My first SI Mission

Okay, so here I am at the Pilot's Pub, having a glass of Chardonnay and boasting about my first rescue mission.  Hopefully this will give pilots another a summary of the mission without having to watch the videos I posted earlier.

I started at KMSP and requested the mission on 122.1 and they sent me on about a 25-mile trip to Maple Plain for a worker that was injured falling from a high-power line, caught by his safety harness but swung against a ladder suffering a fracture. 

I was told the ground was uneven and I would have to hover rather than land.  Fortunately, SI app window showed continual update for heading and distance to both the accident site and the hospital for the drop off site. 

As I arrived, I was to make contact with the ground.  I'm not sure they said much to me.  Also, as I got close, besides seeing stuff on the map like airplanes, they were sending up flares. 

When I arrived, there was a helicopter landed there and people walking around, not sure why they couldn't fly the guy to the hospital .  I had a few communication issues, not sure what commands to pass on to my rescue crew.  I sat hovering for a few minutes, something I'm not the greatest at, waiting for them.  When I asked for an update - something the instructions recommend if nothing seems to be happening, they said they were waiting for me to clear them to rappel.   I told them to repel, and after trying a few word combinations, they figured it out and commenced repelling.  They advised they were with the patient, and he was stable and they were returning to our aircraft. 

Finally, they advised that he was on board and secure and they were ready to transport to the hospital.  Off I went for another 16 miles to drop them off at Abbott Northwestern Hospital (MN10).  Fortunately, it was marked on my map and had a nice helipad marked in red.  They can sometimes be difficult to see, but there's a MN Helipad scenery addon that you can get that works pretty well.  Yep, everyone was pleased and I got my first mission under my belt.  

I did forget to start SPAACARS, and by the time I remembered, I had my hands full of helicopter controls so I didn't log this one.  I would recommend turning of Econ Mode in SPAACARS for this in the event you need to land at both an accident scene and then the drop off location.  On the non-helo rescue, they will give you a search and locate then you tell ATC to transmit your gps location to the rescue units.  Then you can fly back and complete the mission in a fixed wing aircraft.  Again, keep Econ Mode turned of to be sure you log your entire flight with SPAACARS.  As with all flights, make sure to check our flight schedules to verify whether your flight needs an assigned flight number or if you can use your unique flight number.

This is going to be lots of fun I think.

Happy flying,
John