76 Days and Counting…

We departed Australia on March 17th and by the time we touched down in LAX both of our phones were blowing up with phone calls and text messages.  We panicked as normally this is never good news, but as it turns out, the USFS awarded our helicopter company 2 Exclusive Use contracts…which was inconceivable  hat we were awarded one…let alone two!!!  Our S61 was awarded Oakridge, Oregon with a start date of June 1 and our SuperPuma was awarded Libby, Montana with a June 17 start date.  The reasons I mention the start dates are for many reasons.  Once we stopped jumping up and down and hugging each other uncontrollably in the International Terminal of LAX…the realization came of what needed to happen in order to even begin to fulfill these 2 contracts.  SEVENTY-SIX DAY’s… 76 days were all that we had to pull the rabbit out of the hat.  Good news…we had the helicopters….bad news…we had NOTHING ELSE!  

If only I had documented each day of the 76 days we had. It actually gives me a bit of anxiety typing this entry thinking back about those days.  The tasks ahead of Aaron and I were insurmountable.  At one point, Aaron and I considered asking them to take one contract back as we just didn’t think we could pull this off.  We are good…but maybe not that good. 

Here is just a sample of some of the items we needed to have done by June 1:  Find 2 “workable” Jet A fuel trailers (not an easy task at all and still during Covid mind you), find drivers to pull those trailers (this is TOP priority as no fuel…no flying), weigh both helicopters to make sure they make weight (won’t even start on that topic), once we obtain fuel trailers, make sure they have all the required equipment on them (also a lengthy list), make sure helicopters have all the required USFS equipment installed in order to be carded…oh ya…carding…each helicopter and fuel trailer must be inspected by a designated USFS employee to make sure it makes contractual requirements and must be scheduled before your start date (you would think scheduling would be easy, but not this time of year as every other vendor is doing the same thing also during Covid), hire Pilots, hire Crew Chiefs, hire seconds, get 2 service trailers to haul all our equipment, order more Bambi buckets, order fire shelters, once we have enough pilots, get them all carded by the USFS (also must be scheduled with a USFS representative and on each helicopter), rent trucks to pull the trailers, work visas for our Canadian workers that don’t already have them, travel letters to get them across the border that they are essential workers, company training, have required paperwork documentation, pilot records, mechanic records, all things that usually take a good year to put together….we had 76 DAYS…and it was just Aaron and I.  

There are too many stories to even begin to tell during these 76 days and I am sure I would run out of blog space…but unbelievably Aaron and I pulled off one of the most epic USA seasons we have ever managed.  We had both helicopters fully staffed for the entire duration…during Covid, during a Jet A Nationwide shortage, crossing International borders with employees during Covid, all things Covid!  The S61 did 150 consecutive days on contract only missing 2 days for scheduled maintenance.  The SuperPuma did 120 days on contract missing a total of 1/2 day availability due to not getting a part…COVID.  

It honestly still gives me chills that we pulled this off.  The S61 never did one day in Oakridge, OR (which is actually another funny story…sorry mum and dad).  It started in Weaverville, CA and ended in Chico, CA.  The SuperPuma started in Helena, MT…did at one point go to Libby for a couple of weeks, then finished its contract in Porterville, CA.  We were so very proud of the crews for their tireless efforts all summer long.  It took each and everyone of us to make it happen….and we did it….with 76 Days and counting…