Page 40 - Twin and Turbine September 2017

The pilot position and control inputs are also entirely different in the helicopter than the twin-engine, pressurized airplane I just flew over in. In a helicopter, the pilot sits on the right side under a hot Plexiglas canopy, with small altitude adjustments being made with the left hand on the collective control, while pitch and turning adjustments are made by the right hand via the cyclic control. The throttle is “motor cycle” style rotary device on the end of the collective. Luckily in an R44 it is governed and usually takes care of itself. Coordinated flight requires some anti-torque adjustments with the foot pedals as the collective goes up or down and the power is adjusted by the governor. It is also not uncommon to bring the helicopter to a complete halt some 15 to 25 feet above the ground, an activity, which for a fixed wing pilot is very disconcerting. Finally, there is no autopilot in the helicopter, so you are actively “flying” the thing the entire time you are airborne.
Air Dried With Care
It takes about 30 minutes to dry a typical 10-acre plot, at which time you move on to another one owned by the company. Each plot has its own often odd and peculiar name. When the guy on the ground tells you to next go to “Rattlesnake” or “Bandit,” you head to that location. You would think that navigating the helicopter from one nearby orchard to another is much easier than flying the twin Cessna over 150 miles of mountainous terrain to a small airport like M94. Not so at all. Operating 15 feet over the trees you do not have the benefit of altitude to provide perspective, and GPS is just not that helpful when operating on a scale confined to 10-acre plots. Actually, I find flying a Citation from Washington to Texas much easier from a navigational point of view, than flying the R44 at low altitude from one 10-acre site to the next. Even though I have 1,500 hours in the R44, when jumping out of the airplane and directly into the helicopter, I give all these differences a lot of careful thought before even starting the engine.
The sun is well above the horizon and the day already getting hot, when after a very fatiguing, sweaty hour of flying back and forth very low over cherry trees, the guy with the white cowboy hat, and tobacco stained teeth, riding the red quad runner around on the ground, calls me via the cellphone hooked to my headset to say in a distinct Spanish accent that he thinks this particular plot is pretty well dried.
It is time to land, make a long overdue visit to the head, refuel the helicopter from the red “Tidy Tank” in the back of the pickup and look into getting the bacon and egg breakfast I have been thinking about since shortly after dawn. Then perhaps get in the 340, turn on the air conditioner, climb to 16,000 feet where the a•ir is cool and smooth, and fly at 200 knots back across the Cascades to home, which on the green side of the state.
But, since I am already in the orchard, maybe I should firstpicksomecherries. T&T
38 • TWIN & TURBINE
An R44 pilot’s view of a cherry orchard. To encourage the cherries to ripen faster, sunlight-re ective white plastic sheets are placed on the ground under the trees
During the cherry harvest, Kevin Ware often exchanges the left seat of his Cessna 340 for the right seat of his Robinson R44. Here, both craft enjoy a rare, side-by-side breather at Desert Aire (M94).
Kevin Ware is an ATP who also holds CFI, MEII and helicopter ratings, has more than 10,000 hours and is typed in several different business jets. He has been f lying for a living on and off since he was 20, and currently works as a contract pilot for various corporate operations in the Seattle area. When not working as a pilot he is employed part time as an emergency and urgent care physician. He can be reached at kevin.ware2@aol.com
September 2017