0:26
Hi, my name is Josh Beckham, I'm Vice
0:27
President of Operations for Helimax
0:30
>> Hey, I'm Marcus Hershey, uh MVG Captain
0:32
and make the test flight for Helimax
0:34
>> So, today we came together with a couple
0:36
other Chinook operators and we had the
0:38
opportunity to do a photo flight out of
0:39
Wilson Lake. This is the first time
0:41
three operators have been able to come
0:43
together and do a unique spread.
0:47
This is uh Helimax is operating
0:49
currently four Chinooks.
0:50
Uh we've been operating them since 2015
0:53
in a wide variety of roles. Primarily,
0:55
our mission is firefighting operations
0:58
>> I've been a Chinook since 2000. Started
1:01
as a mechanic, then a crew chief, flight
1:02
engineer, and now I worked my way up to
1:04
being a captain here at Helimax.
1:06
>> Working for Helimax, I've been here for
1:08
20 years. I think it's a great company.
1:09
We have a great ownership from the top
1:11
down, a lot of support, uh aircraft our
1:16
overall good good facility and [music]
1:18
>> Yeah, I'm in my sixth year here at
1:20
Helimax and uh definitely more of a
1:22
family organization feel here. So,
1:25
everyone comes together to make make the
1:27
>> So, the the Chinook is the premier type
1:29
one helicopter for firefighting
1:30
operations. Uh we operate them in both a
1:32
tanked and longline capacity.
1:35
Uh we have the capability of day and
1:36
night operations. And this is the true
1:39
hot and high performer of the type one
1:41
>> Just recently, we're on our third year
1:43
now of MVG firefighting as well, day and
1:46
night. So, definitely top performer in
1:48
the firefighting world.
1:50
>> Yeah, I think the Chinook is a great
1:51
platform. It's like a sports car to fly.
1:54
It's big, but very agile and
1:56
maneuverable I guess all kinds of
1:58
>> Yeah, the Chinook's is my primary
2:00
helicopter, so it's the one I love the
2:06
>> Hi, my name's Mike Shire. I'm a 47
2:09
command pilot for PJ Helicopters.
2:12
>> My name's Anthony Ryckout from
2:14
Snohomish, Washington. I'm SIC on the
2:16
CH-47 for with PJ Helicopters, and so my
2:20
>> back this guy up everywhere I can.
2:22
>> I've been flying tandem rotor for 10
2:24
years now, and the Chinook model for
2:29
I love the aerodynamics of the way these
2:31
tandem rotors operate and the things
2:35
>> I've been flying Chinooks for 2 years
2:38
So, I like the redundancy [music] and
2:40
I like the crew environment and the
2:41
culture. It's really It's a great
2:44
>> to PJ's almost 3 years ago, and
2:47
it's it's been a great move career-wise.
2:49
The culture there at the company is the
2:50
best I think in the industry so far.
2:53
They're doing all sorts of incredible
2:56
construction jobs all over the country
2:59
here firefighting in California and for
3:02
It's it's been a awesome place to work.
3:05
>> PJ Helicopters for me has been a great
3:07
experience. The culture's great, the
3:08
maintenance is great, the mission is
3:10
fun, the people are great. They
3:11
prioritize training, which is an amazing
3:13
thing. You really need a lot of training
3:14
in this type of dynamic environment, and
3:17
that's a priority for PJ and for us, and
3:20
I really appreciate that aspect.
3:23
903 Langley Nighthawks They're our NVG
3:29
We have three of them currently working
3:30
solely for Cal Fire. So, they typically
3:33
operate from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. And
3:36
the benefit of that is when the sun goes
3:38
down and the fire activity starts to
3:40
slow down, we can continue to help the
3:44
>> My name's Cody Bart.
3:45
>> I'm a flight pilot for Rotex
3:48
>> My name's Steven Derry. I'm a co-pilot
3:50
for Rotex Helicopters. Mostly
3:51
firefighting. We just come back from a
3:53
couple of uh lift projects. Wherever the
3:56
work take uh work takes us, we uh find
3:58
ourselves there. But mostly firefighting
4:00
this season and then probably some more
4:02
uh relief work at the end of the season.
4:04
I've been a PIC for 16 years this year
4:06
in the uh the Chinook helicopter. I've
4:08
been flying Phantom [music] rotors for
4:10
uh 23 years. And uh yeah, this aircraft
4:13
behind me here is definitely my
4:14
favorite. Rotak's amazing. They take
4:16
really good care of us. Uh it's very
4:18
much a family-oriented company.
4:21
first and foremost, it's absolutely
4:22
safety. Safety is rooted in every
4:25
uh different department sector.
4:27
Um they really care about uh our attire,
4:30
our travel, our time off, our
4:32
equipments. It's just absolutely a fact
4:34
that it's all of the other calls that
4:35
make you our top priority
4:37
uh first and foremost uh for the
4:41
The CH-47's one of the funnest machines
4:43
I've ever flown and I'm very lucky to
4:44
fly it. And I've been flying
4:46
this machine for about 4 years at Rotak.
4:50
My first helicopter ride was actually in
4:51
a CH-47 in Afghanistan when I was in the
4:54
It was the first helicopter ride and now
4:55
I get to fly it, so it kind of came full
4:58
The uh CH-47 is probably [music] the
5:00
best-designed helicopter for this line
5:02
of work. And uh this line being utility
5:04
helicopter aviation, firefighting,
5:06
construction. If there's nothing that
5:08
compares or matches to its performance,
5:10
it's uh capabilities. It's a rugged
5:13
aircraft. It's uh over decades been
5:17
>> It's amazing. It you know, it's it's
5:18
big, but it it flies well. It's
5:21
incredibly smooth and uh you can lift a
5:25
>> It was entertaining today. I could tell
5:26
there were definitely some guys with
5:27
Chinook experience while we were doing
5:29
the formation flying today for a photo
5:32
shoot. It's a great experience to work
5:33
with other operators.
5:34
>> I think I'm right where I want to be
5:37
it's a fun dynamic environment and
5:39
working with Cal Fire and other Chinook
5:41
operators and helicopters in general on
5:43
the fire. It's it's a lot of fun.
5:45
>> I've been lucky. I got to work with
5:46
these guys for about 10 years of my
5:47
life. They taught me a lot. I learned a
5:49
lot and uh I'm just really fortunate I
5:51
still get to play with them.
