My Final Year of Contact FireFighter Support

Damn! I haven't been on much and thought this was a fresh new thread. Give the man a 🍺 🍻 🍺 that's a hell of a ride. The repo on the ex was top of the food chain move. 😂 love it! Good onya' man! I'm gonna drink one to your accomplishments! Salud 🍺
 
My future son in law was on a Hot Shot crew for three years, and Smoke Jumped in Washington for one summer.

You guys are all unsung heros.

👍🏼👍🏼
 
Wash 10 Crew said:
Its a long story but got very interested in flying and started in Ultra lites out of Perris. So my friend and I got out mail order licenses and rented Ultra Lites for a summer, We were the most dangerous guys in the sky. (RIP 23T Doug)

Then was very lucky back in late 90's to learn to how to fly a 180 Arrow flying from French Valley to Fullerton daily and at Fullerton is where alot of news reporters parked so I became friends with many of the pilots and the "Eye in the sky" news reporters. Started to ride along with Commander Chuck Street in the KISS fm, KTLA helo and KLOS Sky Lord Scott Reiff's jet rangers who both flew for South Coast Helicopters and they were looking for some new pilots and got alot of on the job training.

I also transfered into the avaiation side to the sheriff department and gained even more skill, TIS and knowlegde. (Hughs 500)

After alot of hard work and the crappist, dirt cheap pay flying jobs, attended a couple self funded flight courses and I acheived my licenses and endorsments to fly turbine helicopters and kept taking the crap jobs unitl I was about to start a tour company out of Palm Springs where I sold and hawked everything to lease 2 jet rangers and a hanger. This was good for about 2 years, until at that time wife ran the office and I was the tour guide and alot of well todo peoples charter pilot. Well like any well oiled marriage, it went down in a blazing fireball of chit and she got HALF. So she got 1 helo and I got the other and she was going to put me out of business with her new man. 6 months later, I repo'ed the helo she had for the bank and they allowed me to take over payments and this was the start of my charter business.

Bah bah bah, fast forward and now fly for a major helo tour & charter company out of Vegas, commerical flight instructor, lease helos to the fed gov and have been doing the 90 day contract fire fighting gig for many years.

I also have a couple other pokers in the fire that keep me busy.

Thats my story in a nutshell.
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Lot of hard work there. Love the success story in the end!
 
Bansh88 said:
Badass! Where'd you learn to fly a helicopter? Military?
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You can do it privately, pretty easy. I say "easy" because...

My brother and one of my best friends (used to be his best friend) got their license through Civic Helicopters in Carlsbad. I'm sure prices have changed a bit but neither of them were loaded with funds to make it happen, nor was it more than a Hobby.

My brother gave up shortly after getting in the air because "it was going nowhere". He met his personal goal, I guess.

My buddy Doug moved to Hawaii and kept on with his seat time, stating Hawaii was a "bitch of a place to get better at this shit" because of the winds and apparently the market was saturated back then with Pilots, so he moved back to CA.

 
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