Monthly Archives: August 2011

Cherry Vodka

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Yet another way to use up cherries.

On Friday, when I was just getting down to the last 5 pounds of yellow (but amazingly delicious) Rainier cherries in my fridge, another client dropped off 18 pounds of what I think were sweethearts — a type of red cherry. I could barely fit them in my fridge and was very happy to give about 1/3 of them to my neighbor (the one who let me park my helicopter on his driveway).

That left me with at least 15 pounds of cherries.

I like cherries even more than the next person and, unlike lots of people, don’t have digestive problems when I eat “too many.” In fact, until I got this big box, I didn’t know how many were “too many.” Now I do.

I did a helicopter winery tour on Saturday that brought me to Malaga Springs Winery in Malaga, WA. While I was there, I chatted with Al, the winemaker, and mentioned the cherries. I told him I was running out of things to do with them.

That’s when he suggested that I make cherry liquor. The directions are very easy:

Ingredients:

  • Fresh cherries, pitted and cut. I quartered them.
  • Sugar, to taste. This is optional. The cherries I had were so sweet — especially those darn Rainiers — that I didn’t use sugar.
  • Vodka. Although I suppose any vodka would do the trick, I don’t drink junk liquor so I used Absolut.

Instructions:

  1. Wash, pit, and cut the cherries.
  2. If you’re adding sugar, mix the sugar in with the cherries.
  3. Cherry LiquorPack a clean, dry canning jar with as many cherry pieces as you can. Because I had all those Rainiers that were starting to get a little old, I layered them in the middle of the jar (Al’s idea) which made each jar a little more interesting looking than if it had been packed with just red or yellow cherries.
  4. Slowly top off the jar with as much vodka as will fit in the jar. You might want to tap the jar on the countertop once or twice to release air bubbles and then top it off again.
  5. Seal the jar snugly.
  6. Store for at least six to eight months.

According to Al, using a canning process or refrigeration is not necessary. (If I suddenly stop blogging about six to eight months from now, throw out your cherries.)

I made six 1-pint jars, using wide-mouth canning jars so I could easily scoop out the cherries when they’re ready to eat. Al says the cherry/vodka mix is great on ice cream and that the cherry-infused vodka is good as a sweet drink. I’m thinking it’ll make a great cherry martini.

When I open the first jar early next year, I’ll be sure to blog about it and let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if you give this a try or have ideas for other ways it can be done, please share your ideas in the comments for this post.

So You Want to Be a Helicopter Pilot, Part 7: Stay Slim

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Fatties need not apply.

As strange as it might seem, one of the biggest barriers to building a career as a helicopter pilot is size — pilot size. Simply put, if you’re a heavyweight, you’re going to have a heck of a time learning to fly and getting your first job.

How Big is Big?

What do I mean by “heavyweight”? Well:

  • N7139L

    How much do you think you can squeeze into one of these?

    If you weigh more than 250 pounds, you may as well forget about learning to fly helicopters for a flying career. Most training helicopters simply can’t accommodate a big guy (or gal) plus a flight instructor. Even if you did learn how to fly, no one will hire you as a flight instructor.

  • If you weigh between 200 and 250 pounds, you might find a flight school that can accommodate you for training, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find one willing to hire you as a flight instructor. After all, the more the CFI weighs, the less capacity there is for the student pilot. A big CFI could only train small student pilots; flight schools simply don’t want to deal with this limitation.
  • If you weigh between 180 and 200 pounds, you’ll likely find a flight school that can accommodate you for training and might consider hiring you as a flight instructor. But you’d have to be really good with no serious competition to get that job.
  • If you weigh less than 180 pounds, not only will you have no trouble finding a flight school, but if you prove your worth throughout training, you probably won’t have much trouble getting a job as a flight instructor either.
  • If you weigh less than 150 pounds — listen up, ladies! — and you’re a good pilot with the right attitude, you will be sought after as a pilot.

Remember, the less the pilot weighs, the more other stuff — passengers, cargo, etc. — can be loaded on board.

Real-Life Examples

Don’t believe me? I can back this up with a two real-life stories.

One guy who flew with me on my annual journey from Arizona to Washington state needed to build R44 time to qualify as an R44 CFI. He was a tall guy — probably at least 6 ft 2 in — and weighed 220 pounds. This was not a fat 220 pounds; he was tall, thin, and fit. He’d been told flatly by the school he hoped to get a job with that he weighed too much to be a CFI in R22s. He figured he’d go after a job as a CFI for R44s. What he didn’t realize is that flight schools don’t want CFIs limited to training in just one aircraft model. They could easily prep a 180-pound R22 CFI to train in an R44 — in fact, they could use that possibility as motivation (think carrot) for their R22 CFIs. I don’t know if this guy ever got a CFI job, but I tend to doubt it.

A very tiny female pilot who has been flying helicopters for years at the Grand Canyon weighs in at only 115 pounds. While it’s true that she’s too small to fly solo without ballast in the EC130 she flies at work, her employer loves her, referring to her as their “secret weapon.” Indeed, I saw her value one spring day when I dropped off two passengers for a flight over the Grand Canyon. The aircraft originally had only four passengers who would fly with one of the other pilots. When two more passengers showed up for the same flight, they pulled the other pilot — a man who probably weighed in between 180 and 200 pounds — and put her on board instead. They’d gained at least 65 pounds of capacity by simply swapping pilots, making a flight that may have been over gross weight now under gross weight. What company wouldn’t see the value of that?

And if these two examples aren’t enough for you, take a look at helicopter pilot job listings. You’ll see that a surprising number include maximum pilot weight as part of the requirements — or ask you to include your weight with your resume. In other words, fatties need not apply.

Don’t Disregard this Advice!

This is not advice that should be disregarded. This is vitally important for career pilots.

If you’re a 220+ pounder and a flight school trying to sign you up tells you not to worry about it, they are lying to you to get your business — as they may have done to the 220 pounder who flew with me. Sure, they may be able to squeeze you and a tiny CFI on board an R22 for flight training. Or maybe they’ll convince you that you’ll be better off training in an R44, which costs about twice as much per hour to fly. But you’ll still find it impossible (or nearly so) to get a job as a CFI when your ratings are in hand. And unless you plan to pay to build your first 1,000 hours, you’ll need that CFI job to move forward in your career.

It should go without saying that even if you start on the slim side, it’s important to stay that way — at least until you’ve reached a point in your career where your personal body weight doesn’t matter as much.

For example, I have two not-so-slim friends who are well along in their pilot careers. Both are utility pilots; one flies medium twins like Hueys and Bell 212s and the other flies Sky Cranes. Both of these guys are between 200 and 240 pounds. But they (obviously) weren’t always that big. Pounds are often added with years.

Yet another friend of mine was a medevac pilot who allowed his weight to creep up over time. When his company started closing bases, he was one of the first pilots to go. Coincidence? I don’t think so. At the time, he probably weighed about 250.

What You Can Do

If your current weight is above 200 pounds and you know some of it is body fat, it’s time to go on a diet. Do your best to get your weight down to what I consider the magic number for helicopter pilots: 180. If you can keep your weight at or below 180 pounds, weight will not be a barrier to your career.

Keeping slim and trim will help you throughout your life. Not only will it make it easier for you to get work as a pilot, but it will keep you healthier. Obesity-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart problems, and diabetes can end your career. If this isn’t motivation to take care of yourself, nothing is.

Next up, I’ll talk about what I consider the best part of being a helicopter pilot — but what others hate: travel.

Interesting Links, August 8, 2011

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Here are links I found interesting on August 8, 2011:

Wildlife Photography is about Perseverance

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Stick with it until you get the shot.

A few days ago, while sitting at the dining table in the Mobile Mansion chatting with a friend, I happened to glance outside and spot a large family of quail about seven feet from my doorstep. I scrambled to get my camera and they hustled into the bushes, out of sight.

Since then, I’ve been working on getting a shot of these birds — especially the painfully cute baby chicks.

The Situation

My RV is parked on the edge of a cliff overlooking Squilchuck Valley south of Wenatchee, WA. I’m here for cherry drying; my helicopter is parked next door and the orchard I’m responsible for drying is across the street. Behind my trailer is a vacation home under construction. In front of the trailer — seven feet out the front door — is a mound of dirt and beyond that, a steep drop into the valley.

It’s quiet here at night. During the day, however, is a different story. On most days, there’s some combination of construction noises and orchard noises.

You’d think that shooting a photo out the front door of an RV at a subject less than seven feet away would be easy. Well, although I wouldn’t exactly call it difficult, it isn’t easy, either.

Preparation

First I need to make something clear. Although I’ve been known to take “snapshots” — most often with my phone — I’m usually after something quite a bit better than that. I have the equipment I need to get a good shot, so I started by gathering it together and assembling it:

  • Digital SLR. I have a Nikon D7000 that I got about six months ago. Not a pro camera, but about as good as you can get without going pro. (At least right now.)
  • Telephoto LensTelephoto lens. I have a Nikon ED AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6 G VR lens that I use for just about all of my bird photography. Again, not a professional lens and, as some have argued, not even a long enough lens for serious wildlife photography. But hell, this is a hobby. You have to draw the line somewhere. What makes this lens especially useful is the vibration reduction (VR) feature, which kicks in as necessary when turned on.
  • Monopod. I have a Manfrotto 679B monopod with a Manfrotto 90° tilt head on it. Yes, I know a tripod would be better, but I lack the skills to use a tripod with moving subject matter. Instead, I rely on the monopod to steady my shots.

I assembled these, made sure I had a card in the slot (don’t ask), and set the camera on Program mode. (Please, no lectures.) Then I set it near the door so it would be handy when the birds appeared.

I had some bird seed in the RV basement from the last camping spot, where I put up a bird feeder. I scattered a few handfuls where I wanted the birds to appear. I was hoping to capture them early in the morning, not long after the sun cleared the roof of my RV and illuminated that pile of dirt. That would put them in a golden light without shadows.

Back inside the RV, I slid open the plastic panel of my screen door. That that gave me an 8-inch square to shoot through.

Then I went about my business inside the RV, glancing out every now and then to see if the birds were there.

Failed Attempts

I don’t know if it’s because the birds are extra observant or if it’s because I simply make too much noise when preparing to shoot, but on the few times the birds showed up, they scattered before I had time to snap a single shot.

This happened several times over three days. Very discouraging. What’s worse is that I know how quickly these birds grow. The cute chick phase would only last about a week. If I wanted photos to include chicks, I had to get them soon.

Success!

My first success came on Sunday afternoon. After spending much of the day napping and reading and fighting off a big headache, I glanced outside and saw the chicks on the dirt pile. I grabbed the camera and began cursing immediately — I’d shut the plastic slide to keep out flies! After snapping a few shots through the plastic (not ideal), I very quietly slid it back open. That’s when mama bird appeared and hurried the chicks into the bushes.

I was about to give up (again) when a few more chicks appeared from the other side of the dirt pile. I started snapping photos. Then dad showed up. I dialed out the focal length to include dad and several of the chicks and spent a bit more time on composition. The result is shown below; you can see a larger shot in my Photo Gallery.

Quail Dad with Chicks

I do admit to being disappointed that I didn’t get that early morning light I wanted. I will try again.

Just One Example

This is just one example of how a wildlife photographer’s perseverance can be rewarded with a good shot. And frankly, it’s not even a good example.

After all, I was sitting in the comfort of the Mobile Mansion, just waiting for my subjects to appear. I didn’t have to stand or sit in the hot sun or in a swamp swatting mosquitos. I didn’t have to hike miles with heavy camera equipment. I wasn’t even watching for my subjects the whole time. I’d made getting the shot secondary to the rest of my daily routine.

In the past, however, I have worked harder — much harder — to get bird photos. In each case, I’d gone where I thought I might find subjects at the time of day I thought would give me the best light. In most cases, there was a lot of waiting involved. And in many cases, my efforts went unrewarded. (Good thing this is just a hobby for me.)

I guess my point is this: If you’re serious about getting good photographs of wildlife, you need to be willing to try repeatedly and/or wait to get the shot. With perseverance, you may be rewarded for your efforts.