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The Helicopter Gypsies With Keith Gill
The Helicopter Gypsies With Keith Gill
HELIGYPSY with Keith Gill Each day Utility
Helicopter Pilots put on flightsuits, helmets and do dangerous work!
THE SHOW l Format
Helicopter Pilot culture has a tradition of oral history... the personal telling of tales that don't get entered into flight logs.
While these stories are often humorous, they serve as a reservoir of knowledge for pilots... describing challenges, solutions, mishaps and sometimes much worse.
In each episode host Keith Gill leverages his personal relationships with these pilots, traveling to their locations, revealing their unique stories and the extraordinary work they do.
|Supporting Characters|
THE SHOW l Pilots
BRIAN – Starting from one small helicopter, Brian built one of the world’s largest restoration companies of iconic helicopters. His Huey gunships, Cobras and Blackhawks are featured in movies and television shows.
DAN – A Coast Guard search and rescue pilot in Alaska turned International firefighting pilot. Serving and saving people and property.
GAZA – A pilot, engineer, crew chief and project manager. Gaza has operated in over 12 countries, in locations that alternate between dreams and nightmares. He’s been there, done that, burned the T shirt.
BRAD- A former helicopter logger Brad transferred the skill it took to fly logs to a landing and taught himself how to build towers and precision place equipment and structures where only a helicopter could do the job.
THE SHOW l Pilots
PETE - The gold standard for helicopter instructor pilots, Pete has logged over 18,000 hours of flight and done over 30,000 autorotations (simulated engine failure) , more than any pilot alive.
VAN - Firefighting is hot, turbulent work with 16 hour days that can exhaust a 30 year old pilot . Van, at 76, takes it all in stride with a hundred funny and often terrifying stories.
THE SHOW l Aircraft Helicopters are the pickup trucks, cranes, and tankers of the aviation world. Small and agile or 10,000 H.P. giants, helicopters perform diverse operations that have to be seen to be believed.
THE SHOW l Operations From building towering structures that
span gorges to dropping skiers on top of virgin powder slopes, helicopters often work in wild remote places that are inaccessible by conventional means.
The diverse missions include: firefighting, shipboard landings, live game capture, mountain rescue, live power line repairs, flying doctors, biologists and archeologists to remote arctic villages or triple canopy jungles.Much of this flying has never been seen before.
THE SHOW - DESTINATIONSThe jungles of Belize, Mexico and the rainforests of Vancouver Island. 30 states from the deserts to the mountains. The Canadian Arctic and Provinces along with 15 other countries.
THE SHOW l In Conclusion Heligypsy with Keith Gill is a
visceral and immersive journey that will transport the audience to seldom seen locations, and give them a rare and unique view of working utility helicopter pilots. Keith Gill has the expertise, charisma, and access that makes Heligypsy, a unique viewing experience.
Heligypsy with Keith GillEpisodes 1-3
Episode 1 BRIAN, Most people would recognize the iconic HUEY from their many appearances
in Vietnam War movies.Brian’s company has restored and flown many of those HUEY, Cobra & Blackhawks. Let's go fly Huey gunships, perform mountain rescue training and watch Brian and his crew amaze us with their skills.
Episode 2● RON, Almost 50 years ago Ron began flying in the frozen North and is still
instructing fledgling students. Most of us left his nest hoping to become half the pilot he was or at least live through it all. Some of us did, some didn’t. Ron lets us come along and see what gets many pilots in trouble and worse.
Episode 3 J.R., a Marine Corp Lt. Colonel who flew Marine One for two Presidents. Could flying
another big Sikorsky helicopter, this time firefighting, be so different? Yes it is! Fly a firefighting mission with Keith and J.R., see the unique challenges.
Episode 4MIKE is known in the aviation community for his comic strips and books about airplane flying and is highly sought after at Air Shows. Most pilots meeting Mike would never know that they had just met one the best firefighting helicopter pilots in the world. Keith and Mike show the viewers some of their firefighting exploits.
Episode 5
STEVE started his flying career in the dangerous world of deer capture in New Zealand, moved to helicopter logging in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Malaysia. In a business where pilots often didn’t live too long, Steve managed to make it, where other pilots including his brother were not so fortunate. Keith and Steve show us and talk about some the flying they survived.
Episode 6
PETE knows more about living through helicopter engine failures than any pilot alive! Keith talks to Pete about what it takes to live through that event. With 7 engine failures in single engine helicopters, Keith has walked away each time thanks to Pete and others who trained him well. Where most pilots have done a few hundred autorotations ( simulated engine failures to a landing), Pete has done about 30,000 in his 18,000 hours of flying.
Episodes 4 - 6
Keith Gill's career spans 44 years, 27 companies, and over 40 types of helicopters. He has flown as a utility pilot, owner, operations manager, general manager, chief pilot, training pilot and line pilot. His work has taken him to exciting and remote locations in 15 different countries. He has flown for government organizations in several countries and the U.S., such as the U.S. Forest Service, FBI, U.S. Navy, C.I.A., and police departments including the R.C.M.P.
Keith Gill | Biography
