My New Prospecting Vehicle

[madtuna]

nah not really, but the new station owners have two R22's for mustering and feral control. Went for a spin today to look at the water situation after the recent rains and check out some ferals. Remarked how it would be ideal to get into some more out of the way places and was pleasantly surprised at the positive answer.

 

[whitebutler]

Ok that's really cool. But I have to say one thing, THATS CHEATING!  

Don't worry. If I had access I'd use one too!

Good on ya

John

[whitebutler]

I would like to know how that Robinson flies. Is it easy or are you super busy and stiff controls? Only asking because I'm slowly getting there. I'm looking at a few options.

[klunker]

Would he be willing to loan it out. I only need it for a couple of days. I just know I could fly it with an instruction pamphlet and a little practice.

[madtuna]

13 minutes ago, whitebutler said:

I would like to know how that Robinson flies. Is it easy or are you super busy and stiff controls? Only asking because I'm slowly getting there. I'm looking at a few options.

I was the passenger not the pilot. Very nippy and nimble though and at one point he was steering with his knees while he rolled a smoke. A pretty smooth ride and not bucked about too much with wind either, you could crack your beer without it fizzing all over your lap.

[Steve Herschbach]

Geez, I love flying in helicopters! I was a surveyor for awhile in Alaska and got to spend lots of hours flying lots of places in choppers. Nothing beats that taking off straight up from a dead stop feel and landing anywhere you have enough rotor clearance. We had an ex-Vietnam pilot who loved flying low up the river (said it reminded him of flying up the Mekong) - great fun.

Thanks for sharing and stirring up some good memories!

[Andyy]

Madtuna - Whirly birds are definitely the way to go.  I tried doing some aerial gold scouting by circling with a Cessna 172 and I'm sure I just appeared to be a confused Kamikaze. 

[Northeast]

Apart from being handy to get to spots madtuna, could this also be handy in allowing you to better read the dirt, colour changes, the flow of different rocks, etc?  

I've been told that WA gold is often in very flat ground and it is often very hard to get a handle on where a run of gold might be coming from - just no rhyme or reason. Getting an aerial view of the situation might help??

[phoenix]

What a fantastic way to get to work    I wish I had one of those

[Steve Herschbach]

I have always found the birds eye view to be very helpful. Anything seen from above can be a clue - a run of small pits, vegetation pattern, etc. There are so many things we can't see from ground level or even Google Earth still.