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Published on: 1/13/2003
Last Visited: 10/29/2004
,We pick up where the factory leaves off,, Pete Gillies
Pete Gillies (Chief Pilot), Robert (Bob) Spencer (Chief Instructor) and R. L. Green (President) are Western Ops.
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While all are very experienced pilots, R. L. spends the bulk of his time keeping the operation going while Pete and Bob provide the bulk of the training.
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,That,s why we come all the way out here,because of those two,, Marcelo tells me, nodding his head in the direction of Pete and Bob, readying the MD 500 for Marcelo,s second round of practice autorotations.
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I see helmets bobbing as Pete provides some fine instructional points and Marcelo nods in understanding.
For the next hour, Pete chops the throttle on Marcelo over and over again.
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Pete Gillies came to Western Operations (then Western Helicopters) in 1972 with tours, utility work and construction assignments under his belt.He has many, many hours of mountain flying, utility work (where he helped pioneer a new method of stringing cable) and long line time.Additionally he has been USFS/OAS carded since 1974 and his other ratings include Airplane Single and Multi-Engline Land, CFI-Helicopter, Instrument-Airplane and a LearJet type rating.But, autorotations are his passion.If they gave them out, he would have a PhD in autos.
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Tom Magill and I are invited to ride along while Pete takes Special Agent Mendez on his mountain flying refresher.
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Located just a short helicopter hop from the Angeles forest and Mt. Baldy, Pete gives Marcelo a heading that takes us North to the mountains.
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Pete advises, ,If you have a problem, try to turn (pivot) to the right.This is accomplished with a reduction in tail rotor thrust and you,ll conserve power.,
The subject is raised about flying jobs that spend most of their time soundly inside the height-velocity curve: long line work, illicit drug searches, suspect tracking, etc. ,Fly your helicopter with the idea of getting your job done, whatever that is.If you,re flying around in the canyons looking for marijuana production then get as low and slow as you need to do your work.Don,t fly with the idea of constant impending engine failure.If you do, the paranoia and stress will ruin you,, Pete opines.
As Marcelo continues the flight into the rapidly climbing Angeles Forest, Pete expresses something I hear more and more from experienced mountain pilots across the board. ,The widely taught technique of performing a high recon followed by a low recon on the initial approach is no longer the recommended way of making a mountain or other off airport landing,, expresses Pete.
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Pete reviews them: ,In the mountains, speed kills.
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Getting ready to bring it into a hover 5 feet over the surface Pete provides some last minute guidance. ,Don,t land using the Braille system.
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,Marcelo, it is always a joy to fly with you,, Pete says and means it, and we head back to Rialto.
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The following description comes from Pete Gillies.
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