Ok, so here''s the scoop. I read this form to kill time, and I get a lot out of it. Everybody in this gig has a bag of stories to tell, usually over a beer or two, and I think that''s what makes being in this game so cool. So bring em on. CTD can get some ideas about what to bring up in the Vortex, it hard to look cool all the time, I''ll start.
I was bucketing into a relay tank on a fire in the south east part of BC. I was in a Astar BA, along with another B2 from another company. We both were using 150 foot lines due to fairly tall trees, and things couldn''t be better. The rythem was going, the turn times were just right, but the B2 was out climbing me and every now and then would lap me.
Well I had just placed my load into the tank, pulled full power to climb the bucket out of the trees, turned to fly downhill to the lake, and in my path was the B2 with his load, holding short. No big deal, sharp turn, not even a close call. Get to the lake, dunk the bucket, pull power and start to roll over. So I simply reduce power, dump the water, and realize that the longline is over the spring aft of the bear paw.
No big deal, I''ll just land, fix it and get back to showing this B2 driver a thing or two about longlining. Well lucky for me there was a beach on the other side of the lake, so off I go. Well I put the bucket on the beach and set about finding a spot to put down. This is where it gets good The beach was too small to land without getting into the bush, no big deal, I''ll just go somewhere else. Well while lifting off to find some other spot, in the process of moving up and down this beach, I managed to get the bucket stuck up in a tree. No big deal, I''ll just yank it out. Well that got me back to the roll over, not good. New plan, I''ll punch off the line and sort this all out. No luck as the sharp angle from the hook to the spring made the downward force not enough to open the gate.
OK big deal, you have to picture me hovering low over this lake, looking at my bucket it this tree, wondering what the hell I was going to do, with 40 min of fuel to think about what an ass I was. But wait, it gets better.
I finally did find a spot on this beach to squeek up to the bush line, without doing some logging with the blades. I get out run down the 150 feet of line to the tree, climb the tree while still in my helmet and start fighting with the bucket. Just when the B2 shows up to see what was taking so long. Not looking too cool.
No s##t there I was, up a tree in my flight gear, in full sweat fighting with my bucket, and got busted doing it.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it...
I was bucketing into a relay tank on a fire in the south east part of BC. I was in a Astar BA, along with another B2 from another company. We both were using 150 foot lines due to fairly tall trees, and things couldn''t be better. The rythem was going, the turn times were just right, but the B2 was out climbing me and every now and then would lap me.
Well I had just placed my load into the tank, pulled full power to climb the bucket out of the trees, turned to fly downhill to the lake, and in my path was the B2 with his load, holding short. No big deal, sharp turn, not even a close call. Get to the lake, dunk the bucket, pull power and start to roll over. So I simply reduce power, dump the water, and realize that the longline is over the spring aft of the bear paw.
No big deal, I''ll just land, fix it and get back to showing this B2 driver a thing or two about longlining. Well lucky for me there was a beach on the other side of the lake, so off I go. Well I put the bucket on the beach and set about finding a spot to put down. This is where it gets good The beach was too small to land without getting into the bush, no big deal, I''ll just go somewhere else. Well while lifting off to find some other spot, in the process of moving up and down this beach, I managed to get the bucket stuck up in a tree. No big deal, I''ll just yank it out. Well that got me back to the roll over, not good. New plan, I''ll punch off the line and sort this all out. No luck as the sharp angle from the hook to the spring made the downward force not enough to open the gate.
OK big deal, you have to picture me hovering low over this lake, looking at my bucket it this tree, wondering what the hell I was going to do, with 40 min of fuel to think about what an ass I was. But wait, it gets better.
I finally did find a spot on this beach to squeek up to the bush line, without doing some logging with the blades. I get out run down the 150 feet of line to the tree, climb the tree while still in my helmet and start fighting with the bucket. Just when the B2 shows up to see what was taking so long. Not looking too cool.
No s##t there I was, up a tree in my flight gear, in full sweat fighting with my bucket, and got busted doing it.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it...
