Sean Ackerman said:
Frank, cant ya just share a whole thread of cool photos. Please?
Well...... OK!
Here's a sampling of various flying jobs I've had over the last 10 years and places they have taken me....
Long time with Era Helicopters in the Gulf of Mexico. Flew four types while there. This one is the Sikorsky S-61 (Same type the president uses)
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I also flew the Bell 412 and was a primary pilot for testing newly refurbished and maintenance aircraft. We used to fly our tired 412's to Kelowna, Canada to a company there that would do heavy refurbishments and they would come out looking like they just came from the factory floor.
Approaching the hangar landing spot at the refurbishment center
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Landing at the same location
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I had to fly this one back to Louisiana from Canada following refurb. I stopped in Utah to spend the night with my brother and sat a portrait with his dog "Sugarbear"
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I was working at Era during Hurricane Katrina, and immediately following, I flew a BO-105 into New Orleans every day in support of Petrocom. The company provides communication services to the offshore industry, and more importantly to the Coast Guard. New Orleans was a nightmare. No Power, no lights, flooding, rescues, and we were even shot at a few times.
The two pics below were of the helicopter I flew for this time at Petrocomm's headquarters in New Orleans, and a shot taken from the air in the 9th District which was totally flooded by the levy break. That's the Home Depot in the shot!
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I left Era to join Blackwater's Aviation department where I spent the next two and a half years on a Navy Contract, working off of a US Naval Supply Ship, mostly in Asia and Middle East, replenishing US Navy Battlegroups at sea (VERTREP).
Typical day on VERTREP while on the USNS Concord
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Morning Preparation for a VERTREP mission with the USS J.C. Stennis Aircraft Carrier (Chasing us at the time)
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Another typical day job on VERTREP
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A look at us from a receiving ship. By the way, these helicopters are French Pumas (SA-330J's) with a maximum slingload lift of 6000 lbs.
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We would often refuel on the receiving ship while our own ship's deck was full of loads to be delivered. Here I am on the J.C. Stennis Aircraft Carrier while refueling on one day. These ships are darn BIG!
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We were in port almost 50% of the time because we were a supply ship and had to GET the supplies. That allowed for lots of visits to exotic locales while in port. Some places we had to be careful what we would be eating. Fortunately, in Singapore, everything is in both Chinese AND in English... thank goodness! [scared]
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Always got home to my then "children". Our Greyhound was with us for 15 years before she passed, but what a sweet companion. One of the two cats is still with us, but we think an alligator or hawk got the black one when we moved to Florida. He just disappeared one day. We miss them. [sad]
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Hopefully, these ought to satisfy Sean for awhile!! [big grin]
Cheers,
Frank
