Tag Archives: squirrel

A Cold And Damp Amazon Delivery Job

The forecast for the day of the Amazon lift was not ideal.  It was going to be cold and rainy.  Just what you want for photographing something and even better when the helicopter you are most interested in is grey!  Oh well, what can you do?  Things were scheduled to kick off at 7am so I headed up to Arlington early to be ready.

Naturally, like many things aviation related, it didn’t start on time.  I suspect there were other things that they had as part of the plan, but we weren’t privy to that so were just waiting for a helicopter to lift off.  It was not very cold, but it was definitely cold enough and damp.  I should have dressed warmer and trying to get shots at a low shutter speed when you are shivering is not ideal.

One advantage of a crummy weather day is that you can roll the shutter speed right down and not have silly apertures.  That means less need for dust spotting later!  On the 100-400, I would have just used a polarizer, but I don’t have one for the 500 so was okay with shooting that at the speeds I wanted to try for.

The Astar was the first to lift.  The initial lifts were very slow, but things improved a little as the crews on the roof got into the groove.  The Astar was obviously doing the smaller lifts, but it still has significant capabilities and was taking up some big pieces of equipment.  Watching it bucking around in the turbulence over the roof as the wind picked up was quite eye opening.  I got stills but, since the conditions were not great, I instead went with a bunch of videos.  The stills just won’t be that exciting, but video gives you more context.

It was quite a while before the S-61 started up.  We had a few false starts when the Astar appeared to land but it was just swapping out lifting lines.  Finally, the S-61 got airborne and it started lifting the heavier loads.  We had heard that about 50 lifts were planned for the S-61 and 30 for the Astar.  After getting some shots and footage, I headed to a few different locations to see whether they had a better angle on things.  You never know which bit of the roof will be the site of the next load so a location might be good for a bit and then too far away and obscured.  More importantly, I was getting pretty bloody cold.  If conditions had been nicer, I would probably have been inclined to hang around a lot longer, but I just couldn’t be bothered.  I figured I had enough, and it was time to head home and get warm.  I think they extended the NOTAM so things must have taken longer than intended but I was long gone by the time that they finished.

Transition From KAWO to Amazon

I am not sure of the reasons why, but Croman moved both of the helicopters used for the Amazon lift over to the site the day before the operation.  They were a short distance from Arlington but apparently there was a reason to not start from the airport.  Fortunately, they did this late in the afternoon after the Astar had arrived.  I had moved across to a parking lot near the site ahead of time hoping to be in a good spot to get them arriving and also to see whether it would be good for the lift itself.

Both helicopters approached my side of Amazon prior to landing.  This meant I got a good head on view of them and a reasonable view as they approached landing.  They did, unfortunately, go directly over my head which limited the shots a little but still wasn’t too bad.  The sun was more on their tails as they made their final approach which wasn’t ideal, but it was the side I was on so could have been worse.  They landed behind some concrete walls so disappeared from view as they went in.  The S-61 was first followed by the Astar.  Now to see how the lift itself went.

Squirrel’s Nibbling Won’t Be Disturbed By Us

Walking through the woods at Meerkerk Gardens, we came across a tree that had fallen across the trail.  Sitting on the log was a squirrel.  This squirrel was happily munching on its food.  We weren’t going to continue down the trail so were not likely to get in the squirrel’s way but we figured our very arrival would spook it.  We were wrong.  While it was clearly aware we were there, it did not seem to see any need to interrupt lunch just because of us.

Astar Over My Head

These shots are from a few years ago.  I had the privilege to spend a day with the late Alan Purwin during the filming for one of the Transformers movies in Chicago.  I got to fly with them on some of the shoot but I also was on the ground when they went off on part of the filming.  I put myself directly ahead of the Astar when they took off and Alan buzzed me.  I noticed when going through the images that the cameraman was tracking me with the stabilized mount on the nose as they flew over the top.

Davis Arboretum

We took a day trip up to Davis to check out the arboretum.  Running alongside the old Putah Creek, it has a range of different plants and trees along its length.  With the university buildings stretching alongside the creek, the paths provide access to the students and staff of the university as they get where they need to be.  Being, at least most of the time, away from the roads makes for a quiet and pleasant place to stroll.  At the time we visited, it was a turning point for some of the plants.  Fall had already done it work on some trees while others were still showing signs of color.

We weren’t the only ones appreciating the view.  We passed a number of painters (whether they were part of a class or just like minded individuals I don’t know) who were capturing the scenes around them.  I didn’t get to see whether any of them were particularly good but I hope they had a good time anyway.  There was plenty of wildlife along the creek.  Ducks were abundant, the occasional turtle showed itself, squirrels were everywhere gathering food for winter and some of the visitors had their dogs with them so no shortage of life.

Work was underway to reconfigure the flow of water through the creek.  This is intended to freshen up the water, deal with some of the weed growth on the surface and promote some other wildlife activity.  In some areas it was already showing results but the work was due to run into 2017 so it will be a while before the full effect is seen.

Helos This Way Please

C59F0114.jpgI love helicopters and getting to see two in close quarters at Salinas recently was the sort of thing to make me smile.  An Astar had come up to drop someone off and was heading back out again.  Meanwhile, a local Robinson R-44 had been moved out on to the ramp next to it for its pilot to have a local flight.  They ended up starting up and departing at almost the same time.  What I hadn’t realized was that the departure path for both of them was going to take them right past me.

C59F0035.jpgI had figured that they would start up and then hover taxi to the runway before departing in the runway heading.  Instead, the approved profile made use of the taxiway next to where I was.  The result was that they both pulled to the hover and then turned in my direction before accelerating right by.  That was a lot better than I was expecting.  The need to gain speed before climbing to minimize time in the “avoid curve” means that you get a nice low view of a helicopter when it takes off.  This is far better than the fixed wing alternative in my view.

Regional Parks Astar

AU0E0640.jpgWhile I was getting lucky catching the Huey at Hayward, this wasn’t the only helicopter I came across in action.  A short distance away from me, an Astar was running up on the ramp.  Before too long, it lifted, taxied across to the active runway and then departed to the southeast.  It turned out to belong to the Regional Parks service.  I had actually seen this airframe before when it had been at Livermore.  This time I was a lot closer to it and able to get a far better view.

AU0E0688.jpgIt is actually quite a nice paint job that they have applied.  Some quick research suggests that they have a couple of these Astars.  I wouldn’t mind finding out more about them and what they are used for.  It could make for a more detailed piece at some point.

AU0E0588.jpg

Shooting the Astar

wpid8070-Helinet-07-Rob-Edgcumbe-AU0E8307.jpgThe team from Helinet was in town recently as part of a movie shoot.  With the end of the shoot coming up, I was asked to get some shots of the helicopter in the city.  Alan knows exactly what he is doing when flying in amongst the city buildings and can put the helicopter wherever I wanted it for the images.  We even got lucky with some great weather.  (The following day, it was foggy and no go at all!)

wpid8068-Helinet-02-Rob-Edgcumbe-C59F9681.jpgWith some advance planning and some good communication during the shoot, we were able to position the helicopter to look dynamic in amongst the buildings.  It would have been good to get some video too but time was limited and stills were required so that is what we did.  A fun shoot and great people to work with.

Helicopter Over London

wpid7967-C59F9300.jpgMy Dad’s 70th birthday seemed like something that deserved a decent present.  What to get him though?  As someone who spent his entire working career in London property, he has seen all parts of the city many times.  However, I know he hasn’t seen it from above so much.  Therefore, a helicopter ride over the city seemed like a good idea.  The fact that I thought it would be really cool too is neither here nor there!

wpid7958-C59F9268.jpgI asked a friend of mine who flies helicopters who he would recommend for this and, being an outstandingly good fellow, he volunteered his services.  A very generous gesture.  Having someone I know flying the trip meant it was a lot easier to discuss exactly what we wanted to do.

wpid7965-C59F9292.jpgThe helicopter corridor across London runs along the River Thames.  You join it at Greenwich to avoid the London City Airport airspace and then head along the river through the city and out to the west until you reach Fulham at which point you peel off to avoid Heathrow – always a good idea if they aren’t expecting you!

wpid7952-C59F9223.jpgThe weather was not quite what we had hoped.  The day started very nicely but the haze built up as we went.  Flying early was probably a good idea since it didn’t clear up again until the evening at which point the birthday party was underway.  I saw a few buildings that have sprung up since I left including The Shard.  I do love London and seeing it again from such a great vantage point was a lot of fun.  I hope Dad enjoyed it as much as I did!