This is a couple years old, so maybe I'm the last to see it.

How can this possibly make economic sense?

Totally insane....

skills and balls though. Not too convinced about the judgement skills actually....

rw2 wrote:This is a couple years old, so maybe I'm the last to see it.

How can this possibly make economic sense?

In a word.... VOLUME


When you watch our jet ranger leave a load truck with 80 gallons of chemical on, or the L3 with 140, you think the same thing.... When you see him come back for the next load inside of 5 minutes it all begins to make sense

Take care, Rob

so that's why my wife's Christmas tree cost $45. I feel better about it now.

View from the cockpit.

Cool!

Ahhh, production longlining. He's good, puts the hook in the rigger's hand every time, tree in the truck every turn. Single left kick to swing the load/hook out beside him where he can see it. First you get smooth, then you get fast.

Obviously those dudes are working by the piece not the hour.

TD

That is wild!

Having just done a helicopter intro flight last week in an R22, it makes me realize how much skill is really involved. Such a different game than fixed wing stuff.

Pretty cool, very skilled pilot.

I flew helicopters for 30 years. A friend, who I used to fly with, and his Dad used to contract fly two separate helicopters in Oregon doing the same thing. They would be 180 degrees out of sinc, one picking up while the other was dropping them into the truck, passing each other. One one of Daryl's pickups, the guy hooking the rope to the cable (hooker) got the rope wrapped around his leg. Daryl didn't see him, however, the guy was yanked up, turned upside down and was "flying towards the truck. Daryl's Dad saw him, made a radio call to Daryl, luckily on time. He hovered over the truck area and slowly lower the load, when the trees touched the ground the rope went slack and the guy fell to the ground, shook up, but not seriously injured. He quit on the spot.

His story bested all of us sitting around telling flying stories on a cold foggy winter day several years ago.

sburg58 wrote:One one of Daryl's pickups, the guy hooking the rope to the cable (hooker) got the rope wrapped around his leg. [...] He hovered over the truck area and slowly lower the load, when the trees touched the ground the rope went slack and the guy fell to the ground, shook up, but not seriously injured. He quit on the spot.

Woah!

I could see that happening, I have very nearly lifted off the guy running the tag line more then once while flying trusses with the crane. I'm looking up at the loading and where I'm swinging towards, not at him Like the chopper, setting trusses is all about doing it quickly as possible.

Watching a good helicopter logging operation is poetry in motion, some of the most impressive flying (right up there with helicopter fire fighting) I've ever seen. I would not want to be the rigger however.

sburg58 wrote:Pretty cool, very skilled pilot.

He quit on the spot.

Obviously that hooker guy was not into flying and ill suited for the job. I'da said, "Let's do that again! This time use the other leg, it ain't sore!"

bumper