What began with one piston engine-powered Bell 47 in 1994 has grown into one of the busiest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) part 91 helitour operations in the world — for one week a year. Once again at EAA AirVenture this year, a quintet of vintage Bell 47 piston helicopters — some dating back to the 1950s — will fly up to 5,000 eager passengers willing to wait up to three hours and plunk down US $70 for five minutes of the show’s best views at 500 feet above ground level. These are the Bells of Oshkosh.
For some, it is a trip down memory lane. A journey into the nostalgia of the 1950s television program Whirlybirds or the subsequent movie and television series M*A*S*H. For others, it is their first helicopter ride, a bucket list item checked, or a child’s wildest adventure. Hot loading into the doors-off “bubble” and a quick hop around a circuit little bigger than a NASCAR track.
For the pilots who fly them, the 47s offer a chance to take the controls of a living piece of history while sharing their passengers’ delight. Chris Anderson is one of those pilots. His father Tim rebuilt and sold 47s from the family garage as a side hustle in the 1970s, including one that still flies AirVenture passengers today.
Initially, that helicopter was used at the show for VIP, media, and security flights, and Chris Anderson was part of the crew that supported it — dating back to the 1980s. The passenger flights came later, and the fleet has steadily grown over the years with a combination of EAA-owned and leased helicopters. One — N666SM, affectionately referred to as “Satan’s Mother” — is supported by a cadre of 85 volunteers, including 18 pilots. While this may sound ad hoc, it is anything but.
Pilots range in age from 23 to 75 years old, and complete recurrent training in the 47 and comply with all the other requirements for commercial operations, including drug and alcohol testing.
The days are long, with crews arriving at helicopter operations located on the northwest side of the field as early as 6:30 a.m., briefed, pre-flighted, and in the air by 8:00 a.m. — with operations continuing to 5:00 p.m. Each pilot flies a 90-minute shift and then breaks for several hours. On a typical day, pilots can fly two or three shifts.
EAA supports maintenance with “a couple of pallets of grease and oil,” according to Anderson, and the operation also stocks spare generators, alternators, and starters — just in case. An EAA Cessna stands at the ready to make the short flight down to Anderson’s base, Progressive Air in Janesville, Wisconsin — to retrieve anything more elaborate, if required.
Doors-off helitour operations come with their own set of unique concerns, but the rules in place generally ameliorate any risks — no selfie sticks or shoe selfies. Nobody who has spent too much time in the beer tent.
Anderson’s main concern is people with really long hair that can blow around in the cockpit.
The job of taking tickets, screening, loading, and unloading falls to Cindee Schneider and her volunteer staff. Schneider has been working helicopter operations at what is now EAA AirVenture since 2001 — when there was only one helicopter. “It’s like herding squirrels. Some days it feels like it doesn’t end.” At times there are up to 250 passengers waiting to board.
Like the pilots, her crew also gets initial and recurrency training — “it’s very extensive” — and has daily pre-flight briefings. Passengers pay their money, sign a waiver, get ticketed, and are then escorted into a roped-off seating area in an antique aircraft hangar to wait in molded plastic chairs.
Line leads escort them to one or two “gates,” where up to two helicopters are loading at a time (while the other two are in the air). The rest of the team consists of loaders and unloaders. “We have a very safe operation because everyone is dedicated to ensuring that that policies and procedures laid before us are adhered to,” said Schneider.
While it’s a short flight, it is a busy one, Anderson says. “It’s pretty hot up there.” (Daytime temperatures can reach into the low 90s Fahrenheit.) “That impacts performance, so in the air you are always looking for outs. We’re looking at the loaders and the passengers before we take off, ensuring that our blind spots are cleared.
“Taking off to the northwest, there is a blind spot where we can’t see either runway [9/27 and 18/36] or departing traffic, so we’re looking for any stragglers who decide to turn early or off course. There’s also a set of high tension [electric] lines nearby. We’re mindful or our power and altitude, looking for traffic, where the other helicopters are in the air — this stuff is constantly running through your mind.”
Then there are the unpredictable winds. “Your winds are constantly changing,” Anderson says, noting that the structures and topography around EAA’s “Pioneer Airport,” where the helicopter operations are based, are “shifty” and it is common to have it out of opposite directions at each end of the field. “This is not something where you are allowed to get complacent.”
During the pre-flight briefing, Anderson and the other senior pilots stress paying attention to personal minimums. If a pilot needs to recuse because of them, “we don’t care,” he said. “Our focus is on safety of operations. If we have to park a helicopter, then we park it.”
“We carry everybody from FAA administrators to politicians to celebrities. A lot of the time we don’t even know who is flying with us, but we know they are there. We don’t want there to be something that is questionable,” on a flight. “We don’t want that at all.”
Young children are Anderson’s favorite passengers. “Sometimes you can see the apprehension as they board. They’re covering their ears. But by the time I’m 100 feet in the air they are laughing and having a great time. That’s the best part of it.”