spent some time in the Grand Canyon doing these tour flights with a previous job, so Jim Deeth asked me to join the investigating group on behalf of the owner.  Two days later, I joined all the members of each party for the first preliminary meeting at the Grand Canyon.  The meeting began with introductions and then the members of each company gave an oral reenactment of how each tour flight began from their respective departure points.  This would give the approximate departure times, time of entry into the canyon, altitudes and times over landmarks within the canyon during the course of the flight.  As each member described the events of each tour flight up until the time of the collision in midair, the times were almost exact to the time of the accident.  Either one or both of the flight crews missed the radio calls of aircraft traffic position in the canyon , or they just failed to see each other.
As the meeting progressed, everyone was assigned to different groups to perform different tasks to be carried out during the investigation and then they would report their finding to the next days meetings.  I was assigned to a group that would go to the accident sight where the wreckage of both aircraft remained at the floor of the canyon.  Our job was to locate all the major and minor pieces of the helicopter and identify  the part, measure the distance and azimuth from the main impact.  Once the main rotor separated from the helicopter, the main part of the fuselage remained intact, but free fell  until striking the ground.  Their was no apparent fire on either aircraft and  the pieces of the two aircraft were scattered over quite an area.</sup>


The National Transportation Safety Board found that the crews of the two aircraft failed to 'see and avoid' each other, but could not determine why this occurred. I did learn a lot from this experience and it certainly brings to ones attention how crowded the sky can be, even in a place as vast as the Grand Canyon...........................
     

Hazards to Helicopters

Recently on TV, their was a news item that showed a helicopter making a perfectly normal landing, when suddenly just before the helicopter touched down, it started to thrash about and come apart as if it were in slow motion.  The main rotor came into contact with a wire or cable in the landing area.  This resulted in a chain reaction of the helicopter self destructing.  Once the rotor system becomes unbalanced, the results of all that uncontrolled energy then separates all the other helicopter components.

Every once in a while, when I have been in a conversation amongst some of my non flying friends,  I'll be asked about the dangers of flying helicopters or you might say hazards.  I never felt that what I did on an every day basis,  flying helicopters, was the very least bit dangerous.  Certainly several things come to mind, but wires are probably one of the most likely problems, coupled with low visibility and low ceilings.  Or the combination of all three can ruin your day.  You may have noticed when driving on major freeways where power lines cross the highway or in mountain passes, large brightly colored balls are attached to the wires to mark them for low flying helicopters or even airplanes in some cases.  In the days before modern electronic navigation devices like GPS.  Pilots often followed highways, railroad tracks or any other surface landmarks that would enable them to reach their destination.  Even today, this is a common practice, but when you get down that low, sometimes you just can't see the wires soon enough.  Once the helicopter has made contact, the wires will come in contact with the main rotor mast and usually down the helicopter by pulling the complete mast and main rotor out of the helicopter.  Has this ever happened to me?  No, but I sure have come close a couple times.

One cold winter morning, I was getting ready to depart Joplin, MO and then follow a local highway to Jefferson City, MO.  This would have taken approximately 3.0 hours to cover the 200 plus miles.  I was flying a Hughes 269A helicopter that was equipped with an aux fuel tank, so I had more than enough fuel to make the flight non-stop.  I called and received a weather report, and was assured that the low stratus and fog near the surface would be non existent once I got a few miles outside of Joplin.  I took off from the local airport and headed out of town to the Northeast.  I located the highway that would take me to Jefferson City and leveled off a few hundred feet above the ground.  Visibility was very poor and I was able to just duck under the low ceiling.  I had reduced my airspeed to around 50 MPH and continued this way for about an hour hoping that the conditions would improve as I had been told by the weatherman.  Conditions didn't get any better and I found my self dropping down lower as the ceiling and visibility got much worse. Common sense would tell you to turn around and return via the route you started from.  I did attempt to do this a couple times, but the weather had closed in and I had no place to go.  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted what looked to be an open field near the highway and I elected to land.  The landing was uneventful and I shut down the helicopter to wait out the fog and low ceiling.  It was early in the morning and I had know idea of where I was at.
It was very quite and I guess no one heard the helicopter when I landed.
I sat there for what seemed like a long time and then I could hear the laughter of children walking nearby.  I would guess out to the highway to catch the school bus.  The time was near sunrise and usually when the temperature/dew point are this close, conditions will get much worse.  So after an hour or so, the sun finally began to burn the fog away and I could start seeing a little of where I was at and what was around me.  I had landed in the middle of this field that was surrounded by power lines.  I was sitting in a box of wires on every edge of the field.  This was my lucky day.

On one other occasion, I was making a flight from Long Beach, CA to the airport in Ventura, CA.  I was flying a Hughes 369 helicopter (or to some, it was called a Hughes 500).  A five place turbine powered helicopter.  We departed after sunset and it was getting very dark outside.  Flying around Los Angeles at night is like one giant Christmas tree with all the lights. So no problem with navigation or seeing the ground.  I had four people on board and there was a lot of conversation back and forth between the passengers.  This can be distracting, but I was trying  not to let this bother me.  As I passed over the West boundary of the San Fernando Valley I headed West towards the Ventura area.  The terrain is mostly low rolling hills with very little ground illumination.  I elected to stay high until it was time to begin my approach to the airport.  Off in the distance I could start seeing the lights of the city.  So it was time to check in for a landing clearance and start losing some altitude.  For some reason I misread the altimeter, when I thought I was passing through 1000 feet above the ground, actually I was lower than I thought and I was close to 100 feet above the ground.  The Ventura area is right at sea level, so no problem until I reached down and flicked on the landing light.  Looming just ahead of the helicopter was a set of high tension power lines streached across several steel towers at about the same height as the helicopter. It was too late to make any corrections and I just cleared the wires by just a few feet.  A near fatal mistake on my part, but again a certain amount of luck was again in my favor.

Believe it or not, many helicopters are equipped with wire cutters.  A very sharp blade is located a the top of the canopy and another blade on the lower side of the nose.  These blades can cut a steel cable one inch in diameter at a forward speed of 25 MPH like it was butter.  It doesn't always work, but one more method of making helicopters safer.

Wire Cutter location on a Bell 206 Jet Ranger

Unicorn like Wire Cutters

Several mountain passes near Los Angeles have claimed the lives of some of my friends that were not so fortunate when trying to make their way to higher ground by attempting to follow the highway with low visibility and ceilings, and then flying into high tension power lines.  While flying around the greater Los Angeles area, I made a point of knowing where these power line hazards were located.

When you make good decisions, the outcome can make for a great day flying helicopters................more on this later..............

Cine-Exec Part 2

Once you have been in the helicopter charter business for a while, most flight operations are pretty much the same.  Usually operated under F.A.R. rules Part 135, which is the authority for the operator to perform helicopter charter flights for passengers and cargo.  Our operation was pretty diversified, that we also did other types of flights under F.A.R. part 91 which would be general operating rules.
This would allow you to do some flights not under the strict rules of FAR 135 but with a lot of limitations.  Flight training was usually done by the newer pilots and I think in every case, I had very few positions as a pilot, where I wasn't involved in giving flight instruction at some time.  I had my fair share of taking new pilots though a training program and getting them to the point that they could qualify for a pilot's license.  I was glad that I had moved up and put this all behind me, but on this one occasion, I was called upon to train four non English speaking Japanese students.  I should clarify that and say, that one of the students could speak excellent English and the others had English classes in their homeland school, but did not use it often.  So combine the challenge of mastering the control of a helicopter with the lack of good communication, you could say I had my work cut out for me.  Everyone of our staff flight instructors was going to get a piece of the action, so I volunteered to do the first two weeks of training. Three students were in their late 20's and one student was in his mid 40's.  He also was the one that could speak English.  All of these people had some prior helicopter flight instruction in the Robinson R-22, but the remainder of the training was to be completed in the Aereospatiale AS-350 A Star.  This would be like going from a Ford Pinto to a Mercedes.  As I have stated earlier in previous post, most helicopter control functions are pretty much the same.  The biggest differences would be the turbine engine and boosted hydraulic flight controls.  Also in helicopters manufactured in the United States, the main rotor turns counterclockwise, and in the Aereospatiale, the rotor turns clockwise.  This means the pilot will have to use the right anti-torque pedal, instead of the left pedal to control the thrust on the tail rotor during higher torque/power applications.

Aereospatiale AS 350

Robinson R-22

Aereospatiale AS350 Cockpit

Robinson R-22 Cockpit

I'm not knocking the R-22, it is a fine training helicopter and the transition into turbine powered helicopters I think would have been better accomplished with more flight time in the Robinson.  The need for beginning the training in the A-Star (Aereospatiale) at an earlier time in the training program was dictated by the Japanese government.  Their license requirements are pretty much the same as the United States, but with the exception of some differences and limitations.

Flight instructing in helicopters is a real challenge to say the least.  The other issue, is that once you have graduated from the ranks of being an instructor, you just want to move on and leave the task of teaching new pilots how to fly helicopters to somebody else.  However, you don't always have a choice.  I think in time, most people can learn what's necessary in the beginning, but it can be really trying at times.  In time the learning curve will start to peak and then it's a matter of refining all the little elements of each required maneuver in the training program.  Spending time giving good ground school, is also one of the necessary steps to get the job done properly.

I spent the first two days in the classroom reviewing the flight manual, cockpit checklist and the aircraft preflight.  This was well spent time, but not always to the liking of the company, as they are most interested in flight hours which produce more revenue.

It sure worked well for me.  Each day, the students would arrive at the airport early and go over the preflight as a group and the aircraft would be clean from one end to the other.  This is one thing I found about the Japanese students, they are very serious about learning and dedicated to do the very best they can.  I flew with the students approximately one  hour at a time, but I made sure they were all on board the aircraft during the flight training.  When one student finished his flight training period, we would set down and change pilots for the next hour of training.  In that way we could get several hours of training in one day without too many stops other than for refueling the helicopter.

The two weeks time went by very quickly and the Japanese students were well on their way to completing this phase of training and I would soon be on my way back to the Los Angeles area.

Several weeks later, the training was completed and all the students passed their flight test for their pilots certificates.  This is the part I most enjoyed about being a flight instructor.  It's a good feeling  to know that you could pass on to someone else new knowledge and skill.  Besides that, I enjoyed the two weeks stay in Northern California and to have made some new international friends. More to come in the next post.............

Cine Exec Part 1

Things are pretty much the same, but on a much smaller scale.  We had one BH-206B JetRanger helicopter assigned to Long Beach along with one other pilot that was doing flight training in the Robinson R-22.  I had done a lot of flight test for pilots in the R-22, but that was about the extent of my R-22 flight experience.  We still had some connections with the (DOJ) California Department of Justice.  On one particular flight, I picked up an agent Dave Fuentes and we were going to do a drug surveillance flight in the Los Angeles area.  You never know quite how these things will turn out.   Supposedly, the person we are following is going to transport drugs somewhere in Santa Monica, CA and then sell them to a dealer in Buena Park, CA. The information provided by informants can sometimes be highly inaccurate.  As a rule we would remain at altitudes of two to three thousand feet.  In addition to the helicopter, their would be several unmarked cars that would follow along, and switching off from time to time.  Now you would think in the mid 80's, that they would have some pretty high tech gear to communicate with.  Not the case,  hand held two way radios without the option of a headset and very poor transmitting capabilities.  It was often hard to hear, many times messages had to be repeated with the agents yelling at the top of their voices.  Meanwhile, I'm listening to what I can, but still I need to stay in contact with different agencies while flying in controlled  airpace.  So this should be a fairly simple flight.  This flight should have taken place, all  within a 50 mile radius.  As I said, you never know, and it did not happen this way.

We had headed south towards Orange county, but then later, the car we were following, took the on ramp at the 91 freeway  and headed east towards Riverside, CA.  I could see now we were going to be short on fuel, so I elected to land at the Riverside airport and then join up with the chase later.  Once we got airborne, the ground units put us back over the car we were following.  Then we took a turn south and  headed  towards the Salton Sea.  By now it is well after sunset and we are just following a set of red taillights.
If your took you eyes off of them for a second, you would lose the car in the traffic.  So many times we would have to coordinate with the ground troops to point out the car we were following.  The agent would blink the headlights on his car several times and then relay a message, it's the car three or four in front of us.  With this kind of flying conditions, your eyes would get very tired and you are staring into the darkness for long periods of time.

It now appears that we are involved in something else, and our information from the informant, was not exactly correct.  Still we continued our flight until we were nearing the United States/Mexican border.  As we approached Brawley, CA, the car we were following suddenly took a turn and proceeded out into the desert away from the town.  I think now the bad guys either suspect they are being followed, or they are trying to make one last effort to be sure they were not being followed.  The ground crews elected to stop in Brawley, and let us continue the surveillance.  I don't think they were ever aware the helicopter was overhead.  I was then asked to drop down to a lower altitude and turn off our navigation lights.  It's now completely dark on the desert and it's becoming more and more difficult to see the car on the ground.  Then for some unknown reason, the car we were following, turned off their lights.  Now it's impossible to see anything.  We elected to increase our distance away from where we last saw them and wait it out.  Sure enough, we saw the car again with it's lights on, and proceeding on to Calexico, CA where they met another car that had just crossed the border at Mexicali, Mexico.  Several hours passed while they were doing their deal , then our ground crews from the California Department of Justice and the DEA, moved in and made the bust.  Several arrest were made and  a ton of illegal drugs were recovered along with several million dollars in cash.  I don't think any of the bills were larger than a twenty, so you can imagine how this must have looked, all stacked on the table. 

Dave turned to me and said, "we can head back to Los Angeles now".  I turned and said to him, "I think the government can afford to buy us a nice steak dinner" We then decided to  spend the night at a hotel in El Centro, CA.  I was very tired and did not feel like flying another couple hours without some much needed sleep.  This job just never got boring. . . . . . .

Moving On

Leaving Jetcopters by my own choice was not an easy one.  I think most working people can tell when it's time to "move on", when things don't look too good down the road.  This was a great company that had great ownership, but like all growing companies, their will always be a few hiccups along the way.  The McKerrnan family were great people and in the short time they had been in business, they created what many considered at the time, the best and biggest helicopter operation in the western part of the United States.  Again, I give credit to Jim Deeth, who gave up a career of many many years of service with the California Highway Patrol.  His ideas and vision, along with the McKerrnan's resources, made this all happen.  Anybody who flew helicopters, including myself, wanted to be a part of this company.  In the two years I worked for them, I can say this was one of the best jobs I have had.

My decision to go back on board with Helitac was an easy one.  I had worked for Mike Dresman before and I knew I would like being a part of that operation again.  I also knew  that I did not plan for a long time stay with them.  When I came back, I took the position of Chief Pilot and most of the work they were doing was pretty much the same as before.

While there are a lot of helicopters in the greater Los Angeles and Orange county areas, it is not always possible to leave one flying job and get another.  In my case, I was lucky again. The timing was right and having been with Helitac before certainly helped.  It was good to be back with friends.

In this post I won't go in to great detail about my time spent at Helitac.  This time around, I was only back with them less than six months.

I had kept in contact with Jim Deeth over at Cine Exec in Burbank, CA, and then luck struck again.  Jim decided to put a satellite operation in Long Beach, CA and offered me a position with Cine Exec.  Naturally, I jumped at the chance.  No more long commutes to downtown Los Angeles via the crowed freeways.  I was back close to home, less than six miles.  Jim has formed a great company with a great group of pilots and other staff people. So, this was a better situation for both Jim and myself.  What goes around, comes around!  I'm back in Long Beach for at least the fifth time.
More in the next post. . . . . .

Jetcopters Part 7

The situation at Jetcopters would never be the same.  While having been promoted to Chief Pilot, I should have been excited about the increased salary and new responsibilities, but I wasn't.  I think I shared Jim's pain and we spent our lunch hours together on many days trying to figure out how we could deal with the future.  Both of us wanted very much to leave Jetcopters, but only under the best of conditions.  Then tragedy struck Jetcopters.  During the filming of one of the weekly episodes of the TV series Airwolf.  One of our less conservative pilots, got in to a steep banked flight attitude near the ground and crashed the Bell Huey helicopter he was flying.  He was injured with several broken bones, but sadly, his passenger, a Hollywood stunt man by the name of Reed Rondel was killed.  The reason I can remember this mans name, I shared a dressing room with him on a previous shoot of the same TV series a couple weeks earlier.  Because I was the newly assigned Chief Pilot and due to the fact that the pilot involved was dealing with serious injuries, I had the task of answering to the FAA and NTSB regarding all the facts leading up to the accident.  Even though I was not on the call list for that particular shoot, I still was involved in the paper work that always follows these type of events.  This was just the beginning of things to come regarding the companies future.

One night while at home, I received a phone call from Jim Deeth.  He had just resigned from Jetcopters and was going with a company in Burbank, CA by the name of Cine Exec.  Basically the same type of operation, but Jim would be heading up the company as he should, and directing the everyday operations.  I was happy for Jim, but still I was stuck at Jetcopters.  Then as luck would have it, I found out about a position at one of my old employers, Helitac, which was the company downtown in Los Angeles.  This got me closer to home and out of the mess at Jetcopters.  So not long after Jim's call, I called him to report that I too had resigned from Jetcopters.  Isn't it strange how one individual could cause so much trouble and for no good reason.

Several months later. . . . .  The pilot involved in the Airwolf accident, had fully recovered from his injuries and was back on flying status.
He was flying a helicopter for a filming job in the Grand Canyon, and again, crashed, which resulted in the cameraman breaking his back.
The helicopter was totaled and fortunately, the pilot surrendered his pilot's license to the FAA and he would never fly again.  Again, I mention the word, "conservative", it can make a big difference in the outcome of a days work, flying helicopters. . . . . .

Jetcopters Part 6

I stayed on with Jetcopters for almost two years.  It was a great place to work and the opportunities were abundant.  We had a great group of pilots and Peter McKerrnan the owner was always opening new doors for the company.  As time went on, this was all about to change.
Just when you think things could get no better, the worst happens.  Meanwhile I was filling in some of the blanks in my career goals.  The FAA office in Long Beach designated me to be able to give flight test for every combination of helicopter pilots licenses available.  This included Airline Transport Pilot, Instrument Instructor and all other ratings.

Helicopter and actors from TV series Riptide  click to enlarge

I was enjoying the rewards of movie and television residuals from the several that I participated in.  This included, Rip Tide, Airwolf.  Also a movie called Starman and a John Carpenter movie called, They Live.

Bell 222 used in TV series Airwolf  click to enlarge

I enjoyed working with the Hollywood bunch, but often things were asked of pilots that just went across the grain of what my core principals were.  I admit, that I have been in some sticky situations, but I never started out knowingly with that intent.  A few times I would have a difference of opinion with a movie director or aerial coordinator, and eventually I was labeled as being too conservative.  In my eyes, I would consider this to be a compliment.  I just could not take it upon myself to abuse an expensive helicopter or potentially endanger someones life for the sake of creating something sensational for a few seconds on the big screen.  You can't imagine how exciting it is to go to the very first screening of a movie.  Usually at one of the bigger Hollywood theaters and then seeing the completed film.  At the end, when they are showing the credits, you look for your name among the list of pilots that worked on that movie.  This was good, but not for me.  I got into a career in flying helicopters and I found out soon, that their were more important things to consider over the forty some years from the time I started out back in Kansas City, MO with Jerry Getz.  I would prefer to be remembered as a good pilot that was dependable and a record of achievement.

As time went on, I continued to be involved in other interesting flights on almost a daily basis.  I was sent out to pickup a passenger early one morning at the Los Angeles county substation heliport in Malibu, CA.  I arrived early and shut down to wait for him to arrive.  Shortly after, a car pulled up and a man got out and walked towards the helicopter.  It was Robert Redford who was directing a movie that was being filmed in Frasier Park which is just south of Bakersfield, CA.  I was on this assignment for five days and each day I would meet with him in the morning and then at the end of the day, fly back to Malibu.  We had some interesting conversations and I was a big fan of his movies, The Sting and The Natural.  Later on I was sent to Malibu to land on the beach near a big house located nearby.  Two passengers came out and it was Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards her husband.
He was tired and grouchy and sat in the back, and she turned to him and said, I want to sit in front with the pilot.  Wow, here I am sitting next to the lady that sang in the movie, The Sound of Music.  Just small talk on our way to San Diego for the day, but still these were the types of flights I did almost every week.

Now here comes that bad part.  One evening while I was home, I received a phone call from Peter McKernnan who then asked, if I was interested in being the Chief Pilot for Jetcopters.  This position was presently being held by Jim Deeth, who also was the Director of Operations.  With a company that was growing as rapidly as Jetcopters, I could see that one person doing both of these company assignments, it could be very overwhelming.  I was a good friend of Jim's and at the time I thought this was being offered to me with his blessing.  As it turned out, Jim was being demoted from both positions and was offered to stay on as a line pilot.  Also he would take a big cut in pay, not to consider how demoralizing it must of been.  Had I known this in the beginning, I would have declined the offer, but it was done and I was stuck with trying to deal with this as tactfully as possible.  We had several part time pilots and a few that were from the Los Angeles county fire department.  One pilot in particular, became very greedy and sat out to see these changes made in the companies staff.
I know that Jim Deeth at times was very strict with how things were done and maybe he didn't always use his best communication skills.
But on the other hand, he was fair and honest and the success of the company was founded on his ideas in the early going.

This story has a good ending, but it took some time and I'll continue with the turn of events in the next post.........

Jetcopters Part 5

During the 1984 Olympics, which was held in Los Angeles, CA, Jetcopters had helicopters assigned to every domestic and international news and sports television networks.  We had the only downtown heliport, which was located within walking distance of the Coliseum.  I personally worked on the heliport approval for several weeks and in the beginning, it did not look to hopeful that the FAA would give us permission to use the site.
In the end, we got the nod to make our takeoff's and landings in the temporary heliport, which was a parking lot.

1984 Olympics opening ceremony 

I was assigned to an ABC television sports network out of New York for the seven day event. The Los Angeles and Orange county airspace was highly restricted and you could hardly fly anywhere in the city without being over one of the Olympic events. The Los Angeles police helicopter unit developed a special coding system, with an encryption guide that we used everyday for making entry into these areas.

This was the year that the Russians boycotted the Olympics for security reasons.  Before the Olympic events began, I made a special flight with a presidential team, which consisted of several  military generals and admirals to review all of the event venues to evaluate security.  We also had on board the helicopter an FBI agent to narrate all the security for each area.   In the end, the Russians, still did not come to Los Angeles.  I think in the beginning, it was thought,  there would be several terrorist actions, but nothing happened.  I was scheduled to fly at least 21 hours minimum during the entire time of the Olympics, in the end, I flew about 10 hours.

 I was scheduled to fly three passengers from the Van Nuys, CA airport to a location on the high desert called, Willow Springs raceway.  This was  30 miles north of Palmdale, CA  My passengers were Danny Sullivan, winner of the 1985 Indy 500, in his famous spin to win the race in the final laps, singers, Christopher Cross and John Denver.
Danny Sullivan had arranged for them to try out a couple of exotic Lamborghini Countouch sports cars for the day.

Danny Sullivan, kneeling, John Denver, seated, Christopher Cross, background

click to enlarge

I have always been a big fan of auto racing and also I enjoyed the music of John Denver.

I really had a nice day watching these neat cars race around the road course and enjoyed visiting with John Denver.

This was one of the perks of working for Jetcopters.  They seemed to have a lock on flying all the celebrities from both Hollywood and the entertainment world.

More Jetcopters on the next post. . . . . . . .

 



Jetcopters-NASA Part 4

While I was still working at Jetcopters, I got a call from one of the Los Angeles Federal Aviation Administration office's, requesting that I do some experimental test flights for NASA.  No, I wasn't selected to be an astronaut for a flight to the moon.  Although I must admit, if asked, I would sure do it.  The following week, I reported to the NASA Ames Research Center, which was located at Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA.  This was an old U.S. Navy blimp base.  During the early part of WWII, they hangered airships that were used for defense observation along the Pacific coast of the United States.  One of the interesting things about this facility, is that the blimp hanger still remains.  Back in the 1930's they used this building to hangar the Navy airships Macon and Akron. 

U.S. Airship Macon Moffett Field  click to enlarge

 The Blimp hangar is now being used by NASA  click to enlarge

The purpose of these experimental flights was to evaluate a new technique for making instrument approaches in helicopters.  Just a short history lesson regarding instrument flight in helicopters.

Years ago, when instrument flight was first developed.  The rules and procedures pretty much pertained to airplanes only.  This was mainly because most helicopters then and still today, are not equipped for instrument flight.  Also when these conditions (IMC) instrument meteorological conditions, existed, helicopters could usually operate in special (VFR) visual flight rules and operated in non controlled airspace and also with permission from the controlling agencies, they could enter controlled airspace, again this would be with special flight conditions.  As time went on, more and more helicopters are now able to operate in these weather conditions and also make instrument approaches for landing at airports around the country.

That's me on the far right along with two other NASA pilots click to enlarge

Typically, when an aircraft gets into the airport environment and is going to make an instrument approach for landing,  The approach begins at a designated point and descends along a very shallow flight path to the airport.  Usually at an approach angle of about 4 to 5 degrees.  This enables the aircraft to descend at a very low rate.  At the point where the approach ends, the pilots should be able to see the runway landing system and make his landing visually.  This would be called the decision height.  Usually around 200 feet above the ground, lower in some cases.  If the pilot does not see the runway or approach lights, he aborts the landing and goes around for another attempt.



Here I am at the controls of a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, these were used in the Vietnam war click to enlarge

Our test flights were to evaluate instrument approaches utilizing a much steeper flight path, up to 12 to 15 degrees on the approach. This would produce a higher rate of descent. Also to see if the pilot could react quick enough as t0 not  sag through the decision height before hitting the ground on an attempted go around.  I spent a week at NASA doing these flights.  I have no idea of why this concept was being tested or if it every was used.  Maybe in a military application, but I doubt it would every be used for civilian use.  Another adventure in the career of a helicopter pilot.



Some explanations to the previous post

Several of my friends are following this blog, and from time to time I may get a call from one of them, asking a question or for an explanation of some of the events that may have occurred during my career as a helicopter pilot.  Recently I received a call from one of my best friends, Ron Green who lives in Kansas City, MO regarding the flight described in the previous post.  He brought up some good points and ones that I should have considered at the time.  Which I did later, but sometimes later is too late?

click to enlarge

Over the years, their has been a tradition in the aircraft cockpit amongst pilot's about the pilot in command. He is in charge of the flight and all decisions regarding the flights operation will be made by the PIC.  Kind of like the captain of a ship.  On this particular flight the FBI had chartered the aircraft and requested to use their own pilot to act as PIC. I was requested to go on this flight to act as an observer to comply with the companies requirements.  Because of the nature of the flight and the fact that it involved the presidents security, I choose not to ask  too many questions or to interfere with the operation of this flight.  Jetcopters was a fast growing company and was pursuing the business of many government agencies.  We were doing flights for the DEA, CIA,FBI and the IRS.  For that reason I did not want to add anything negative that might reflect on future business.

Ron's questions , and I might add,  very good ones, is why didn't the FBI pilot do more prior planning on his part before starting out on a flight with marginal flight conditions.  Why did he elect to take two additional passengers that did not have a purpose during this flight?

I really don't know and could only guess.  It may be that on prior flights he had not encountered any difficulties and that he assumed that this flight would be pretty much the same.

Out of professional courtesy to the FBI pilot involved I have omitted his name.  Like myself, I know he will never forget this flight and the mention of his name, serves no useful purpose.

I would also not give myself credit for saving five lives and a million dollar helicopter.  I should have offered some more helpful suggestions prior to the flight and maybe taken control of the helicopter while it was still in it's performance envelope.  I do take credit for having made  poor decisions on my part.

Most helicopter flight activity is done in a sea level environment or at much lower levels above sea level.  The margin for error when flying a helicopter, my old flight instructor Jerry Getz used to say, is ZERO.  But when the conditions are not extreme such as the 9500 feet of altitude we were operating at,  some errors or conditions of flight can be recovered before disaster strikes.  Sometimes a situation is allowed to go to the limit, then a more experienced pilot  could take over the flight controls and recover the aircraft to a normal flight condition.  This has happened to me many times in my days as a flight instructor.  So I learned from this flight experience and the outcome was uneventful.  Ron, thank you for asking.  Back to Jetcopters in the next post.........................

Jetcopters Part 3

November 10, 1983.  Jetcopters did a lot of charter flights for most of the law enforcement agencies in the State of California and also the U.S. government.  Jim Deeth our Chief Pilot called me into his office one morning to go over the flight details for a flight I was to do with the FBI.  The FBI had their own helicopters and pilots, but elected to use our helicopter for a special flight on this day.  The company allowed the FBI to use our aircraft, but also required that one of our pilots be on board  the flight.  I did not know the FBI pilot for this flight, but assumed that if the company trusted him, I could too, but with a watchful eye. Normally when I was not the pilot of the aircraft, but an observer, I did not give or offer advice to the pilot. I did not touch or operate any of the controls including the radios.  Even though I might have done things differently, I think one should respect the pilot in command.  Whenever I was acting as the pilot in command and I had another pilot sitting in the seat next to me, this is what I would expect.  If needed, I would ask for help.  I did watch for other aircraft during the flight and if the pilot asked for my assistance, I would do as asked.   We departed the Van Nuys airport and flew to the Banning,CA airport.  This airport was located between two large mountain ranges. San Gorgonio mountains to the north and San Jacintos mountains to the south.  The purpose of the flight was to take several hundred pounds of special electronic equipment to a location known as Snow Peak. It seems that President Reagan was going to be in Palm Springs, CA and this equipment was to be used for the presidents security.   Snow Peak was near 9000 feet above sea level.  This is not a normal environment to operate a helicopter.  Typically the higher you go, the performance of the helicopter is greatly reduced.  For this reason, I took it upon myself to do some mental calculations to determine that we could land safely at that altitude.  Oddly enough, the FBI pilot did not?

So it was necessary to determine the weight of the helicopter, which includes fuel, cargo,  pilot and passengers. Also it is necessary to know the approximate temperature at the altitude for the proposed landing site.  These preflight calculations will give you the expected performance of the helicopter at altitude.  The main concern would be to know you could make an approach and then be able to hover the helicopter in ground effect safely.  Supposedly this pilot was very experienced and had been to this location before.  I am still being casually watchful, but also did not want to give any unwanted advice to the FBI pilot.   After all it was their flight to do, and I was just an observer.  We met three FBI technicians at the airport and proceeded to load the equipment on to the helicopter.  In the beginning the planned load for this flight, would consist of the FBI pilot, myself, one FBI technician and the electronic cargo. This would be our takeoff configuration.  At the last minute, the FBI pilot elected to take the other two FBI people.  Again, he is the pilot in command, so I will keep my opinions to myself. We sure didn't need the extra weight at that altitude.  We departed the Banning airport and climbed to an altitude of 9500 feet.  As we began our approach for landing, I am looking at the side of a mountain, but I do not see a place for us to land.  We continued the approach and I'm still looking. I am beginning to feel very uneasy and I can see the  pilot is not looking too sure of himself.  We continue closer to the mountain terrain and I notice that we are exceeding  the engine torque limits, the turbine outlet temperature is at the red line and we are losing rotor RPM.  This is all happening at once and I haven't got a clue of what his intentions are.   We were drifting into the side of the mountain and had lost directional control of the aircraft, which in turn was causing the aircraft to rotate to the right.  Also the aircraft was settling to the ground at the same time.  Now I am certain we are going to crash. At that same moment, the FBI pilot turned to me and casually said, "you got it".  Which means he was relinquishing control of the aircraft to me.  I had no idea of what was below the helicopter or if the ground was suitable for landing.  I had no other choice but to land the helicopter the best I could,  knowing we would probably roll down the side of the mountain.  This helicopter was not going to remain in the air much longer, considering the flight conditions we had.  I lowered the collective control, which controls the vertical movement of the helicopter in a hover.  I could not make any choices now and I had to go with what we had.  Luck was on my side, the helicopter settled to the ground and remained upright on slightly unlevel ground.  Needless to say, I am really angry with having been put into this situation.  After we off loaded the cargo and the three FBI passengers in the rear of the aircraft, the helicopter would be much lighter and our takeoff would not be a problem.  I told the two extra people that got on the aircraft at the last minute. they could get out now.  They replied, that they just came along for the ride and would be returning with us to the Banning airport.  I would guess that the two of them would have weighed together around 350-400 pounds. The ordeal we had just gone through, would have been much different without them on the aircraft .  At this point, I had used up all my patience and told the FBI pilot, that I would fly the aircraft for the remainder of the flight.  When I got back to Jetcopters, I walked into Jim Deeth's office and closed the door.  I then expressed my displeasure with having been put in that situation.  I also told him I would quit Jetcopters, if ever I was asked to babysit any more of the government's pilots. As I am writing this post today and also looking through my pilot's log book.  I noticed that I made this comment in the remarks section for this flight. THIS ONE ALMOST ATE MY LUNCH!  More on Jetcopters in the next post. . . . . . .

Jetcopters Part 2

Working weekends really helped with the commuting problem, but as a rule the flight activity was pretty slow.  On occasion I did get called in on my days off and so there was some disadvantage to having days off during the week.  Once I got to the airport, I really didn't mind.  I don't think I ever got tired of flying and if I was scheduled to do a flight, I had no problem working the extra days and flight hours.  We had one big long building that had nothing but Jetranger and Longranger helicopters hangared there.  When you rolled the hangar doors open, it looked like a rainbow of helicopters.  All brand new aircraft and always equipped with the latest and best equipment.  Jetcopters was very involved in both the movie and television business.  So many of the pilots were getting a chance to fly for these companies. 

Jim Deeth was involved with  John Carpenter making a movie called Starman.  He was the Aerial Coordinator and one part of the movie was going to involve several helicopters and pilots. Vietnam era Huey's, Jetrangers and Longrangers.  One scene was a large formation of helicopters making a low level flight over the desert.  This was shot near Winslow, AZ.  Also several shots would be taken at the Meteor crater in the same location.  Several of Jetcopters helicopters and pilots were being used and Jim had contracted several other operators from around the country to be used in the film.  A few days before this was to take place, we flew into the Winslow, AZ airport where the movie crews prepared the helicopters to look like Army aircraft.  They masked off the windows of the helicopter and then sprayed on a rubberized peel paint in Army colors.  Then added decals for the insignias and markings to make them look like military aircraft.  When the shoot was finished, they  put the helicopters on a wash rack and  sprayed the peel paint off with a high pressure water hose.  If for any reason there was any damage to the paint, the movie company would repaint the aircraft.  The technology was pretty advanced for this application and repainting the helicopters was not done very often.

Civilian helicopters used in the movie Starman click to enlarge

This was really going to be my first experience being directly involved in an actual movie.  We were a large group of pilots and we spent nearly a week doing this part of the movie.  It was fun being out on location, doing the wardrobe thing and watching the making of a movie first hand.  I had met John Carpenter earlier before working for Jetcopters, so I was comfortable with working with movie people.  Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen were the two principal actors and were both very friendly to work with.  Finally, this was going to enable me to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild.  I was now qualified and just needed to fill out the application forms and pay a membership fee.  This was one of the first things I did when we returned to Los Angeles a few weeks later.

At the end of the shoot at this location, Jim asked me to fly the camera helicopter a Bell BH-206L3 to the Scottsdale, AZ airport where it would receive a 50 hour maintenance inspection.  They could complete this inspection in one day and the next day, I ferried the helicopter to Nashville, TN.  I made one overnight stay in Dallas, TX before going on to Nashville the next day.  more on Jetcopters in the next post.........

Jetcopters Part 1

I spoke with Jim Deeth several times in the next few weeks and still I could not make a decision on going with Jetcopters.  The biggest obstacle in my mind was the 50 mile drive each way.  I was already driving 35 miles to downtown Los Angeles, but at least I was commuting at a time of the day when traffic was not as heavy.  Then at night when I left to go home around 1:00 am  early in the morning, traffic would be light.

Typical Los Angeles Freeway Traffic (405 between LA & Van Nuys) 

Driving 50 miles in Los Angeles traffic, could equate to two to three hours in some cases.

This would  have been for each work day, I could be on the freeway four to six hours a day. There were several ways to drive from my home in Cypress, CA to the Van Nuys, CA airport, but they were all within a few tenths of being 50 miles.  One day I decided to just pick a day during the week, and drive the freeway route I would most likely be taking each day, and see what the time to drive would be.  I must have picked an exceptional day, because I drove it in one hour.  This I could live with.  So I gave Deeth a call and we sat down and worked out a plan for me to come to work for them.  Jim Deeth is probably one of the best pilots I have ever worked with.  Also a very fair and honest person.  Jim had been a long time veteran pilot with the California Highway Patrol.  He left the CHP with lots of years of service and joined up with a man by the name of Peter McKernan.  A great partnership to say the least.  I  had first met Jim Deeth  in Long Beach, CA.  He had been giving flight instruction to Peter McKernan at the time.   They had come to me to ask if I could give McKernan an FAA flight test for his commercial license to fly helicopters.  Peter was the owner and president of Jetcopters, so I was well acquainted with the principals of the company now.  Earlier when I first met Jim Deeth, he brought another man in one day and asked if I would schedule him for an FAA fight test.  His name was John Carpenter a well know movie director in Hollywood.  Later on, I became better aquainted with Mr Carpenter, flying helicopters in a few of the movies he directed.  Jetcopters was a very aggressive fast growing helicopter operation.  We had a stable of new helicopters second to none.  They had a large maintenance staff and twelve pilots, some were flight instructors only and others were part time.  They were well established in every part of the helicopter business.  Peter Mckernan had an unlimited amount of resources to  purchase new helicopters and equipment.  Jetcopters was becoming the largest operation in the Western part of the United States.  They had a major television contract in Hawaii doing a show called Magnum P.I.   They had just purchased a new Bell 222 to be used in a television show called Airwolf.   Working at Jetcopters was like being on the dream team.  Peter McKernan provided the best employment package for pilots anywhere in Los Angeles.  He was  generous and very involved in the everyday operation of the company.  Jim Deeth was the Chief Pilot and Director of Operations.  These two people were creating a company that was known throughout the United States.  Things are going pretty good for me now and I am dealing with the daily commute without too much trouble. Although one morning it did take me nearly four hours to make the drive. Later on I asked to work the weekends.  I also bought a small motorhome and stayed at the Van Nuys airport three nights a week.  This reduced my days of driving to two days a week.  More on Jetcopters in the next post. . . . . . . .

Out on the street again

Throughout my career, I have been pretty lucky whenever I was unemployed or between jobs as they say.  This time it was totally unexpected.  In the past I have managed okay and I would again. In most cases, I have been able to see it coming, this time I didn't.  I had a few things going for me and some time to plan my next move.  Meanwhile, I was still going to the airport every day and taking care of the Oxy helicopter until it was sold.  I had a young man come in weekly to help me wash and wax the helicopter and we kept it looking like new.  Once a week I would roll in out to the flight line and crank it up and run it for a few minutes.  The company would not allow me fly it, so that was as much as I could do.  I didn't really have any experience in selling any type of aircraft, so I was not making a big effort to do so.  I was still receiving a salary,  I did  what I could.  A friend of mine, Mike Dresman, was walking through the hangar one day while I was doing some work on the helicopter.  In passing, he said hello, and I casually yelled back to him, "do you want to buy a helicopter".  We both laughed and that was the end of it.  In my past, I've sold three helicopters that ranged in  value of nearly a million dollars each.  About a week later, I received a call from Mike and we met to discuss the sale of the helicopter. The helicopter now had a new owner and I had finished my obligation.  Too bad, I didn't ask for a commission, it would have amounted to several thousand dollars.  As I said earlier, I was not a helicopter sales person, so the sale was more by accident, rather than to my credit.

Mike had several pilots working for his company part time, and one of the provisions of the sale, was that I was to conduct a ground school and a checkout for each pilot on his staff.  One thing led to another, and I was employed part time to work for Helitac.  The company was located in a part of Los Angeles, CA called Echo Park.  They had an entire upper floor of a bank building on Sunset Blvd. that also had a rooftop heliport.  The heliport could manage four helicopters and they were left on the roof overnight after the evenings work was finished.

Helitac Heliport, Echo Park, Los Angeles 

Echo Park was once one of the finer parts of Los Angeles, but now it was in the heart of a gangland center.  At night, looking down on the streets below the bank heliport, you could hear gun shots being fired sometimes.  Every takeoff from the heliport was over  water, any type of emergency landing would be directly in the lake at night.  Whenever my work was finished late at night, I made sure my doors were locked and I took the shortest route to the freeway.

Mike Dresman was the owner of Helitac.  Most of their work was courier work at night collecting bank checks and cash from several large banking institutions in the greater Los Angeles area.  After the banks closed for the day, a fleet of trucks would collect bank checks and in some cases cash. They would meet with the helicopter several times during the evening hours at the Fullerton, CA airport.  This was done five or six times at almost every other hour intervals. All of the bank transactions were packed in small boxes about the size of a shoe box.  We could load the helicopter to the ceiling and carry a considerable amount of weight.  Everything was striped out of the helicopter with the exception of the two front seats.

View inside of a Bell BH-206B Jet Ranger click to enlarge

The above picture was going to be my office for the time being.  Most of the flying would be at night with the exception of the first hour and then I would be making these flight throughout the evening.  When we made our pickups at Fullerton, we then dropped off the banks cargo at a clearing house in downtown Los Angeles they also had a rooftop heliport.  When all the collections had been completed, we then flew back to the clearing house heliport and transferred the processed bank paperwork to either Burbank or Los Angeles airport.  At these airports we would rendezvous with a Lear Jet aircraft that would fly the completed processed checks and cash to either New York or San Francisco.  It was my understanding that this would enable the banks to realize a considerable savings in unpaid interest.  Flying around Los Angeles at night was okay, but sometimes the weather could really make some flights very difficult.  This was the major part of our flight activity, but we also flew a television news helicopter for ABC network in LA.  I continued on with Helitac for several more months.  Eventually I talked Mike into giving me a full time position.  This would at least give me peace of mind for the time being.  I enjoyed the work, but the drive into downtown Los Angles everyday was not to my liking.  Most people in Los Angeles seem to live in one place and work in another.  So I guess I fit in with all the other people on the crowded freeways. Later on I met with Jim Deeth who was the Director of Operations for a company called Jetcopters, located in Van Nuys, CA.  They had asked me to come to work for them, but the 50 mile drive everyday caused me to have some second thoughts.  See what happens in the next post. . . . . . .



Occidental Petroleum

When you live in a large metropolitan area like Los Angeles, it is not uncommon to see many large companies that have their own corporate helicopters.  Usually the pilots that flew these helicopters as viewed by some, had the better and more prestigious positions.
The companies that owned these helicopters, could well afford the very demanding cost of operation.  You worked for a single company and often flew the same people.  Flights were usually in and around the greater Los Angeles and Orange county areas. The pilots were very well compensated and your job security was certain.  I had always considered the position of a corporate pilot, to be one of my career goals.  I could go to work each day dressed in a three piece suit and have a well established work week schedule.  I considered myself very lucky to get this job and was anxious to get started.  One of the things I asked for when I was first being interviewed, was to go to the Bell Helicopter factory in Dallas, Texas and take the one week ground school and also a checkout with a  factory flight instructor.  I was off to Texas and a week later, I was starting out again on a new job.
Some things just fell into place.  It was decided that the helicopter would be hangared and maintained at Southland Helicopters at the Long Beach, CA airport.  Also a flight office was provided for me and I was then pretty much set.  Occidental Petroleum had a Research center located in Irvine, CA and this would be my primary contact with the company.  I had a secretary at the Occidental Research facility assigned to me and she would receive all the request from the company for the helicopter flight activity.  Most of my flights would be from Irvine to Westwood, CA to the heliport that was located on the roof of the corporate office.  I most often flew, board of directors, CEO's, presidents, Ph. D's and many military and political people.  On occasion I would fly Dr. Armand Hammer, the founder of the company.

Oxy's helicopter on a rooftop heliport in Los Angeles click to enlarge

Most of my flight activity would be in coastal regions and sometimes in the early mornings and late evenings, you could  expect fog along with low ceilings and visibilities.  I'm finding out very early now that these people are very time and task sensitive. I couldn't just go to work in the morning and call in to say, "it's to foggy this morning, we can't fly". No this would not work,  Many nights I would go to bed and worry about the weather conditions for the next day.  Often through the night I would call a Flight Service station and check current and forecasted weather, hoping that the conditions would remain the same and be okay.  On one particular flight, the weather conditions changed unexpectedly.  I went to the airport early, positioned the helicopter on the flight line after preflighting the aircraft.  I then went into my office to wait until it was time for me to depart to Irvine and pickup the president for the research center.  When I came in the building it was crystal clear outside and you could see the stars in the sky.  About an hour later I looked out the window of my office and the airport was totally engulfed in very dense fog.  I got on the phone and called the president, Mr. Martin Berger at his home, to tell him of the weather conditions.  Needless to say he was not happy and the next day I was called on the carpet to receive a royal ass chewing.  I'm finding out real soon that these people at the top level often expect the impossible and would lead you to believe that I could personally guarantee the weather would be perfect for every flight.  Even a prayer to god, would not always give you the desired results.  It was then decided that when their was a possibility of uncertain weather, the company provided me with a station wagon to drive these people when the conditions were forecasted not to be good.  Now I am the corporate pilot who more often than not, is the company chauffeur.  This created a timeline for a very early schedule sometimes.

A dream job come true, corporate helicopter pilot! click to enlarge

I am okay with this arrangement, but the person I am flying the most often, is also the most hated man in the company.  Martin Berger, president of Occidental Research Center.

He transferred there from New York and had that Eastern personality.  I would think he would have had a much different attitude, towards the person he trusted his life with everyday?. . . . .  Not Mr. Berger, in the five years I worked for Oxy, he never once shook my hand or ever thanked or complemented me.  Never any small talk or even discussions of families.  His one ace in the hole was his wife, she took up the slack and was always very nice and thanked me often.  So maybe this corporate deal is not so good?  I worked at Oxy for almost five years and then one day I was asked to meet with the company Personnel Manager.  I was advised that the helicopter was going to be sold and that I should give notice to the other pilot, he would be laid off in two weeks.  I was kept on for a while longer to finish up some loose ends and to take care of the helicopter until it was sold.  I am now back amongst the unemployed with no ideas for the future.  This came as a total surprise and I was okay for the time being as Occidental gave me a reasonable severance pay.  So where to next?, more in the next post. . . . . .