My goal has been to develop within the department a feeling of strong teamwork and communication, and this role is probably my most rewarding to date. We have six pilots, all dual-rated and from various military and civilian backgrounds. All bring different knowledge and skills to the table. This, along with a lot of moving parts within the operation that seem to be ever- changing, makes for an exciting challenge. We strive to always increase the efficiency of the program safely, and I would like to say we do this very well.
RPMN: Have you ever had an “oh, crap” moment in a helicopter? Can you summarize what happened?
I am pretty sure in the spray business you might have one of those every season. Although it may not have been as close as you thought, maybe a power line in the corner of your eye after hours of low-level work, there is a lot happening and you sometimes identify an obstacle later than you would prefer.
One incident that stands out was when I first started my spray career in a Bell 47. My boss was keen for me to be finished with a particular job. I was spraying herbicide in the ditches for some orange groves in Florida. I was fully loaded and heavy, and the wind had just started to pick up. I was almost done with the job and was aware my spray window was closing on me with the wind picking up. The ditch had a bend in it with tall trees, so I had to increase my altitude and then make a turn downwind. My pull-up on the collective combined with being heavy and slow put the rotor rpm towards the bottom of the green. This was still acceptable at this stage. As I made the turn downwind to stay
over the ditch the rotor rpm decayed even more and I realized I was in trouble. I shut off the spray, dumped the load, and tried to milk the collective but the rpm was not recoverable. The only option was to cushion the landing. I managed to align the helicopter with the direction of the trees and turn into the wind. I found an opening back towards the bend for the bubble of the helicopter to fit and the tail to go in between the trees. To be honest, I was extremely lucky that this opening presented itself.
The blade was damaged from the blade hitting the orange trees and the spray boom split in half. The lesson learned is that nothing was worth the rush to make up a few more minutes. I should have either called it a day due to the wind or adjusted the order of the spray passes to not put myself in that position.
RPMN: If you could give only one piece of advice to a new helicopter pilot or mechanic, what would it be?
It sounds simple, but in this line of work I always tell the new pilots, “Whatever you do, don’t hit anything!”
RPMN: In your view, what is the greatest challenge for the helicopter industry now?
I would say compensation and schedules compared to the airline industry. The helicopter industry has to draw new pilots, and that is getting harder to do with so many new recruits going the fixed-wing route. It is heading in the right direction, but our field always seems to be playing catch-up.
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