The Knife & Fork
Special Edition

Ride Along With Fire Bird One





2 Nov 2006
by Warren McIlvoy


My wife and I have live in the "Valley of the Sun" for more than 35-years and in that time, I believe that I have seen most of the Phoenix metro area. I have flown over a good portion of it while traversing the Phoenix "TRSA, ARSA, and now Class B airspace.  I have also driven around a good portion of it for various reasons over those 35-years but on the 2nd of November of this year, I had an opportunity to view the city from an entirely different perspective. I had the distinctive honor of flying with some of Phoenixes finest, officers of the Phoenix Police Department and their Fire Bird One helicopter.


Several months ago, as a member of Flights For Life, I did an "orientation" mission for one of our newest members, Richard Bursley. I just so happened that Richard is also a mechanic for the "flying wing" of the police department. At the completion of the orientation mission, we stopped-in at the Operations Desk in the Deer Valley Airport to get a copy of the orientation checklist for Richard's records. As luck would have it, the copy machine was "inop" and it was lunch time for the upstairs administration offices. Richard suggested that we could get a copy at the police department's hangar at the eastern end of the airport.


So off we went to the hangar. Rich gave me the "cook’s tour" of the hangar facility and a brief description of some of the flying equipment that was in there for various reasons. After securing his copy of the checklist, we went back out to the hangar and Rich asked me if I have ever ridden in a helicopter. I responded in the negative and Rich inquired if I wanted to fly along with some of the officers while on their shift patrol. I said "let me think about that for 3 maybe 4 seconds". I quickly jumped at the opportunity like a starving dog on a meat truck. My only caveat was that I would prefer some cooler weather and I would let Rich know when I was ready.


Well, it was now late October and the oppressive heat had gone south for the winter and I sent Rich an email note indicating that early November would work for me. Rich replied that I had an appointment on 2 Nov at 0815. The mission was schedule for 0900 and I needed to fill-out some paperwork prior to the flight.


At the appointed hour, I drove up to the south side of the police department's hangar and spotted Richard and Brant Saperstein who was going to act as a witness to the morning’s activities. Rich said that our helicopter had departed about 15-minutes earlier on a "hot" call. While standing in the parking lot, we were just exchanging small talk when Rich asked Brant if he would like to join me on the flight. After recovering his lower jaw from the pavement, Brant said that he would be more than happy to go along.


We entered the office area of the hangar and filled-out the necessary forms for our flight. Since our pilot was still out, we were invited to sit and relax in the officer's lounge besides a couple of small desks; there were four or five leather recliners in a semi-circle within a comfortable wide screen television. We were there maybe 20-minutes when our crew returned from their assignment. Rich introduced us to our pilot and after allowing the officer to "catch his breath" for about 15-minutes, we went out to the ramp to inspect our flying machine. I say "machine" rather than aircraft because there is a commonly accepted theory around that states that "helicopters don't really fly-they just beat the air into submission." Our "machine for the day" was a European built, Eurocopter-A Star. After our briefing about exiting the helicopter, we climbed into the back seats with me on the left and Brant on the right. The left side had a larger side window that would make picture taking a bit easier.


Our pilot for the morning's mission was Derek Geisel. Derek was born and raised on California but later the family moved to Prescott, Arizona. Derek has been with the Phoenix Police Department for about 8-years and has been flying helicopters for the department for about 4-years. We were joined by his "observer" officer Bob Kaschl who occupied the left seat. From observing the activities up front, Bob seems to direct Derek where he wants to go. Derek said that they would be monitoring two radios and with their communicating with one another, it was sometimes confusing as to who was speaking.


We lifted-off from the north side of the hangar and at about fifty feet we turned south around the west side of the hangar. We continued south across the 101 Freeway and turned southeasterly towards North Mountain Park. What a view! I told Derek that "I gotta get me one of these." The noise level was quite acceptable especially with the head sets that we sported. There was a slight vibration or rumble that made the Plexiglas window to Bob's left pulsate to the beat of the overhead rotor blades. We continued south to about Glendale Avenue and then turned east towards Squaw Peak Park (yes, they still call it Squaw Peak). We made a tight circle around the peak with a bird's eye view of the trail, hikers, and the folks at the top enjoying a "cold one" as we waved to them. I asked Derek, "does the department actually pay you for enjoying the use of their helicopter?" I could see and hear a slight snicker.


After departing the Squaw Peak area, we headed south to the downtown area circled the tall buildings while observing the huge construction projects that will change the face of the skyline. While monitoring radio calls, Bob would tell Derek where he wanted to go. Since Bob is seated in the left front seat, all of the circling is done to the left which made my view all the more interesting. Their earlier mission had been in support of ground offices that were investigating an early morning shooting at a local business by a former employee. Part of our mission was to look for the vehicle that was seen leaving the scene. From our lofty perch of 500-600', I could barely discern the difference between a pick-up truck and a sedan. It floored me when Bob was asking the dispatcher what kind of wheels the vehicle had. You've got to be kidding me! From my perspective, I could not tell if they were round or square wheels let alone that they may be of a particular style.


After circling several other locations, we got a call that said that the parents of the suspect lived out in Buckeye so off we went. It was odd to see the view change from industrial to residential, back to industrial and then more residential areas then a few farm fields broke the pattern. I was amazed at the amount of new construction that was going on in the far west valley along with the huge graded plats that were be prepared for development. Bob was directing Derek after consulting a street guide that I would bet, had to be updated on a regular basis. We circled the area a few time looking for the vehicle but did not spot it. After about 10-minutes of circling, a call on the radio said that the suspect was spotted in the area of 7th Ave and Missouri. Derek gathered-in all the horses and made a beeline for the location. After reaching the scene, we were requested by the ground folks to maintain about a 1-mile radius circle while the ground officers worked their magic. I could see several streets that were being blocked-off by patrol cars and eventually spotted the parking lot in the rear of a row of apartments where the suspect was scene entering one of the units. We were in the area for about 15-minutes before the suspect surrendered to the officers.


After departing the scene, we headed back up to the Deer Valley Airport along a line that took us over the Moon Valley area and then slightly east to make an approach to the east side of the hangar building. As we maneuvered into position for landing, at about 20', we head an emergency call on the radio from a female officer involved in an "on foot" chase of a suspect. The location was near 33rd Ave and Camelback. Derek quickly aborted the landing and headed in a westerly direction in front of the tower before turning south. We were speeding along when suddenly a call on the radio said that the suspect had been apprehended. Derek reined-in the horses and reversed course to head back to the airport. With the skill of a surgeon, Derek maneuvered the aircraft (there, I said it) to our original position and with the genteelness of a falling feather, touched-down with nary a quiver.


Derek shut-down the engine and the rotor slowly spun to a halt with a little help from the rotor brake. With the rotor stopped, we exited the left side of the helicopter. Brant and I thanked Derek for letting us tag along and enjoy the sights and gain a little insight into the air-wing of the Phoenix Police Department.



Click on the link to the photos of our mission.