OTOH Low Helo
OTOH Low Helo
OTOH Low Helo
OTOH Low Helo
By John Wiley
Several times today, sheltered in place near [email protected], we heard a very low flying helicopter in the area. Edhat of course had some info on it, so we went back to daily chores. Later it passed close enough that I wanted more detail so I ran for a zoom camera. By the time I got back it was up in the hills, but zoom revealed a person in orange standing on the skid! When it came closer I got more pix, including as it slowly passed a couple of hundred feet overhead. These two guys were shooting pix of their own out the door of an MD 900, a cool 1990s machine with NOTAR (no tail rotor).
10 Comments
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Jul 16, 2020 11:04 AM"OTOH LOW HELO" — That sounds like it should mean something in Chumash.
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Jul 16, 2020 11:43 AMRex..it almost means;
The water around Helo village.
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Jul 16, 2020 03:00 PMI KNEW IT! Thank you, Nostrachumash! It sounds very pretty.
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Jul 16, 2020 12:08 PMOn The Other Hand, such exceptionally low flying may be dangerous to people and property on the ground. OTOH, flying close to electrical lines and transformers to shoot pix/vid/Infrared can enable very close real-time inspection and subsequent review of pix/vid of aging and potentially unsafe equipment that could endanger people and property, including igniting wildfires. OTOH, even a drone large enough to fly such missions would save considerable utility expense that's eventually passed along to customers and/or taxpayers, while also greatly reducing risks and providing even closer inspection. OTOH, a drone flying and hovering less than 100' above neighborhoods would be more vulnerable to damage or theft than a helicopter.
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Jul 16, 2020 12:10 PMRex, your comment not only had me grinning from ear to ear at your wit :D - but also feeling sheepish for having forgotten to include some of my thoughts about pro/con of drone/helo powerline inspection.
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Jul 16, 2020 01:15 PMflightaware shows it 100' over town yesterday
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Jul 16, 2020 01:24 PMBack in the mid-70s we were shooting a TV spot that included a shot of two people strolling along Miramar Beach. I was seated tethered to the camera which was attached to a "Tyler Mount" hanging out the door. The flight was a joy for me. And, while we only made three short takes to get the shot we wanted, we were told afterward that the Sheriff's switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree while we were overhead "shattering the Montecito peace and calm." Ahhh... those halcyon days!
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Jul 16, 2020 03:26 PM50 years on and little has changed except the Sheriff's switchboard has been replaced by Edhat.
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Jul 16, 2020 06:29 PMHaving witnessed these pilots aggressive passes over my neighborhood I am not so sympathetic to them. They seemed to take a lot of chances, came in at step angles, turned on a dime and repeated their route. I agree that these surveys are good but please let's stop some of the hot dog crap.
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Jul 17, 2020 12:50 PMFunny how people complain about the power line inspections taking place.
If there's a fire, then they complain that the power company hasn't been doing inspections.
You never win.
Neat learning about NOTAR. Thanks for passing that on.