Backcountry Pilot

My opinion: Hartzell is a very nice company with outstanding products and service. After replacing mags (Left, Right) the little ship starts very quickly and mag drops are super smooth. Definitely couldn’t...

PNW is a fantastic place to fly backcountry in Summer. Gentle dry trade winds pretty much dominate the coastal areas. Good to be back in “Black”: https://backcountrypilot.org/images/photos/2165/7416/9a5eff885d30aadd9d13898d.jpg izwDzEDq1R8?is=f8CKeh6x27aB-l3_

Saddle up and join the Sunday Morning Cowboy as the old boy goes searching for a new LZ..Yee Haa! Ych9nRlIT38?is=G0DslsclDA_aTpo9

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Solstice: Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 10:24 PM Today the color of the blue ocean is amazing viewed from my little apartment overlooking the vast Pacific. There is no continental-shelf here, I live on volcanic...

https://backcountrypilot.org/images/photos/2165/7416/6212ae64f5943b3d3de6625d.jpg https://backcountrypilot.org/images/photos/2165/7416/b54a971ab1b70c20c516d2d8.jpg

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Best time to do inspections in Oregon is near the Summer Solstice. Stationed in the high latitudes daylight is abundant 12+ hours for several months now. Natural light beats artificial lighting in my...

Fishing Southern California offshore late Spring… It’s been (40) years since last visited Santa Cruz Island. This coming June planning to return to the Northern Channel Islands and do some casual trolling. Several...

Definitely drier and warm… dD_iGJ33ot8?si=fm2tyRD_bopdKN3C

Looking for an LZ… cYv9h3bD1s4?si=xv10_jQDF9mQmo37

Climb aboard and let’s go backcountry… Camera: GoPro Music: Everlasting—“What it’s like” PIC: ELK q5mz2Z7z_kM?si=hea5an4woTNBRs8Y

Caution below: Post is opinionated and lends to nostalgic rambling. Please read at your own discretion. My first satellite internet connection — Year 1994 NOAA was experimenting with geosynchronous...

Since the new year, I’ve been reminiscing thru old photos and remembering my first solo helicopter X-country. It started in Class”B” PHNL -> Kalaupapa -> PHMK -> PHNL. And of course the doors were...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/4-dead-helicopter-appears-strike-recreational-slackline-arizona-rcna252031 Be careful out there.

2025 is/was a fantastic year flying on the Mainland. After sorting through some PNW 2025 videos I found a flight in February. The GoPro Hero 13 was operated inside the cabin by crew member MLA. Post...

Boxing Day (26-DEC-2025): Camera: GoPro Hero 13, Music: Dionne Warwick ivbD6j1oWlY?si=jRedSg_0YMzWho8r

Mary surprised me with a fantastic gift: a Ryobi (1)gal Wet/Dry cordless vacuum! One (backcountry) situation that can be very frustrating is trying to keep the Heli cabin clean and dry when ingressing...

“…leaves are falling all around, time for me to go…” — Led Zeppelin, 1969 rpKZ7YcxlWw?si=us8MStkv4_mr7bFE

Definitely want to acknowledge: https://www.avidavionics.com/ The R44 GTX 335 transponder failed. Representative of Avid flew out to my location and replaced it with a factory overhauled unit. ...