I was puzzled recently by a helicopter buzzing around for a good bit of the day. I couldn't see it most of the time just hear it. Then when I happened to go up to The House I saw it in the distance hovering with a line below it. It struck me as being odd because it was above high voltage power lines. Later I saw it quite high up travelling quite quickly with something dangling below it. It turned out to be two people. Apparently they were power line workers suspended below a helicopter and working on the lines. Not a job I'd want methinks.
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There is getting a buzz from your job and then there is just enjoying it. Never in a million, million years would I do that. I thought Kate was mad enough when she went skydiving in New Zealand but that is something else.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Pat. You wouldn't get me up there for a big clock. Which is odd really 'cos the most awesome thing I have ever done is paragliding. I loved that.
DeleteShudder.
ReplyDeleteFrances you really would be too under the downwash from the chopper rotors.
DeleteA good pilot hovers over you and works the cyclic control so you shouldn't ever feel downwash. The only reason you see it on films is because folk are disembarking and he has to keep the rotors flat. I wait till they have stopped going round. Then I get off.
Deletenee dit zou ik ook nooit doen maar je hebt er wel prachtige foto,s van kunnen maken.
ReplyDeletestiefbeen Ik ben niet verbaasd dat je het niet zou doen.
DeleteI have never been afraid of heights and I guess all the gear they wear, the cable between them and the helicopter, etc., is all regularly checked to make sure it is in top condition and as secure as you can get. So I guess that, yes, I would do it.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider how many people die in road accidents every year, and yet people get into their cars daily without wasting a thought on the risks - and then compare this to the number of people who get injured or die while working on power lines, suspended from a helicopter, I think working on the power lines is much, much safer!
You may well be correct Meike and, as always, your logic is perfect.
DeleteWell, the helicopter ride would be something I could do without.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Red.
DeleteI think I can safely add that one to my "never" list...
ReplyDeleteIt won't even get near any of my lists Monica.
DeleteNow this looks a perfect job to me. I wish I'd had the opportunity. I worked steel rigging one Christmas holiday and loved being high up on a cement cooling tower skeleton......Good money as well. Even in 1972, We didn't have to go up till the ice had melted from the RSJ's. That was real Elf & Safety. Thatcher demeaned bottle and destroyed all industry that needed a bit of spirit, terrified she was as are our politicians and business owners of people they regard as mad. They put their trust in bankers and lawyers. Shylocks and Liars more like. Bring back an honest days pay for an honest job done and lets be done with the Ditheries.
ReplyDeleteThey were good to us, gave us plastic hats and work gloves with little plastic bobbles on. They blew a whistle if the wind picked up. T'was a really good job. If the Ganger said fuck it today lads. Then we did and away to the pub we went....We still got paid basic less height money.
Looking at your other comments I can see why folk could think such a job could be Shocking. It can't be too bad a way to earn a living on a balmy summers day.
As you know I have good reason not to trust helicopter pilots. They is nearly as bad as the bankers.
Adrian it's always good to have one of your rants, oops, sorry, informed and unbiased comments. Whatever else they are always entertaining. I fully understand how you feel about chopper pilots but I've always loved helicopter travel. It's just the idea of dangling beneath one and mending powerlines that I'm not so keen on..
DeleteLooks like fun....I'd get up every day to go to work.
ReplyDeleteYou're a better man - oops, woman - than I am Gunga Virginia.
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