Another fond menory just discovered on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTn3NRxK8tAThat's me in the right seat acting as my Chief Pilot's beeeyatch on the day we brought the "Sun Bird" into the Houston convention center's parking lot for the annual HAI's (Helicopter Association International) get together several years ago (like 10 years ago!!). A little while later, a Dallas cop came along and wrote me a ticket for illegally parking a helicopter in an "unauthorized helicopter parking zone". It was a big hit with the convention newspaper!
This machine was sold to the San Diego Gas and Electric company for the purpose of building a big powerline from out of the eastern desert known as the "Sunrise Power Link". Afterwards, we bought it back from them for half again more than what it was worth, thanks to an outstanding sales person of ours with tremendous business accumen known as "Scotty Bigwatch". Just one of many rusty nails driven into the Erickson pine box.
The only bright side of this debacle was the fact that this machine was the first of several Erickson Cranes to have a digital AFCS along with an upgraded avionics suite, including a glass cockpit and an NVG approved cockpit - which was never used after the FAA proving flight BTW. The downside is that our incredibally brillient management just recently sold it to the Italians, along with another one of our Glass cockpit F models.
