I was working on my log book last week and noticed I’d just gone over 6,000 hours of Huey time…in celebration here are “some” of the Huey’s I’ve flown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UFSoGOgag
I was on a fire the other day and the Incident Commander came over to my
parked helicopter to discussion employment of the helicopter on the fire.
“Reb” was wearing and very nice Elk Skin Jacket with Moose horn buttons. In
shell loops on the front of the jacket were four .375 Caliber Cartridges.
As Reb explained his choice of rifle to carry while fighting fire, ” I only
want to shoot once”. This elegant jacket would sell for no less than 600
dollars in Aspin Co., Reb had made it from animals he had harvested and
ate, how cool is that?
While eating breakfast this morning in Glennallen Ak, I was reading the
paper and saw the article on eating “Sweet and Sour Snowshoe Rabbits”…in
the next table over a very nice family of six was eating breakfast…the
little four or five year old girl was telling her Mom, ” I want pancakes not
Moose for breakfast”.
Ken Carlton
Two Hotel Lima
Ken Carlton
Alaska, 2 Hotel Lima
So you want to fly in Alaska? Well, a lot of flying on fires occurs at 500 feet above sea
level to 2,000 feet. Not very high and certainly the Bell 212 can fly at maximum gross weight at these altitudes, 11,200 pounds. It was originally designed for over water flights. So flying on fires involves, crew shuttle, long lines, water dropping and recons. The thing is there are very few places to refuel, so fuel management becomes an issue to contend with. I carry a barrel hand pump with me, along with young strong helitack crewmembers to pump the Jet-A into 2 Hotel Lima.
Ken Carlton slept here, yes he did. I am a happy, frequent sleeper in the Bell Hotel.
I first started using helicopters to sleep, in 1969. At night one of the RLO’s (Real Live Officers) a derisive term coined by young Warrant Officers to describe the Commissioned Officers, had to be on the ready reaction flight. It often turned out that my turn as Aircraft Commander of a Charley Model Gunship, would occur after I’d already flown eight or ten hours. It wasn’t uncommon to over 100 hours per month, and several months I flew 150 hours. The ready reaction flight was for counter rocket and mortar attack. As Dong Tam was attacked several times a week it we were often flying around the Dong Tam perimeter shooting rockets back at the VC at three AM.
I’m flying a fire-fighting helicopter in Alaska, a Bell 212, this is the third time I’ve flown in the far North. The first time I flew in Alaska was 1970-71. Then, as an Army Pilot just back from Viet Nam, I flew the Bell 47, the Huey, the H-21, (flying Banana) and Co-Pilot on the Beaver fixed wing. The second time was in 2008 when it rained most of the summer. This year is different with many fires and a lot of flying for my Bell 212 and me.
My Boss (helitack manager at Tok, Alaska) is cool, her name is Elisa, and she is tougher than woodpecker lips. She is also a competition Musher (sled dog racer) and dog trainer. She trained dogs for the Iditarod…and all this time you thought everyone trained their own dogs. Anyway, she is a pleasure to work with.
Ken
2 Hotel Lima
