Kimberley Flooding Disaster Aid

[A. Hutchinson]

' no my record with ERT is spotless,same with the Army,flew medevac blackhawks in Afghanistan and Iraq'

* i say as i wrap my preflight inspection up and go through my checklists slipping my helmet on as i climb in, i key the intercom*

' you guys hear me alright?' *i then crank the helo over and key my radio mic,which the intercom would also echo'

"ERT Helo 1 to Delmore ATC,show me operating in kimberley airspace per pre filed flightplan,max altitude 500 feet,cruise altitude 150 feet,for survey of the flood damage"

* i switch frequencies to county dispatch keeping ATC through my other ear with the intercom*

"county from helo 1,mark us airborne over kimberley,conducting aerial survey of the damage"

*while both radio s chirp back there replys i gently lift off the ground,up and away from the commandpost,opting to hover for a second or so before starting an eastern slow climbing orbit, foreward speed of probably 60 -80 ground speed,not insanely fast but not to slow of a crawl either*

'working my way to about 150 feet,,can go faster or basically whatever you guys want or need'

[W. Burke]

'So does that mean there's a job opening in the future?'

"We'll see how things go, but yes, part of the internship program was recruitment for officer roles."

 

'working my way to about 150 feet,,can go faster or basically whatever you guys want or need'

"Let's keep it between 150-200, start at the river and work our way in a southern grid."

I start loo\king out the window looking for anything that looks out of place. While we ascend, I snap a couple cell phone pics of the staging/command areas. PR Might want those later.

 

[A. Hutchinson]

"Let's keep it between 150-200, start at the river and work our way in a southern grid."

 

*im about to reply when i notice the commissioner snapping photos with his phone,i shift my accent applying a bit of foreword motion to try to get him a nice panoramic shot of the CP, completing a slow upward spiraling orbit of it before i gently bank south updating my flight plan as i go* "you got it" * i say as i settle southward still slowly climbing purposely dragging out my departure so the Comish can get his photos,about a minute later  im at altitude where i pop a breif hover,so i can set my GPS stuff for the grid on the map i pulled up of where the helo is,i also take a moment to set the altitude hold on the autopilot,which i can override at will as needed,ill do everything else manually* "rivers gonna be over my left shoulder guys,ill zig zag up and down it as needed so we can get eyes on as many areas as we can this first pass,and we can go from there,either of you see something you need a better look at let me know and ill double back or hover as needed" * i say as i start my first run* 

[W. Burke]

"This one is all on you Kristen, I'm merely observing, consider this an on the job interview."
I say, peering out the window, taking my own mental notes, just in case she bombs it. I lean over a little towards her to see out her window.