Helicopter Policies

[Fisher]

For you b-rollers out there who work at a station where a TV helicopter is used...

What is the station's policy toward who flies? I know it is mandatory at many big market stations for every photog on staff to fly. For others... only those who want to. Does your station have a policy? If so please let me know... also it would be great if you could give the call letters of your station or the market.

Thanks.

[<funny>]

only our chief flies

[kfatica]

CF,

At WKYC here in Cleveland we have a leased helicopter, but none of us are permitted to fly in it. That's Gannett company policy and a big bummer if you ask me. I came from across the street at WUAB/WOIO where they have a chopper and (at the time) I was the only one who would fly in it even though everyone was encouraged to.

We have a Robinson, a very small chopper, and the photog weight limit is 200 lbs or under.

Regards,
Kim Fatica, D.P.
WKYC, Cleveland

[Tx]

Our station will let you fly if you want to. Some of the staff doesn`t,but we have plenty of people that like it. I get to fly maybe once a week. We are flying a Bell jet ranger,until June when we get a Bell long ranger. The other stations in town seem to have a one photographer that will fly for the most part. The desk just picks who ever is there at the time to go up. As far as best chopper in town it goes to the Fox26 station. Sweet chopper. Brand new Bell 407.
Good luck and I hope you get to fly.
Wally Crow/KPRC-TV Houston.

[NEWS_HAWK]

Kim I think you have the reason starring you in the face why yoru station will not allow any of you to fly.

Robinson Helicopters are not one of the most highly regarded helicopters as far as safety is concerned. I have spent many flying hours, in Jet Rangers, Astars, Twin Squirrals etc and the one time I flew in a Robinson we had a Major mechanical failure when transitioning into forward flight. (Was Lucky to walkaway with just minor cuts and brown trousers) I am assuming that its either an R22 or an R44 Beta that your station has. Although they are alot cheaper to run they do not have the power that a Turbine Helicopter has.

But like yourself there is no feeling better than shooting from a Helicopter especially on a lovely cool morningwhen the air is clear and the horizon goes on for ever.

[aussie]

WE all fly and shoot the old fashion way. With
a schwem gyro stabiliser lens and the side door open
The only restriction is we are required to do
the Helicopter Under Water Escape Training
course

[<MIAMI>]

We Have a Full Time Mon-Friday chopper Wescam operate. He only does that all week.

We Fly a LongRanger with a Long Range Zoom lens WesCam on front.

There are also 3 back up operators.

In the event a street photog needs to fly, you get $30.00 extra per hour to go up on top of your regular salary. :cool:

(Union Benifits)

[<PICS>]

Originally posted by Tx:
Our station will let you fly if you want to. Some of the staff doesn`t,but we have plenty of people that like it. I get to fly maybe once a week. We are flying a Bell jet ranger,until June when we get a Bell long ranger. The other stations in town seem to have a one photographer that will fly for the most part. The desk just picks who ever is there at the time to go up. As far as best chopper in town it goes to the Fox26 station. Sweet chopper. Brand new Bell 407.
Good luck and I hope you get to fly.
Wally Crow/KPRC-TV Houston.Wally can you get pics of the FOX Chopper?? I liked the chopper pics you sent me of the market. Thanks!

Elias
ezyemail@yahoo.com

[CameraShy]

We here at WTNH are taking delivery June 1st. on our Chopper. A Bell Long Jet Ranger with digital auto trak microwave Flir Gyro system and 4 other cameras. We as Miami will have a full-time chopper photog, with 5 other photog's as backup. Keith McCutchen in Indianopolis is doing the set-up and lay out of the bird. It's our first out right ownership. Can't wait. :D

[<TC>]

WYFF, Greenville. We've got a Jet Ranger, and there's four of us who are trained. I've trained a couple others, but for various reasons they didn't want to fly after all. Others have shown no interest in flying. Eventually, I hope to have the three bureau guys trained to give us seven total.

Policy is simply if you want to learn and fly, you're more than welcome. No requirement.

[<Dan King In San Fran>]

When I worked at WSVN And at WXIA everyone could fly. I now work in San Francisco where only a couple of people who came with the lease of the chopper who fly. I first thought they had a mass of hours in, But come to find out they just started. I am not sure why some leasing company do this.

I really miss flying. I feel as Photojournalist we are better at bring Pictures to the viewer.

[David R. Busse]

The previous poster describes a growing trend. At my station and others in our station group, the helicopter owner (lessor) employs pilot and cameraman, owns & maintains the helicopter(s), camera system(s) and microwave system(s).

The only time our photogs fly is when another helicopter (non-microwave) is used as a means of transportation to a scene.

Do I miss flying? After logging about 5000 hours in congested skies, the answer is "no."

Been there, done that.

[David R. Busse]

Originally posted by CameraShy:
We here at WTNH are taking delivery June 1st. on our Chopper. A Bell Long Jet Ranger with digital auto trak microwave Flir Gyro system and 4 other cameras. We as Miami will have a full-time chopper photog, with 5 other photog's as backup. Keith McCutchen in Indianopolis is doing the set-up and lay out of the bird. It's our first out right ownership. Can't wait. :D Please ask Keith for a copy of his helicopter operations manual, change a word or two to better fit your station, and make it required reading for all involved, from photogs to reporters to desk AND management. Conduct extensive safety briefings for first-time users and repeat those briefings every few months.

This is not a flying minicam truck. Practice safe operations from Day One and you should be just fine.

A word of advice...if you are operating the Flir from the back of the LongRanger, be prepared for a few days of sickness as you get accustomed to it. Your forward field of vision is limited and some have a problem with that. Additionally, when I was learning the Wescam nearly 10 years ago, I repeatedly got violently airsick upon landing. Weird but not unusual. Don't let the sickness bother you...I got over it after a couple weeks' worth of daily Wescam operation.

[livedownunder]

Originally posted by aussie:
The only restriction is we are required to do
the Helicopter Under Water Escape Training
courseI've also had to do the Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) course with the station that I work for. I'm fairly sure that most of the news crews from the Metro-Networks within Austrlia have attended these courses as a request from management (and paid for by the Networks).

Additionally, we have to be signed off on a familarization session with the helicopter, where the pilot explains operational and safety concerns. This covers such things as operationg the microwave link, understanding the multiple 2-way radios, knowing where to locate and how to use lifejackets, fire-extinguisher and EPIRBS. Most importantly, avoiding the tailrotar area and directions to approach a rotating helo.

Here's just a few of the recent problems that have occured in my area -
- Incorrect closure of a hinged door by a reporter resulting in a cracked hinge
- Seatbelt buckle left hanging out of a sliding door (by cameraman) and smashing into the airframe
- Unnecessary inflation of a lifejacket while in flight when a cameraman was playing around.

Mark

[Shaky & Blue]

Originally posted by David R. Busse:
A word of advice...if you are operating the Flir from the back of the LongRanger, be prepared for a few days of sickness as you get accustomed to it.If you have problems with airsickness, consider buying a ReliefBand:

http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix/cat/reliefband/exp_lores_100x150.jpg

It's a little watch-like device that zaps a nerve on your wrist with a mild electrical shock. That nerve is an accupressure point that suppresses nausea. Believe it or not, it works! My parents bought one as a gift for a cancer patient they knew who was having trouble during chemo, and she was able to keep her meals down when she used it. It's used for pilots, seasickness, chemo patients and even pregnant women (if any of you fellas have a wife with morning sickness, this thing could score you some major points!).

The ReliefBand is $70 at http://www.aeromedix.com/ . You may consider talking your pilot into getting one to keep in the bird for first timers. A one time $70 investment is a lot better than standing on the ramp cleaning vomit out of the upholstery.

[<steede>]

At my former job we weren't required much to my relief. I've done it because I had, but when given a choice I'll stay on the ground everytime. I don't have an aversion to flying, but I do have an aversion to choppers.

-steede

[ravenm]

aussie....you think that's the old way? we shoot from the chopper by taking the passenger side door off and shooting off the shoulder...no gyros, nuthin...just good old shoulder shootin'. hazard pay? no thanks, i'm full. really wouldn't bother me that much if it weren't for the fact that there's nothing between you and certain death but a seatbelt.

[<TC>]

Bonine is also a good non-drowsy drug to avoid getting sick.

And you can get "seabands" that use acupressure to your wrists to help avoid it too.

But once you fly a bit, it becomes second nature.

[imported_blank]

Originally posted by Shaky & Blue:
If you have problems with airsickness, consider buying a ReliefBand:
http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix/cat/reliefband/exp_lores_100x150.jpgWhy spend $70, when you can get away with spending 70 cents. :D
http://www.blindmicecomics.com/images/Vomit2.jpg
image courtesy
http://www.blindmicecomics.com

70 cent vomit bag designed for chunks and slush alike :D

guaranteed to work even under the most extreme conditions
http://www.ics-multimedia.com/eng/heli1.gif

[<woofie>]

http://www.airsicknessbags.com/K/KuwaitAirways2002.jpg

[<Fly Guy>]

WWBT.

We have a mounted camera that the pilot operates. No need to fly, but anybody can if needed.

[<do you need that?>]

I like the part about flying where the piolet looks at you...then at the gear...then at you and says, "How much does all that weigh? And is there anything that we can leave behind?" Thats comforting.

[Shaky & Blue]

Vomit bags are fine for their purpose, but I kinda like things to enter and leave the right directions if at all possible.

[aussie]

aussie....you think that's the old way? we shoot from the chopper by taking the passenger side door off and shooting off the shoulder...no gyros, nuthin...just good old shoulder shootin'. hazard pay? no thanks, i'm full. really wouldn't bother me that much if it weren't for the fact that there's nothing between you and certain death but a seatbelt. Crikey no Gryo ! I hope the pilot comes down to 50ft ;)
Mate I wont fly without a quick release safety harness , seatbelts are too easy to undo

[David R. Busse]

Originally posted by aussie:
[QUOTE]Mate I wont fly without a quick release safety harness , seatbelts are too easy to undoIn pre-Wescam/Flir days, I did a lot of shooting in a lot of different helicopters (Hughes 500 and JetRangers mostly) hand-held.

I, too, have a great distrust of seat belts. I also don't trust seat cushions on JetRangers when the door is off.

I had a company called Thornton Technologies in carlsbad, Calif., build me a quick-release harness. It adds great stability to your shooting, releases in about three seconds and anchors to hard points in the helicopter. Best money I ever spent, tho it sits in my gear locker right now...

[McColl]

KVBC Las Vegas here...

We lease a Hughes 500 and shoot with a side-mounted FLIR system... which I much prefer to hanging out the back. All of our photographers are trained on helicopter safety... but no need for the HUET course out here in the desert. Our traffic reporter does the bulk of the photography, and he's actually very good at it. The smaller and lighter photographers tend to get more opportunities to fly in the 500.

[David R. Busse]

Originally posted by McColl:
KVBC Las Vegas here...

We lease a Hughes 500 and shoot with a side-mounted FLIR system... which I much prefer to hanging out the back. All of our photographers are trained on helicopter safety... but no need for the HUET course out here in the desert. Our traffic reporter does the bulk of the photography, and he's actually very good at it. The smaller and lighter photographers tend to get more opportunities to fly in the 500.It may not sound romantic to you, but that particular Hughes 500C that you fly in was the exact helicopter my wife was shooting from 23 years ago this November when I first laid eyes on her...I've told Mike Dreesman I wanna buy it when he's finished flying it....

[eb]

Unfortunately, there was a VERY "hard landing" in Denver late yesterday. Here's KMGH's web story.

www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2191897/detail.html (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2191897/detail.html)

-eb

[<extvtog>]

Do you all at KTUL in Tulsa still have to shoot out the door and also put the microwave antenae on the skid? Is there still talk of getting a flir? Does Larry still take you up?

[kfatica]

Originally posted by NEWS_HAWK:
Kim I think you have the reason starring you in the face why yoru station will not allow any of you to fly.Yeah, that Robinson sure was cramped and hot. Quick, yes, but I also did not like they way the gimbel was mounted against the body of the chopper. That seemed to amplify the helicopter's vibrations on tape, especially shooting almost directly below. My former assistant ND at that station was such an idiot. He would yell at me for not keeping the camera steady! :rolleyes:

I used to drool over the Astar and Jet Ranger flown by the other stations in town. Now, when the video isn't up to par from our chopper, I just say, "ya get what ya pay for."

Best,
Kim