Solo Spotlight: Ben Cardon

A Skywest Airlines CRJ Captain, Ben Cardon was excited to get into helicopter flying. On the day of his solo, Ben says he had a few butterflies but was mostly excited to get into the air on his own. His solo was a “blast,” and someday hopes to get into doing aerial photography and video from helicopters. His advice to future students: “people actually pay you to fly helicopters! You’ll never have to ‘work’ a day in your life.”

Career Focus: Columbia Helicopters

Columbia Helicopters based in Aurora, Oregon offers a large array of flight services and maintenance. Besides logging and construction, Columbia works in other areas such as petroleum exploration and the movies! You may recall seeing one of their machines in Jurassic Park: The Lost World. They fly workhorse helicopters; Boeing Chinooks and a Boeing Vertol. Their famous poster of the “Hover Barge” is available for sale. Go to their website, go to “News and Events,” and click on “The Hover Barge Photo.” That poster is yours for $4.00. While you’re there, take some time to explore their website.

Visit Their Site

Winter Flying

There is nothing better than flying on a clear, cold day.   Helicopters perform better in cooler weather, as opposed to the hot summer flying.  But winter weather is not always conducive to flying.  HDH students learn about icing, snow showers and other weather events that could create IFR (Instrument Flying Rules) conditions.

Evan Santa had a Checkride

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and the FAA examiner arrived the week before Christmas for the pre-Christmas flight check.

In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his log book out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. He knew they would examine all his equipment and truly put Santa's flying skills to the test.

The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and even Rudolph's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for sled's enormous payload. Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass.

Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun.

"What's that for?!?" Asked Santa incredulously.

The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this ahead of time," as he leaned over to whisper in Santa's ear, "but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."