character will instill confidence and carry you through the rough patches. If everyone is discouraging you, keep going; you are probably on to something.
Who inspires or has inspired you? Amelia Earhart is my childhood hero. Everyday people who put themselves in harm’s way for others and ask nothing in return.
Tell us about your most memora- ble helicopter flight. I’ve had so many I don’t know where to begin. I was out one night in the North Atlantic and the ship wasn’t where it was supposed to be; I was low on fuel, and it was very low IFR in heavy seas. Another time, we were plugging the tanker in heavy weather and turbu- lence, with a bad drogue and no other options. The aircraft was icing up, and I realized I couldn’t descend, climb, or stay where I was. Other memorable moments:
MD 500 engine failure on a test flight; losing an engine in IMC; filming the first season of CBS’s Tour of Duty as a
stunt pilot; browning out in the desert on goggles; following a car back to a stash house with US$4 million; having a ground wire come loose and wrap around the pitch control link; my first dolly landing in a BK 117 at night in a gusty crosswind. I also had a main-rotor
gearbox fail and yet another catch on fire, both over water. A different time, the tail-rotor gearbox failed and the T-tail broke off in flight. Then there’s my first landing at the East 60th Street Heliport in Manhattan when it was full. There are more, but those are just the helicopter ones that just hovered into my head.
What still excites you about helicopter aviation? It’s a unique, select, challenging frater- nity. Composed of those who aren’t afraid to get wet or dirty, or the faint of heart.
What challenges you about helicopter aviation? Having a helicopter community without fatal accidents. We need a lot more weather cameras with a sufficient density in every state to assist pilots in decision-making. Hughes worked with the FAA to develop and implement ZK low-altitude airways, but the agency
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