scott heger
Custom-made Troublemaker
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2003
- Messages
- 1,636
- Location
- Southern California
- Aircraft
- SportCopter Bell 206L-1
- Total Flight Time
- 1350
To make this a true Ken Brock Freedom Fly-in(and not tow-in), it seems that more than one gyro should fly to the event. Vance is by far the cross country king in the Predator. His adventures and challenging weather at his home airport make my 50 mile flight seem minuscule. I have flown to El Mirage more than 10 times, each of them different and unique. Here is a little about this years trip(s) to El Mirage.
Day One- Friday
With all the best intentions of heading out to KBFF El Mirage on Friday morning….a customer that is involved in movie production called Thursday and asked if I could take him in the helicopter to Lone Pine , Calif on Friday, a 200 mile one way trip. So much to getting to El Mirage early. I arrive at Corona at 7:00 Am to preflight and fuel the helicopter. So we fly up to Lone Pine, the site where they are filming "Lone Ranger" and arrived around noon, overflying the movie set at a legal altitude before landing. After going to the filming set and having lunch (steak, salad, vanilla ice cream and apple pie( I know, it is a hard life), The movie producer calls us and says "don't leave under any circumstances". As a pilot, I'm thinking this can not be good; did I screw up their filming by flying over?, are they trying to make some trouble for me? The producer's assistant shows up a few minutes later and tells us she needs "our" help. What a relief!. The production company had made a mistake and failed to get work permits from the State of California for the children actors for the last day of filming of this movie. They needed to use the children on Saturday, but the office in Los Angeles that issues permits was closed on Saturday, and they had less than 3 hours to get the needed permits before the State office closed, it was a 5 hour drive to get there in Friday traffic, and they required about a hour to get the paperwork filled out yet. They were looking at losing nearly a million dollars if they did not get the permits necessary on time. They see the Bell LongRanger sitting ....., and have a solution, fly the papers to Los Angeles. They gathered all the necessary signatures from the children's parents, which took awhile. and we launched for KVNY airport at 2PM, a 150 mile trip. Once airborne the GPS calculated a 3:35PM landing at Van Nuys. We landed at 3:34 and had the papers inside the FBO at 3:40 off the ramp. They had a movie staff member waiting to drive the final 10 minutes top the State Employment permit office. They called and made it at 3:52pm 8 minutes to "spare", a close call. I thought I was going to have to fly the work permits back to Lone Pine, but they had made other arrangements luckily.
I fueled the helicopter back up in KVNY, and it was finally time to go to El Mirage. The flight from Van Nuys to El Mirage was only 25 minutes for the 52 NM flight with a small tailwind. I noticed flying ,the wind was not like years past, it was almost non-existent in the late afternoon. I was still kind of stressed out from the earlier flight; after landing and seeing all the familiar faces was relaxing. I took 5 PAX for a single flight around the area. Ben's wife asked him to buy her a helicopter like mine after the flight, …sorry Ben……When we returned the BBQ was going and it was time for dinner. It was great to see all the gyro pilots, and having dinner on the lakebed was great, since it was much easier than going to Brock's hanger. As nighttime came , it was time for the 50 mile flight back to Corona, as I had brought no camping equipment since the plans had changed. The flight through the Cajon Pass was good. Winds were light, there was a full moon, and the nearly 10,000 foot mountains were well sillouetted in the moonlight. I flew over the pass at 6500 feet, 1000 foot higher than during the day. As I got near the bottom of the pass, the glowing lights of Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles county looked spectacular on this clear shimmering warm evening. I passed into Ontario's Class C airspace and continued into Chino's airspace for the final landing in Corona. I activated the runway lights by radio, and Corona, lit up like a welcoming haven at 8PM,a long day of flying exceeding 500 miles.
Day Two-Saturday
I arrived at Corona airport at 7:00 Am to re-preflight the gyro and to top-off the fuel tank at the airport pumps. To make this trip in the gyro ,it needs to be completely full of fuel to have the legally required reserve upon landing with my thirsty 582 two stroke. Not only is it a 50 mile trip, but I must climb from 500 feet to 5500 feet to get through the Cajon Pass. One final check, and I am off at 7:50 down the taxiway. I am flying in cargo shorts and a t-shirt, so it is really cold as I start climbing in the early morning altitude. I know when I get to El Mirage, it is going to be almost 100 degrees in the middle of the day, so wearing a lot of clothes didn't seem like a great idea. The flight goes well and I land at El Mirage at 9am , with a 100+MPH pass down the flight line just in time for the pilot briefing. I gave part of the briefing and organized the usual Ken Brock Hanger fly-by, giving respect to Ken's huge contribution to our sport. I also organized a later trip to KVCV Southern California Logistics Airport. After a fun morning of flying, where Ben had so graciously brought fuel for me to use on the lakebed, it was time to go to KVCV. The temperature was already pushing 90 degrees when I rounded up everyone that wanted to go at 11:30. This was a opportunity for those without radios to make a flight to a towered airport without the hassle. Dave Bacon was the first to say he would go in his Mac 90 powered machine. Dave was pretty sunburned at that point , and he and the gyro really looked like a characters from the Mad Max movie. KVCV is the old George Air Force base and is huge. Runway 17 is 15050 feet long, almost 3 miles! , It is a international port of entry towered airport. The ramp is loaded with more than 50 commercial planes. The airport is used for "special" non scheduled PAX service. The PAX get on and off the aircraft fully armed for long flights, you can guess what they do for a living. Three of the gyros going had radios and three did not. All pilots were briefed on what the plan was for landing, it was follow the leader (me) and I would set everything up with the tower while inbound via radio. 5 miles out, I contacted the tower, advised them a flight of 6 gyroplanes, some without radios inbound and requested a direct "ramp" landing in front of the control tower. Apparently gyros are mostly invisible to radar as they asked me several times our location. The last time I was only 1/2 mile west of Runway 17, but still 2 miles from the tower(that why the ramp landing, too long a taxi from the runway). We all landed in front of the FBO/ Million Air and tower within a two minute time frame. I was the only one that need fuel. So for my $44 in gas, all the other pilots managed to eat all their fruit and munchies they had put out in the lobby. The Million Air staff was very nice and accommodating, and was more used to filling up DC-10's than gyros that take 6 gallons. We all sat in their nice lobby in the cold air-conditioning relaxing and talking . The luxury of a flush toilet was a welcome sight after 100 degree port-a-potty days. After some picture taking we mounted up for the trip back. I called the tower and announced our intention for a flight of six gyros westbound departure from the ramp, the tower replied, "So Cal tower, Gyro 86SH, flight of 6, ramp departure approved as requested", and we were off, it was that easy. 15 minutes later we were back at El Mirage. The only notable event on the return flight was that I had flown back at about 1000 feet above the ground, much higher than normal to comply with the airport pattern altitude. Just before approaching a small mountain range, the gyro started into a 300+ FPM sink , even after applying full power. It only lasted about a minute, and Ben said he had noticed it also when we landed and started talking about the flight. Normally crossing the desert , I would not have flown that high, but was glad I did, and became important to the flight home. No one at the event could ever remember a flight of six gyros making a formation landing and take off at a towered airport at the same time! More flying, more purchased gas , this time from Dave B, and I began running out of energy. I had intended to fly the helicopter back up for the afternoon and dinner. The long days of work that week and flying, lack of sleep, and high temps told me enough was enough this year. An hour of saying good-bys, and I left around 3Pm. . The Cajon Pass is famous for its varying winds, and that afternoon was no exception. As I approached the start of the mountain range, encountered a 500 FPM sink at full power that lasted at least a minute, followed by a short 1000 FPM climb at part power, and again followed by a 500 FPM full power sink. As I neared the crest of the hills, I was wondering if a U-turn was going to be necessary. Sinking in approaching rising terrain is a classic mountain wave situation coming off the 10,000 foot mountains nearby. With a mile to go from the crest of the Cajon Pass, the sink disappeared and a 700 FPM climb with the stick centered started again. The roller coaster had begun. The flight down the mountain was at 75MPH airspeed and 55 MPH ground speed. The flight back to Corona with a 5000 foot decent actually took longer than the flight up to the high desert because of the headwinds. That last hour flying was some challenging work, and I was beat. Hopefully next year work will not be so busy, and I can spend more time at KBFF. It was great to see 5 SportCopters, with 5 different engine configurations (503,582,670 two strokes, yamaha and rotax 4 strokes). It ain't easy being a gyro pilot, and to see such a large group of dedicated men and women that share this sport is great . Thank you to Chapter 1 members for all their hard work to put this event on. Sorry I did not stick around for the dinner on Saturday, but it was so nice to see everyone. And yes I was one of only two pilots that flew a gyro at least 100 miles to KBFF. 4 hours of solid gyro flying is never a bad day.
Scott Hager, Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH
Day One- Friday
With all the best intentions of heading out to KBFF El Mirage on Friday morning….a customer that is involved in movie production called Thursday and asked if I could take him in the helicopter to Lone Pine , Calif on Friday, a 200 mile one way trip. So much to getting to El Mirage early. I arrive at Corona at 7:00 Am to preflight and fuel the helicopter. So we fly up to Lone Pine, the site where they are filming "Lone Ranger" and arrived around noon, overflying the movie set at a legal altitude before landing. After going to the filming set and having lunch (steak, salad, vanilla ice cream and apple pie( I know, it is a hard life), The movie producer calls us and says "don't leave under any circumstances". As a pilot, I'm thinking this can not be good; did I screw up their filming by flying over?, are they trying to make some trouble for me? The producer's assistant shows up a few minutes later and tells us she needs "our" help. What a relief!. The production company had made a mistake and failed to get work permits from the State of California for the children actors for the last day of filming of this movie. They needed to use the children on Saturday, but the office in Los Angeles that issues permits was closed on Saturday, and they had less than 3 hours to get the needed permits before the State office closed, it was a 5 hour drive to get there in Friday traffic, and they required about a hour to get the paperwork filled out yet. They were looking at losing nearly a million dollars if they did not get the permits necessary on time. They see the Bell LongRanger sitting ....., and have a solution, fly the papers to Los Angeles. They gathered all the necessary signatures from the children's parents, which took awhile. and we launched for KVNY airport at 2PM, a 150 mile trip. Once airborne the GPS calculated a 3:35PM landing at Van Nuys. We landed at 3:34 and had the papers inside the FBO at 3:40 off the ramp. They had a movie staff member waiting to drive the final 10 minutes top the State Employment permit office. They called and made it at 3:52pm 8 minutes to "spare", a close call. I thought I was going to have to fly the work permits back to Lone Pine, but they had made other arrangements luckily.
I fueled the helicopter back up in KVNY, and it was finally time to go to El Mirage. The flight from Van Nuys to El Mirage was only 25 minutes for the 52 NM flight with a small tailwind. I noticed flying ,the wind was not like years past, it was almost non-existent in the late afternoon. I was still kind of stressed out from the earlier flight; after landing and seeing all the familiar faces was relaxing. I took 5 PAX for a single flight around the area. Ben's wife asked him to buy her a helicopter like mine after the flight, …sorry Ben……When we returned the BBQ was going and it was time for dinner. It was great to see all the gyro pilots, and having dinner on the lakebed was great, since it was much easier than going to Brock's hanger. As nighttime came , it was time for the 50 mile flight back to Corona, as I had brought no camping equipment since the plans had changed. The flight through the Cajon Pass was good. Winds were light, there was a full moon, and the nearly 10,000 foot mountains were well sillouetted in the moonlight. I flew over the pass at 6500 feet, 1000 foot higher than during the day. As I got near the bottom of the pass, the glowing lights of Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles county looked spectacular on this clear shimmering warm evening. I passed into Ontario's Class C airspace and continued into Chino's airspace for the final landing in Corona. I activated the runway lights by radio, and Corona, lit up like a welcoming haven at 8PM,a long day of flying exceeding 500 miles.
Day Two-Saturday
I arrived at Corona airport at 7:00 Am to re-preflight the gyro and to top-off the fuel tank at the airport pumps. To make this trip in the gyro ,it needs to be completely full of fuel to have the legally required reserve upon landing with my thirsty 582 two stroke. Not only is it a 50 mile trip, but I must climb from 500 feet to 5500 feet to get through the Cajon Pass. One final check, and I am off at 7:50 down the taxiway. I am flying in cargo shorts and a t-shirt, so it is really cold as I start climbing in the early morning altitude. I know when I get to El Mirage, it is going to be almost 100 degrees in the middle of the day, so wearing a lot of clothes didn't seem like a great idea. The flight goes well and I land at El Mirage at 9am , with a 100+MPH pass down the flight line just in time for the pilot briefing. I gave part of the briefing and organized the usual Ken Brock Hanger fly-by, giving respect to Ken's huge contribution to our sport. I also organized a later trip to KVCV Southern California Logistics Airport. After a fun morning of flying, where Ben had so graciously brought fuel for me to use on the lakebed, it was time to go to KVCV. The temperature was already pushing 90 degrees when I rounded up everyone that wanted to go at 11:30. This was a opportunity for those without radios to make a flight to a towered airport without the hassle. Dave Bacon was the first to say he would go in his Mac 90 powered machine. Dave was pretty sunburned at that point , and he and the gyro really looked like a characters from the Mad Max movie. KVCV is the old George Air Force base and is huge. Runway 17 is 15050 feet long, almost 3 miles! , It is a international port of entry towered airport. The ramp is loaded with more than 50 commercial planes. The airport is used for "special" non scheduled PAX service. The PAX get on and off the aircraft fully armed for long flights, you can guess what they do for a living. Three of the gyros going had radios and three did not. All pilots were briefed on what the plan was for landing, it was follow the leader (me) and I would set everything up with the tower while inbound via radio. 5 miles out, I contacted the tower, advised them a flight of 6 gyroplanes, some without radios inbound and requested a direct "ramp" landing in front of the control tower. Apparently gyros are mostly invisible to radar as they asked me several times our location. The last time I was only 1/2 mile west of Runway 17, but still 2 miles from the tower(that why the ramp landing, too long a taxi from the runway). We all landed in front of the FBO/ Million Air and tower within a two minute time frame. I was the only one that need fuel. So for my $44 in gas, all the other pilots managed to eat all their fruit and munchies they had put out in the lobby. The Million Air staff was very nice and accommodating, and was more used to filling up DC-10's than gyros that take 6 gallons. We all sat in their nice lobby in the cold air-conditioning relaxing and talking . The luxury of a flush toilet was a welcome sight after 100 degree port-a-potty days. After some picture taking we mounted up for the trip back. I called the tower and announced our intention for a flight of six gyros westbound departure from the ramp, the tower replied, "So Cal tower, Gyro 86SH, flight of 6, ramp departure approved as requested", and we were off, it was that easy. 15 minutes later we were back at El Mirage. The only notable event on the return flight was that I had flown back at about 1000 feet above the ground, much higher than normal to comply with the airport pattern altitude. Just before approaching a small mountain range, the gyro started into a 300+ FPM sink , even after applying full power. It only lasted about a minute, and Ben said he had noticed it also when we landed and started talking about the flight. Normally crossing the desert , I would not have flown that high, but was glad I did, and became important to the flight home. No one at the event could ever remember a flight of six gyros making a formation landing and take off at a towered airport at the same time! More flying, more purchased gas , this time from Dave B, and I began running out of energy. I had intended to fly the helicopter back up for the afternoon and dinner. The long days of work that week and flying, lack of sleep, and high temps told me enough was enough this year. An hour of saying good-bys, and I left around 3Pm. . The Cajon Pass is famous for its varying winds, and that afternoon was no exception. As I approached the start of the mountain range, encountered a 500 FPM sink at full power that lasted at least a minute, followed by a short 1000 FPM climb at part power, and again followed by a 500 FPM full power sink. As I neared the crest of the hills, I was wondering if a U-turn was going to be necessary. Sinking in approaching rising terrain is a classic mountain wave situation coming off the 10,000 foot mountains nearby. With a mile to go from the crest of the Cajon Pass, the sink disappeared and a 700 FPM climb with the stick centered started again. The roller coaster had begun. The flight down the mountain was at 75MPH airspeed and 55 MPH ground speed. The flight back to Corona with a 5000 foot decent actually took longer than the flight up to the high desert because of the headwinds. That last hour flying was some challenging work, and I was beat. Hopefully next year work will not be so busy, and I can spend more time at KBFF. It was great to see 5 SportCopters, with 5 different engine configurations (503,582,670 two strokes, yamaha and rotax 4 strokes). It ain't easy being a gyro pilot, and to see such a large group of dedicated men and women that share this sport is great . Thank you to Chapter 1 members for all their hard work to put this event on. Sorry I did not stick around for the dinner on Saturday, but it was so nice to see everyone. And yes I was one of only two pilots that flew a gyro at least 100 miles to KBFF. 4 hours of solid gyro flying is never a bad day.
Scott Hager, Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH
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