Back to Wildlife Tracking (I think)

[Rooster Cruiser]

Interesting week for me.  A friend who is a former student of mine and the son of a former employer sent me a message over facebook asking me how I was and how busy I was flying.  I replied that my work has been sporadic at best and I am facing leaving aviation after New Years if business doesn't pick up.  He told me to call him immediately.

I did, and he asked me if I'd be interested in doing some low-level flying in Louisiana for them in a C172RG.  They have a contract with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to fly "Telemetry" flights and apparently it'll be going on for the next six months.  Now I just happen to be going into a dry spell with my other flying so I said sure!

Strange how this stuff works.  Six years after I left this 135 job I am going back to work for them, at least temporarily.  I have to drive to Denver this today from southern Utah so I can take a checkride with their Chief Pilot (whom I've known for 10 years!) tomorrow, then back to Utah to finish up my trip here.  I'll get a few hours to see my family later in the week, then I airline to New Orleans to start this three week gig.  I'll pocket some good coin so long as the weather stays decent along the Gulf of Mexico.

I'll post pics when I can.  This should prove to be an interesting gig.

RC

[FlyboyGil]

Sounds awsome dog!!!   

[Mike]

good luck!

keep us posted!   

[Oddball]

need a mechanic? 

[4X-NTY]

Or a camera man? 

[G-man]

Congrats Rooster.....I flew low level all over the swamps of Louisiana for US Fish & Wildlife after Katrina...lost of bugs...bring lots of bug spray. Oh and have fun in Sulphur...me thinks you might spend some time there. You walk into the one restaurant in town and they ask if you would like to sit on the smoking or non-smoking side of the center aisle.....

For the rest of you...tis Louisiana...it is not a bustling metropolis.....

[Ragwing]

RC,
Congratulations,

I flew over Louisianian several years ago/
The first time, I was bewildered by the blue roofs.

The blue roofs are actually tarps.
Got y fingers crossed.
RW

[Rooster Cruiser]

Oddy and 4X, no I don't think they need either.

G-Man, thanks for the advice.  It sounds like all flights originate from KNEW and end there.  I'm certain I'll be bashing a bunch of bugs on every flight!

Rag, I flew into Picayune MS a month after Katrina to drop off relief workers, and I overflew Bay St Louis and New Orleans on my return.  The LUCKY ones were the ones with the blue tarps...  they still had homes to return to.  New Orleans was mostly flooded even a month later, and I saw entire neighborhoods at Bay St Louis a full 5 miles inland that had been completely washed away by the storm surge.  Imagine a storm so powerful it could bring a 20 foot tall wall of water 5 miles inland...   

Picayune MS was used by relief agencies as their center for relief and rebuilding because it was the closest city to the Gulf Coast that still had power.  FYI, Picayune is 50 MILES inland!  The countryside around Picayune is all Georgia Pine forest, which is planted and harvested privately for the paper mills in the area.  When I descended into Picayune, I was struck by the fact that I could actually see the forest floor through the trees.  Usually all you see is the pine canopy.  Once I landed I realized I could see forest floor because 50-75% of the trees had either been knocked down or snapped in half by the hurricane winds. 

Katrina went through Picayune as a Category 3 Hurricane, and the damage path reminded me of a 50 mile wide tornado.


Now I am guilty of thread drift!  Hehe.

RC