Bill Helvey Goes Coastal

A map showing the route that Bill took when he "went coastal,"  from Palo Alto to the East and back.

There's just nothing like this in the San Francisco Bay, where Bill started. 

Lifting off from Palo Alto and crossing the S.F. bay.

Bill's Air Cam goes faster as it nears the barn where it began life.  

A wickedly cool view of the Tetons under the Cam wing.

Florida Keys Cruising.  Check out the color of that water!

The view forward of Chicago.  The unique view from an Air Cam.

How much closer can you get to the Grand Canyon, without walking in it?

I believe this is Oshkosh, without the millions of swarming noisy planes usually associated with this field.

Ship Rock, out in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

Bill, only moments after emptying out his relief bottle.  Notice the smile.

Parked in Boulder City, Nevada next to a REALLY big bird.  

If you look closely, you'll see the plane that Bill just downed, smoking in the background.

This is how Bill stayed warm, when exposed to the elements at altitude.

Close to the Atlantic, having landed on a farmer's field.  Lush.

Just a great time to have two engines on board.  Bill got up to 14,000' on his final leg over the Sierras.  The 912S's never skipped a beat.

Bill, contemplating a flight between the World Trade Centers.

Bill successfully completed his round-trip and here is his "coming home" story:

On my last report I had left the Air Cam with a damaged rudder in Santa Fe, NM on October 31, 2000 with the expectation that I would get it home before Christmas.  I didn't.  I had the rudder removed and shipped to Lockwood Aviation where it had to be rebuilt, recovered and repainted.  By the time it was returned and put on in Santa Fe it was ten days before Christmas and weather was poor in NM.  My grandchildren were arriving for holidays so I didn't get  back to Santa Fe until December  28.

Thursday, December 28: Day One - Arrived at Santa Fe from Denver about 10 AM with a clear sky, 18 degrees and a wind chill factor.  It was cold.  Did extensive preflight in a heated hanger, put on eight (8) layers of clothes, mittens and thermal boots (Christmas present), packed my gear on board and taxied over snow and packed ice on the taxiways (snow ploughs still working).

 Then launched  for the four corners area climbing to 11,000 to clear local mountains.  Got great view of Shiprock and then to the four corners monument (marking NM, CO, UT & AZ). Flew over 4 states in less than a minute...and then headed almost due west along the latitude 37 00 North, marking state borders.  This took me right through the middle of Monument Valley about 4 PM on a Winter day so shadows were long and imagery terrific.  I was watching the clock more than most flights because it was a winter day short on daylight hours (DARK at 5 PM)  and I wasn't looking to add a night landing at a strange airport to the day's events. 

Fortunately I had about 10 knots of tail wind which is unusual for westbound flights and the chemical handwarmers in my mittens had improved comfort at my 10 to 12 thousand foot altitude most of the way.  I cleared the southern slope of Navajo Mountain and into view was Lake Powell, a beautiful cobalt blue set in the Glen Canyon (The Glen Canyon Dam created the lake and controls the flow of the Colorado River into the Grand Canyon immediately south of the dam).  I landed at Page (AZ) airport just before dusk and had the plane hangered for the night.

Friday, December 29:  Day Two was Grand Canyon Day -  My flight plan was to follow the Colorado River from Lake Powell to Lake Mead (at Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, NV).  Ten years ago I had rafted down the entire 283 miles of the river for three weeks with a filming crew that made the IMAX film of the Canyon which is now a classic at Imax theaters.  The route this trip would be abbreviated by distance and time.  Three hours and through corridors designated by the FAA.  Lowest altitude (mandated by the FAA) is 10,500.  At run up by the runway, I discovered a major fuel leak pouring off the wing and flaps at starboard engine.  Shutdown and figured  that ended my flying for the day...and maybe much longer if the tank was leaking!  However, soon discovered the fuel line over the engine separated at the T junction to both carburetors (loose clamp).  Got it fixed in 20 minutes  and was off  by early afternoon.  It turned out that I could see a lot of canyon in three hours and was only a 1000 or so feet over the terrain in the northern part of the trip.  Another clear cold (32 degrees).  The Canyon was magnificent and I landed at Boulder City Airport near the Hoover Dam.  Tied down between two Albatross amphibians (BIG!) and got a lift to the Super8 Motel. 

Saturday, December 30:  Day Three was the Finale.  I was homeward bound and was planning to cross the most impressive mountain range in the nation.  The Sierra Nevada has more 13 & 14,000  peaks per square mile than any in the lower 48 states.  On it's eastern  boundary it is a mighty wall of granite.  If winds and weather made it a reasonable route it could be a great trip and save an extra flying day.  John Hunter flew OVER Mount Whitney (14,495 feet) in 1998 in the company (Leza Lockwood) plane and never went to full power (using Rotax 912S).  I was content to fly by Whitney and turn westward at Independence (between Lone Pine and Bishop, CA) where there was a pass just under 12,000 - BUT not wide enough to fly that low (in my judgment).  However soon thereafter you could fly into the narrow Kings River Canyon and follow it the rest of the route (almost straight from Independence to Fresno) with GPS target of Fresno).

Before facing the Sierra wall I departed Boulder City and skirted the extensive Class B space at Las Vegas and then made a straight line GPS route for Independence, After climbing to 11,000 feet I crossed several mountain groups and about 50 miles away the wall appeared - white and BIG.  Continued on over the lowest point in the U.S. - Death Valley and then still had to clear one more range and I was in the Owen's River Valley (most of the water was piped to LA many years ago!) .  Looking like a gnat flying with optimism at a herd of elephants I turned north and a continuous climb from 11,000 to 14,000 feet in time to make my western turn "into" the Sierras.  Made altitude a mile or two east of the wall to see if any turbulence or up/down drafts were apparent before committing to the passage.  Wings rocked slightly when I achieved target altitude but otherwise calm. Winds has been a slight tail wind and sky clear.  WX BRIEF had indicated that beyond the mountains the California central valley had been fog bound but was expected to clear by early afternoon.  My target airports on the West coast were VFR and expected to remain so all day.

Crossed the range in about 30 minutes - "up close and personal" to some tough, beautiful, intimidating terrain - but calm, and I kept maneuvering room and a reserve of power in 200 horses on the Rotax team.  After the first 15 minutes I could see the sun reflecting off a white lake of clouds over the central valley of California.  Descended to 8,000 feet by the time I flew over Fresno - enjoying the warmest (least cold) weather of the three days.  Could discern ground targets through the haze/fog and completed the longest leg of my trip landing at San Martin (Santa Clara Valley's "South County" airport) near Morgan Hill (south of San Jose) about 4 PM.  Flew over my son's house and the grandchildren enjoyed the "low" pass at 1000 feet and met me at the airport.  Longest day: 5 hours and 47 minutes, 432 miles and 45 gallons of fuel (left me with about 9 gallons of reserve) Great Trip - GREAT adventure! 
                         
                   Bill Helvey in Air Cam  - 123 Bravo Papa