GaryTT
New member
- Location
- Qualicum Beach
Many online will have known HelicopterJim over the years. He was very active on this particular forum. Jim sadly passed away in February after a very short battle with Pancreatic cancer. Boy, did he love his Italian motorcycles. He’d put miles on the Guzzis and Ducatis but keep the best space in the shop for his Laverdas, which were his long-time favorite by far.
I first met Jim back in the early 1990’s. We were both in Watson Lake Yukon, crewing helicopters. He flew as the base pilot, I fixed the aircraft and we made a good team. Within a few minutes we got to talking about racing motorcycles and he told me of his SFC stored at his property in Carcross. He raced it at Shannonville and Mosport in the late 70’s early 80’s before starting a career as a helicopter pilot.
One of his most memorable stories from Watson Lake started with a phone call to the helicopter base from the RCMP. A pair of constables and the local coroner wanted to be flown out to a remote prospector’s cabin, way out of town. In the dead of winter, no less. They wanted to fly out in the larger 12 seat helicopter. Jim suggested the use of the Jet Ranger which would be more suitable for 3 passengers. No was the reply, we’ll need the 12-seater Bell 205, you’ll see when we get there. So, Jim did as requested, he flew the RCMP and the coroner out to the cabin. Inside was the body of a prospector who died suddenly at the dinner table. He had collapsed head first into a large soup pot from which he had been eating from. Being a Yukon winter, it didn’t take long for the cold to come in. The wood stove went out and the corpse froze stiff. The poor victim was carried out to the helicopter just as he’d died, with the soup pot still jammed frozen to his head and his arms and legs all stuck out in each direction. Something right out of a Robert Service poem.
Getting back to that long glorious summer in the Yukon, we flew to all those wonderful places, Ross River, Tungsten, Carmacks, Atlin, Dease Lake. The list goes on. it soon came time to bring the helicopter back to Vancouver in the fall. This was in the days before GPS and modern flight tracking, so Jim says ‘Why don’t we fly down the Stikine River canyon. I’ve never gone that way before” Even though it was a massive detour, this secret flight was truly epic. Low-level all the way down to Wrangell, Alaska in the early fall. Spectacular views.
Jim soon moved off to helicopter logging on Bell214’s. A single engine machine capable of lifting large logs. Which came with a sizeable exposure to risk when you fly low, slow and heavy. There is a section in the helicopter’s flight manual known as the dead man’s curve and it’s where a logging helicopter spends most of its time. To his great credit, Jim amassed over 18,000 flight hours in mostly single engine helicopters without incident. In the summer, he’d often ride to work on whatever took his fancy. And motorcycles fit in the back if there was a need to move sites.
We’d keep in regular contact through the years and Jim was best man at our wedding back in Ireland in 1997. Dressed in a Kilt, sporran and all from his Scottish heritage. I drove him around the course used for the NW200 and Dundrod, where the Ulster Grand Prix is held. He liked that. We’d make a general commitment to go and visit the TT some year in the future. Always sometime in the future.
Many times, I’d ask Jim if he’d started restoring his SFC. It was always sometime soon. Lately he had indeed got around to fixing it up, with retirement on the horizon. A few years ago, I’d written in a message “Jim if you’re not going to get that SFC going, I’ll come up there and do it for you” Now, I have to follow through with my threat.
This time last year he was still flying B214’s on forest fires. He came home from one 2 week shift with some jaundice and went off to get it checked out. His decline was swift. Within a few months he had passed on, cared for all the way by his wife Mary. The story told by Mary of Jim’s last visit to his workshop is heart rendering; barely able to walk, he knew he’d never see his machines again.
Jim is survived by his wife Mary and her adult children who have all been so stoic this past while. A celebration of life was held at Chilliwack Airport in March where 3 helicopters performed a missing man flypast. A tearful farewell to an old friend.
I first met Jim back in the early 1990’s. We were both in Watson Lake Yukon, crewing helicopters. He flew as the base pilot, I fixed the aircraft and we made a good team. Within a few minutes we got to talking about racing motorcycles and he told me of his SFC stored at his property in Carcross. He raced it at Shannonville and Mosport in the late 70’s early 80’s before starting a career as a helicopter pilot.
One of his most memorable stories from Watson Lake started with a phone call to the helicopter base from the RCMP. A pair of constables and the local coroner wanted to be flown out to a remote prospector’s cabin, way out of town. In the dead of winter, no less. They wanted to fly out in the larger 12 seat helicopter. Jim suggested the use of the Jet Ranger which would be more suitable for 3 passengers. No was the reply, we’ll need the 12-seater Bell 205, you’ll see when we get there. So, Jim did as requested, he flew the RCMP and the coroner out to the cabin. Inside was the body of a prospector who died suddenly at the dinner table. He had collapsed head first into a large soup pot from which he had been eating from. Being a Yukon winter, it didn’t take long for the cold to come in. The wood stove went out and the corpse froze stiff. The poor victim was carried out to the helicopter just as he’d died, with the soup pot still jammed frozen to his head and his arms and legs all stuck out in each direction. Something right out of a Robert Service poem.
Getting back to that long glorious summer in the Yukon, we flew to all those wonderful places, Ross River, Tungsten, Carmacks, Atlin, Dease Lake. The list goes on. it soon came time to bring the helicopter back to Vancouver in the fall. This was in the days before GPS and modern flight tracking, so Jim says ‘Why don’t we fly down the Stikine River canyon. I’ve never gone that way before” Even though it was a massive detour, this secret flight was truly epic. Low-level all the way down to Wrangell, Alaska in the early fall. Spectacular views.
Jim soon moved off to helicopter logging on Bell214’s. A single engine machine capable of lifting large logs. Which came with a sizeable exposure to risk when you fly low, slow and heavy. There is a section in the helicopter’s flight manual known as the dead man’s curve and it’s where a logging helicopter spends most of its time. To his great credit, Jim amassed over 18,000 flight hours in mostly single engine helicopters without incident. In the summer, he’d often ride to work on whatever took his fancy. And motorcycles fit in the back if there was a need to move sites.
We’d keep in regular contact through the years and Jim was best man at our wedding back in Ireland in 1997. Dressed in a Kilt, sporran and all from his Scottish heritage. I drove him around the course used for the NW200 and Dundrod, where the Ulster Grand Prix is held. He liked that. We’d make a general commitment to go and visit the TT some year in the future. Always sometime in the future.
Many times, I’d ask Jim if he’d started restoring his SFC. It was always sometime soon. Lately he had indeed got around to fixing it up, with retirement on the horizon. A few years ago, I’d written in a message “Jim if you’re not going to get that SFC going, I’ll come up there and do it for you” Now, I have to follow through with my threat.
This time last year he was still flying B214’s on forest fires. He came home from one 2 week shift with some jaundice and went off to get it checked out. His decline was swift. Within a few months he had passed on, cared for all the way by his wife Mary. The story told by Mary of Jim’s last visit to his workshop is heart rendering; barely able to walk, he knew he’d never see his machines again.
Jim is survived by his wife Mary and her adult children who have all been so stoic this past while. A celebration of life was held at Chilliwack Airport in March where 3 helicopters performed a missing man flypast. A tearful farewell to an old friend.
