Previous | Military Home | Next
Shawn Holmes recently finished 10 years in the Army and transitioned to civilian life. As a helicopter pilot in the Army, his training allowed him to take his skill to the outside world. Here is a report on his flying life now:
Feb 11, 2006: I work a 14 on 14 off schedule (called a hitch) and there is plenty of workover time available if you want it. Our duty days are 14 hours long with a max of 8 hours flight time for single engine aircraft, the flight time can be extended but they then have to increase your crew rest times (normally 10 hours), this is all covered in FAR 135 for single pilot on demand operators. The contract I am currently on flys between 5-8 hours a day, except days like today when the sky is clear visibility is great but the winds are 40 knots offshore. My first day with the company I was ramp checked by the FAA, lots of fun! Right now I am in the AS350B2 but a transition to another aircraft should come in about 6 months. They like for all the pilots to have atleast 2 sometime 3 aircraft that they are current in so they are more flexible. The company has the AS 350B2, A119, BO105, AB139, S76A++ (getting the C++), 212,412, EC155, EC120, and S61. They are currently purchasing some A109's and EC135's. An aircraft transition takes about 3-5 days for the single engine ones and 7-10 days for the multiengine ones. I did my transition training and started hitch so it will be March 1st before I am off again. Then I start the normal 14/14 schedule. It is not the best situation but better than 12-15 months in the desert. We talk every day and email each day also so it isn't so bad. The company houses me here and I am in a town house sty apartment with one other guy right now. Furnished with cable and internet, not exactly home but better than a cot in a tent with 60 on joes.
Feb 22, 2006: It is raining like crazy outside right now so I thought I would take this time to send off a message letting everyone know how things are going. As most of you know I am now working down in Louisiana (Morgan City, about 80 miles south west of New Orleans). I finished my aircraft transition and FAA Part 135 check ride on the 7th of February after a wopping 7.4 hours in the aircraft (AS350B2). The Astar is a pretty good aircraft with lots of power available and although it got a little bit of a bad reputation for the hydraulics in it the aircraft is quite flyable even without them. Although it is much nicer with them. The following morning I was out flying a contract. I flew to Houston Hobby airport from Lake Charles, LA and picked up a guy to go out about 170 miles from the coast of Texas. Dropped him off on a boat out there and then flew 120 miles back to Lake Charles. I then drove to Morgan City, LA to start my hitch (each hitch consists of 14 days although once a ye
ar there is a 21 day hitch so you don't end up missing all of the holidays each year).
A Normal Day...Wake up at 0430 and get ready for the day. I stay in an apartment provided by the company that is about a mile or so away from the heliport. Show time is 0530 and you hit the ground running. Preflight the aircraft, fill out your maintenance logs and then grab a cup of coffee while waiting for sunrise. I call out to my dispatcher, who is a lead operator on one of the platforms that my contract company runs, and he lets me know the plan for the day. Usually the plan is only good up until your first stop and then it all changes so stay flexible. Once I know what my first load is and my second load I figure out my fuel. Fuel is usually based on how much weight you will be carrying. It is standard procedure to always be operating right at or very close to maximum gross weight (4961lbs). Then at sunrise or 0600 which ever is later it is off to the races. My most distant platform is 93 miles out and my closest one is about 50 miles out. Fuel is always an i
ssue so you really have to stay on top of it. There are multiple platforms out there that the company has but 2000gallon fuel tanks at so it is just a matter of finding the one that fits your area and schedule. I have two very different set of days here. The first is on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These are crew change days so first thing in the morning you take the workers who are going out for the week to their platform and then bring back the guys who have just finished their week. The other type of day is a production day (production also occurs on crew change days but it is secondary to the crew change). On production day you are hauling parts pieces and workers out to multiple platforms then you will pick them up and take them to other platforms. Some days you will spend 1-3 hours sitting on a little platform out in the middle on nowhere waiting as these guys work on the pumps and other equipment. Other days you are so busy that you will drop them off then
head off to do other things then pick them up later in the day.
On average I fly 5-7 hours a day weather dependant with 8 being my maximum allowed. The weather minimums here are 500 foot ceilings and 3 miles of visibility and let me tell you that is crap when you are 80 miles or so out with just enough fuel to get to your platform. The last few days the weather has been real crappy and it will most assuredly push you to the edge of you comfort zone. There is nothing like the sight of a platform though when you are down around three hundred feet to stay below the clouds and your GPS says 2.3miles when it finally comes into sight. Yeah I know this is lower than the minimums but when you are only ten miles from your platform but 80 or more miles from land you have to adjust. Since we are talking about weather let me just say that the Inadvertant IMC procedures are a joke. My aircraft has a nice GPS but no IFR instruments (ie. VOR, LOC, NDB) so if you end up in the soup you have three options. 1) stay at your altitude and do a 180 deg
ree turn then fly till you are back out of it 2) climb and do a 180 degree turn then fly till you are back out of it 3) descend until you are out of it. Sounds like fun huh! Well I ended up seeing the inner workings of some white puffy things the other day and my Army training kicked in I started a level climb and just when I wanted to call approach I remembered there is no approach so 180 degree turn here we come. I was at about 400 feet when I went in and broke out at 1200 feet. After getting back over the beach it cleared up though so we went back to the base and waited a couple of hours then headed out again. Nothing will wake your passengers up as fast as going into a cloud though and the ones I had that day hate flying anyway so needless to say they weren't too excited about trying again. We made it out though and I got the crew change done.
After you have finished your flying for the day it is back to the beach with you. Once you land you finish out your paperwork and wait for your engine to cool so you can do a fresh water rinse on it. The engines are rinsed everyday and the aircraft are washed every other day or so to prevent corrosion. By this time it is nearly 1900 hrs and you head back to the apartment to grab a bite to eat and hit the sack for another early start. There are no days off during a hitch unless the weather is bad and even then you show up and preflight so if it clears up you can take off and get something done atleast. The oil workers have no concept of weather and duty days and max flying time though so you have to stand your ground with them when it comes to pushing it a little too hard.
The work is busy and it keeps you going but I have really enjoyed it so far. I know this was long but I figured I had the time so why not let everyone know what it is like. I hope that this email finds everyone doing well and I look forward to hearing from you guys again at another time. Have a good day and fly safe.
-Shawn Holmes