5 July 2012 Helicopter Ride!

Today I experienced my first helicopter ride, and it didn't disappoint! Rae Spain is the Helicopter Coordinator at Toolik, and also works as a Heilcopter Coordinator in Antarctica. A friendly soul who always seems to have a smile, Rae wanted to make sure that I got to ride on one of the helicopters as a PolarTREC teacher. I got to help my friends Caitlyn and Margit from PolarTREC teacher Melissa Barker's team. The team studies Nutrient Transport in Arctic Watersheds. Today we were delivering several large water containers and a heavy car battery to their field sites near the Kuparuk River. According to the team's PolarTREC page, "the group will focus on transport and reaction of water and solutes within water tracks, which are linear regions of surface and subsurface flow that connect hillslopes to streams and account for up to 35% of watershed area in arctic tundra." So I was about to receive my first ride in a helicopter in exchange for carrying a heavy load.

Rae gave us a helicopter safety briefing, followed by another one from the pilots. We received pretty thorough instruction on everything from how to "hot load" with the propeller spinning to how to shut off the gas line in the event of a crash. We were also required to carry a survival bag that includes many provisions including food and water. It is not uncommon for unsafe weather conditions to come in and prevent the helicopter pilots from flying safely to pick you up. We were simply dropping off equipment, so our pilots were staying with us. We split into two helicopters, and I was thrilled to ride shotgun!

Helicopter pilot Shannon Glenn and I climbed into the "fast red one." We threw on our headsets, plugged in the iPod and were ready for take-off. One great perk of being a teacher is that people here are happy to help you learn about what they do. Shannon was great about explaining how everything works. I began to think that maybe I should be a helicopter pilot when I grow up.

The front of our whirlybird was basically a clear bubble affording incredible views of our surroundings. The take-off and landing were much smoother than I ever anticipated. I was a little disappointed with my pictures as we had a relatively cloudy day and didn't venture too far into the surrounding landscape, but I realized that my video did give you a sense of the remoteness and scale of the treeless tundra.

http://youtu.be/Hslb7OWghbY

This may have been the greatest mode of transportation I've ever experienced.