Just another day at the office....

5-18-11

At 8:50 this morning I was in the modular training building at the Columbia Helicopters, Inc. headquarters in Aurora OR. There was a presentation going on with the topic projected up on the big screen in front of us. It was a required course on Federal Aviation Regulations. The first hint of something different was the image on the screen began to shake, followed instantly by the low drone of huge Chinook turboshaft engines as they cranked up to idle speed. The entire building was vibrating as the Columbia Helicopter model 234 sat on the tarmac about 40 yards from our classroom.

The instructor must have seen the look in my eyes, because he looked up at the clock and said it was time to take a 10 minute break! Most of the other 22 employees in the class had seen the behemoth helicopters taking off and landing many times before, but not this green horn.

I made my way quickly outside and down the ramp, the helicopter was around the corner and just out of sight on the west side of the building. As I rounded the corner and the big bird came into view I was immediately blasted by the heat and turbulence of the huge rotors and exhaust and the smell of spent jet fuel filled the air.

For several minutes the craft sat there at idle while pilot and co-pilot went through their checklist. Finally with seemingly little effort the two 3,000 hp engines were throttled up just a bit and 10 tons of aircraft gracefully left the ground. The rotor wash threw dust and other small particles everywhere (including into my eyes) but I squinted and kept my eyes on the huge #46 that the guys in the shop had spent so much time on. Nearby trees and bushes were bent over in the turbulence as the helicopter rose to about a hundred feet and slowly pivoted to point east.

Finally at about 150 feet the nose of the 234 dipped downward and the craft began moving off to the east. On it’s way to it’s next assignment.

Glynn Jr.

Long time no post.....

It's been almost a month since my last post. Lots of stuff going on. Jon's shoulder seems to be healing. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. He likes SPU and is getting along well up in Seattle. Just a couple of more weeks and he will be returning home for the summer.

Adam is moving this Friday to a house with a new room mate. Lorelei, Cody and I went to Portland last Saturday to help him move some of his stuff that would not fit in his car. The new neighborhood seems nice and it looks like it will be a good move for him. He is still working and playing music.

Lorelei has been on a long term sub job in her favorite class and will be there until the end of the year. She is doing well!

Cody is doing awesome in school with straight A's and all his teachers enjoy and appreciate him being in their class. Cody will be a teenager next month! Cody played in the band for the annual May Day celebration at Amity HS.

As for me......I started a new job a few weeks ago which is part of the reason for the lack of blog posts. I now work for Columbia Helicopter in Aurora Oregon. We have the largest publicly operated fleet of heavy lift helicopters in the world. Lots of new stuff to learn!

Around the place we have had another record setting spring. Too much rain and not enough sun has put a damper on the garden. Some of it will need to be replanted. Some retaining walls have been built and a few other projects are in the works.

That's about all for now.

Glynn Jr.