How's a normal workday as a pilot for you?

[Frank N. O.]

I was wondering, how does a day go as a pilot to you?
Finding out what you're do to that day, planning the trip, getting the aircraft ready, what events happend during the fligh etc.

Frank

[TheSoccerMom]

Hi Frank,

Gee, I'd try to answer your question, but you have the word NORMAL in there......  afraid that pretty much eliminates me...   and that "work" word, well, I think I may be breaking out in hives now....... 

                                                

[airtac]

Wake up, pour coffee, walk outside, see if sun is shining (yawn, stretch, fart !

Go to base, preflight airplane, clean windows, pour coffee, see if sun still shining (yawn-stretch, fart !)

Go to morning briefing, pour coffee, get doughnut, listen to people talk about boring stuff, (stifle urge to yawn, stretch, fart !--there are ladies present!)

Do wax on-wax off routine on airplane for an hour, read adventure novel, take safety nap, go to lunch.

Back from lunch, check if sun still shining, take power nap, wake up for fire call, fly to fire, fly right hand circles over the fire until you feel like puking and talk a lot on radio till gas almost gone then back to airport for more fuel, back to fire, repeat other stuff.

After second landing, fuel airplane and take precautionary nap, wake up for quitting time paperwork, put airplane to bed, watch sunset, drink beer, record heroic daily deeds for biography, then to bed for much needed rest (after making sure moon is shining)

Wake up in middle of night, remember I'm getting paid for being well rested, go back to sleep..........

[G-man]

This question was posed by a young enthusiastic and inspiring (wannabe) helicopter pilot asking another forum for advice in his career path toward being a professional helicopter pilot. The non-surprising wise-ass, though humorous, response went something to this effect:

"CIRCLES"

If you want a successful career as a helicopter pilot, you neeed to feel a deep love for "Circles". The "circle" is the first thing you will learn how to do when you are introduced to flying helicopters. It starts to get old during your first one hundred hours of flight experience, but the promise that "circles" will soon be a part of your past is what keeps you going. Unfortunitely "circles" are what you are going to be making for the duration of your career.

Your first job, after teaching others how to make "circles", is probably making "circles" doing tour flying. It's very funny that they say "circles" with an "S" (which leads you to believe that you might actually fly more than one route during your tour guiding career). "Circle" is what they should call it since the most excitement you will get out of flying tours is being able to say "Ya...I'm a REAL commercial helicopter pilot."

If you don't decide to do tours it's likely you will get hooked up with a logging operation. Ya, they make "circles" too. Really tight quick "circles", except YOU don't get to make them. You get to see them being made while you puke your guts out. And...Oh ya...your job is to count the "circles".

If you're real smart you will take on one of those "gulf jobs" where you don't have to make "circles". You get to make straight lines. Pretty exciting flying. After you make your initial climb out (to an altitude of 500 feet) you start monitoring your instrument guages. You never know when you're going to pop into IMC and start utilizing that instrument rating you paid dearly for. Although it pays more than your average grocery cart retrieving job you don't get to maneuver it back and forth in a creative "S" turn fashion while making your way back to shore. Those guys in the back (who by the way make triple your salary) don't like it. Better not piss them off three times in a row 'cause they'll get you canned in a heartbeat.

Now law inforcement...there's a job. Go to California and make "circles". The great thing about the CHP is that you get to make all the "circles" you want. I know...so why all of the sudden is making "circles" so much fun?!!...well I'll tell you. Because you don't have to unless you want to. The truth is, the CHP are allowed to do whatever the hell they want. OF COURSE they are all operating within their own personal limits. They're the CHP. You know...the ones who set the standard for commercial flying.

I don't mean to lead you on. Flying "circles" is fun, at first. Try this...sit in your fake leather computer chair and spin around a couple times. This effect may be accentuated after chugging a few cold Coors Lites. If you do this a few hundred thousand times you can begin to appreciate the joy of flying helicopters. Just remember...clear your turns 'cause your soon to be ex-wife doesn't like it when you spill beer on her carpet!

[G-man]

The Life of a Helicopter Pilot:

Grand canyon tour,
Get up at 4.30AM, drive 90 miles to the ditch, have 5th cup of coffee, preflight, pee, get in start up, load up the midwestern beefeaters, fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes, fly for an hour, fly for 30 minutes, fly for an hour. Can I have a break? No, ok, fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes. fly for 30 minutes, fly for 30 minutes, fly for an hour, get out tie down, PEE, drive 90 miles home,eat, sleep, repeat.

Hawaii tour
See above but get to wear funky hawaii shirt and shorts...

Offshore Oil:
See above but the tourists smell bad and the river is a lot bigger...

Tuna Boat:
See above, but you get to chant: Where da fish, where da fish...
 
Powerline patrol:
See above but you get to say: tower one, tower two, tower 3, tower 4, tower 5......tower 496, tower 497, etc...

Pipeline patrol:
See above but you get to say: yup it's a pipeline. yup it's a pipeline, yup it's a pipeline, yup it's a pipeline. yup it's a pipeline,.....Sh# theres a wire, ok, yup it's a pipeline, yup it's a pipeline, yup it's a pipeline....

EMS:
Get to work, have 7th cup of coffee, preflight, pee,news, eat, sleep,eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, BEEP BEEP BEEP, motorcycle vs a big rig, fly 20 minutes, load patient, Yuuuuuuko!!! That looks like it hurts, fly 20 minutes, off-load, debrief, eat, sleep, eat sleep, eat, sleep, go home...
 
Logging:
Get up at 5, have 3rd cup of coffee, preflight, comin up, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log,log, Wipe up CP's puke, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, log, etc.. .Shut down go home drink a massive amounts of beer with hookers.

Fire:
Get up at 4 AM, drive an hour, have 9th cup of coffee, mission plan, you want to WHAT? Put on bucket go to fire. OH! big fire! Up down, turn around, fetch a pail of water, repeat 160 times. Shut down, wait untill 14 hours is over. Out of duty time, find tent, eat at base camp, visit little blue room, sleep up again, at 5am repeat...

CFI:
Get in at 9am, have 10 cups of coffee, 3 cigs,and wait for no shows, Non english speaking student shows up, preflight, flight, SCREAM: I HAVE THE CONTROLS!!, repeat 20 times, After hour flight, clean short, repeat 5 times, go home knowing your the pilot god that saved the R22 from the clutches of the student pilot, get on PC and type resume, yup getting 252.4 hours. look for way to get turbine time job with out flight time, go to sleep thinking how great it would be working as a real pilot!

[Mike]

Most fire-input came from guys flying big fire.

Here a little insight into Nevada desert firefighting:

Wake up at 5:30. Take 15min to figure out where the hell we are this morning and if I am in a hotel or in the helicopter. Get up, drive up towards the ship. Stopping at a gas station on the way for coffee and a Ding Dong (the breakfast of champions) and maybe a banana if we are lucky.
Preflight. Cleaning off the bird poo from the helicopter. (the yellow and blue color sceme seems to attract them). Wash the windows, find somebody who might have an idea about what to expect weather-wise.
Then end up looking around making sure the sun is shining.
Fiddle around the helicopter for an hour fixing little things cleaning a thing here or there with a rag since there is no water where Jane is.
Fill out mountains of paperwork wondering why this always takes longer than the preflight.

Around 10am, pick up some smokejumpers from some no-name hill from some fire nobody heard before. Then try to get lunch. Get in one bite before the fire call. Leave lunch, woof it down, or try to wrap it up and stuff it in the baggage compartment, then fly to fire.
Look for landing sites. Finally find one that's either really dusty, tight, or rocky and far away from the fire. Drop off Helitack. Get to work with the bucket. Pick up bucket of "water" from dirty cow-pond and drop dirt cow pond water on fire. Repeat 50 times.
Brief moment after a couple of good drops and Helitack turning a corner which makes us feel like we might catch the fire after all and think "wow, I get to do this for a living".

Then get fuel. Loose the fire in the meantime due to lack of buckets. Start from scratch.
Catch it again in the evening.
Sleep in the aircraft because 8hrs are flown off and the next hotel is 1hr flight time away.
Repeat next day.

Romantic, isn't it?!
 

[TheSoccerMom]

These are GREAT!  And, so true.     

Add in all the good stuff already listed, and add (please):   "Listen to 4,963 dirty jokes and LAUGH your a** off", and:
"Race nine very fit and fast smokejumpers to the solitary toilet when they announce "Fire call!'", and yeah, that sounds pretty close....   

Oh, and, at night, especially if it has been a particularly NASTY day with high winds, bad air, teeth-jarring turbulence, and downdrafts worse than you thought could exist over a solid planet, with (what else?) lightning crashing everywhere:

"Hug the trusty Minivan around her nose (baggage compartment) and give her yet another kiss for taking good care of us."

                                                                      

[Mike]

I liked your post there about the circles, G-Man.

I am sure there is a way to simulate the life of a fire pilot.
Let me give this s try:

Get a car with manual gear shift and drive it to Las Vegas, Laughlin, Phoenix, or Mequite.
Now, this is important: GET A CAR WITHOUT airconditioning. There are no a/c's in firefighting aircraft.
Then park it in a parking lot for a few days while you spend the nights in a Motel 6 (max.).
Make sure you get up at 5:30 in the morning, walk around the car for one hour before and then watch the weather channel
for 1/2 hour every day. And don't leave the hotel or the parking lot. (If you do only for 10min and come right back....
...we're simulating what we call "stand-by" here)
At 9pm you can go somewhere for dinner if you want. But pick a small place where it takes an hour to actually get your food!

After a week or so, simulate the fire-call. Get in your car, close the doors, and read the first 2 pages of your owners-manual
(we are simulating the take-off checklist here). Then program a few channels in your radio (simulating programming frequencies)
Start the car but don't turn on the air vent yet because there is no air blowing until you get going in a helicopter.

If you want the full experience, get a handheld vaccum cleaner, turn it on and throw it in the back for the whole duration of the exercise.
(engine noise)
Drive to another parking lot preferrably off road and find a gravel pit or a gravel parking lot about 40min drive away.
On the drive over, have your radio on some talk channel and if you can make it happen, get one or two more radios and
tune them into different talk channels.
If you can get someting going with a Christian channel with somebody praying and talking about dume and
another channel with something like a Jerry Springer show on and lots of yelling and one more with
a stand-up comedian talking, ...you're in business!!
Now drive up and down the gravel parking lot for about 2 hours. You can stake out a course with cones if you wish to make it more
challenging. However keep going through the same course.
After two hours, get out, pee, get back in for another two hours and skip lunch.
Repeat 4 times!

While you drive around the course, pick up pieces of conversation and write them on your windshield with a grease pencil
or on a kneeboard if you brought one. And make sure you choose a course where you need to shift quite a bit.

Then eat an MRE for dinner and sleep in the car. Make sure you turn off you cell-phone for the whole thing.
There is no reception where you are going.

Repeat the parking lot show for three more days, then start driving to the hotel every night for 4 days after 6 hours in the gravel pit.
Make sure that every time you get in the car, you read another two pages of your owners manual
and you wait until you turn the vents on.

After 12 days, you just did one whole shift of fighting fires with helicopters!

Did I pretty much capture it, guys?!

[Baradium]

Define "normal?"

There are so many different possibilities I don't even know how to talk about a specific "normal" day.

[Rooster Cruiser]

Dang, these "Normals" are so far removed from what I consider "Normal", I'd be embarrased to even describe what some of my "Normal" days were like as either a Charter Pilot, a Commuter Pilot, or a Corporate Pilot.  And mine are far from the Norm!  Not many Corp Drivers get to talk about what private dirt strips they've flown into in Baja or Central Mexico with the Executive Airplane.

But that seems to pale in comparison to you fire guys...

[airtac]

The common thread here among fire pilots here is the boredom of waiting and doing repetitive things, however, I think you'll find that there are times when we know that what we are doing makes a difference in a big way and at those times, the job is very intense and very interesting

OH, those 2 radio stations you're listening to in the gravel pit---if you're doing airattack, make it 6 or 7........but of course you get to drive the paved road around the top of the gravel pit and we NEVER sleep in our airplanes (on the ground anyway) 

I gotta tell ya too--Ponderosa's Commanders are air-conditioned

I need to add that for the most part, being a good pilot is a lot like wetting your pants in a dark suit, you get a warm feeling but nobody notices

[G-man]

The common thread here among fire pilots here is the boredom of waiting and doing repetitive things, however, I think you'll find that there are times when we know that what we are doing makes a difference in a big way and at those times, the job is very intense and very interesting

How true is that. Right now at the end of the season, I am sitting in the helibase with snow outside, yep, it SNOWED yesterday. Hence my whole day was sat in a comfy lounge chair either watching TV or trying to study or updating the "adventures of LaFawnduh" page.

In reality, my typical NON fire day is spent at the base from 9 thru 6 with an hour for lunch. As already described so well by Mike, ya'll know what a fire day is like now.

OH, those 2 radio stations you're listening to in the gravel pit---if you're doing airattack, make it 6 or 7........but of course you get to drive the paved road around the top of the gravel pit and we NEVER sleep in our airplanes (on the ground anyway) 

Agreed, you have a little more on your plate than we do in terms of radios. Personally I prefer to work a discrete channel with my ground contact for buckets. We built a raport amongst the crew and they know how I like to be directed, it can get real hard doing "designer" drops when the guy on the ground gets his left and rights mixed up, or better yet---"I'm over here, on the ridge with the yellow shirt on"  Oh really..  For the most part people do OK, but it really helps working exclusivly with "my" crew. Now we just have to convince the powers that be, to let us put "our" people on the line to work exclusivly with the helicopter.

I need to add that for the most part, being a good pilot is a lot like wetting your pants in a dark suit, you get a warm feeling but nobody notices

Gotta love the quotes that are all too real... 

While I was a young child, I told my parents that when I grow up I wanted to be a helicopter pilot; but after all these years flying, I have realised I cant do both..   

[TheSoccerMom]

This is a pretty good description of going to work, but there ARE a few more FUN details that I seem to get to hear...  and, honestly, I am glad you guys DON'T.

At SOME point, during the day, there is always the resident ignoramus who tells me (incorrectly), things they KNOW to be TRUE, about MY airplane, and MY job, and MY crew.


Just a quick sampling from the summer:

1.  "Well, at least you don't have to fly anywhere near the ground."  (WOW!  Really?!  Since when?)

2.  "Too bad square parachutes don't work well at all in the timber country."  (So off-base it's hilarious.)

3.  "It must be a hard thing to control the airplane when they all jump out at once."  (Wow..  right......)

4.  "That thing goes 200 mph, right?"  (What are you smoking?)

5.  "It always takes forever to put out a load of jumpers!"  (This comes from the fact that they think that is all we do....  8 bodies, only...  no wind assessment, no fire assessment, and..  HA HA ...  NO paracargo!  Hey..  they don't need any tools, or food and water...)
 
6.  "It must be easy to just have to deal with the jumper stuff only, on the fire."  (Add in Airtac's notes about nonstop radios...  we only have 4 radios on, 2 AM and 2 FM, but throw in the nonstop conversation with the jumper in the door AND the spotter on intercom...  that makes 6 conversations..  I think...  I had to take my glove off here, to count...)
 
7.  "So..  how ARE those Garretts running, anyway?"

8.  "You must not carry very much -- you sure take off short."
 
9.  "Too bad you guys can't jump when it's windy."  (Hey, somebody ought to tell the BLM that!  I've put out the load in 1100+ yards of drift...  when ground winds were 25-30 mph...)
 
10. "Don't you have a copilot?"

11. "They were gonna call for jumpers, but there weren't any jumpspots."  (When there are PLENTY of good jumpspots nearby..  makes me CRAZY......Arrrgggh.)

12.  "Good thing you've got air conditioning -- those guys sure have a lot of gear on!"  (DUH.)

13.  "Boy, it must be pretty weird to fly around a bunch of skydivers."  (WTF?!?  WHAT skydivers?!?)
 
14.  "So...  this must be your first year doing this?"  (Ahh, one of my ALL-TIME favorites....)


At least I didn't get the "So, are you the janitor?" line this summer....  or the other one I loved, "So...  you must be the SEAT clerk, huh?"

Though, there was a very special person around who drove everyone NUTS this summer, by telling them ALL what went on inside THEIR airplanes...  so, at least I wasn't alone, for a change.  He ended up providing an enormous amount of entertainment (unbeknownst to him), so it was pretty funny, really. 

[airtac]

Well GEE Soccermom, if you feel like a good rant---don't hold back, tell us how feel 

[TheSoccerMom]

Hee hee hee!  OKAY BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

On the positive side, that certain person made ONE TOO MANY smartass remarks one day...  about my guys....  and Wow, Baby, Crank up the Enola Gay I did....  he got "corrected"....  with, yes, more than a few adjectives and adverbs thrown in.....  WHICH led to me meeting several more SEAT pilots I had not yet met....  the leading one of which group came up to me with his hand outstretched and said, "Wow, have I got to give you my congratulations, I have wanted to punch that sorry *$%^$%$ in the nose for a month now!"

Funny how you can meet even MORE nice people this way...  HEEEEE HEEEEEEEE....   

And by the way, the mental moron was NOT there as a pilot (though in his mind he is Super-Pilot)....  but as a person you are used to flying around with....  phew.....!!!!!   

Oh, I forgot to list, the 30-hour student pilot who came up to me one day, plopped down in a chair, and proceeded to tell me HOW to fly through THUNDERSTORMS.....   it was pretty amazing....  and (See?  I CAN be civil..  sometimes...) I just said "Thanks" when he was finally done.  It was remarkable.  But...  the old guys sure got a good yukk out of it.