Wyoming Helicopters tackles seeding project

by Bobi Nikolaus

We have a helicopter service based in Wyoming. My husband Ed Nikolaus is the pilot and of late, I have been the seed\mix girl of the outfit.

The work we do is most often in remote regions. We specialize in rangeland applications, seeding and spraying, which makes up a major portion of our operation. Weather is a important factor in any aerial application business, ours is no exception. We spend more time than I care to count waiting out some storm rumbling through.

It was late January and we had a rangeland seeding project to perform on a number of ranches in the mountainous country of Eastern Oregon at a 4,500’-5,000’ elevation. There was anywhere from 8 inches of snow in the upper areas of the valley to no snow at the lower end. Ed would be broadcasting 15,000 lbs. of seed on over 1,000 acres. Some of the application areas would be juniper cuts others would be sites Ed had sprayed for noxious weeds the prior year.

The juniper cuts are a project the government funds. Landowners are paid to cut the very thirsty trees, therefore making more water available for the grasses. This is where we come in, broadcasting grass seed on the rangeland.

When setting up the landing area we try to stay out of pastures that hold livestock as the animals may cause damage by rubbing against the aircraft. We found a fairly dry, grassy area in a cow pasture for the helicopter. The only cows were across the river at the far end of the field, and didn’t seem to pose much of a problem. We set up camp on the edge of the pasture. The meadow was flooded so we parked the RV up on the dirt road, which at this time of year was more like a mud road Ed would be flying a Hiller 12E and applying the seed at 14 lbs per acre with an Isolair broadcaster. The helicopter is outfitted with snow pads that work great on snow and mud.

The seed bags were about six miles up the road in a hay shed. So once or twice a day we would drive the pickup to the shed to load up 30-40 bags in the six-foot truck bed.
Frost on the blades foiled any ideas we may have had for a daybreak start. Every morning the torpedo heater would be pulled out to the helicopter for its daily warm up, defrosting the blades (need blade sleeves!) and the bubble. Once everything had thawed out, the engine cover, placed over the engine and transmission region every night, would be removed and we would be ready to go.

We generally could not get started until after 8 am. This made for fairly short days, as the wind would knock us out just before noon. Storms were continuously moving in then being blown out to make room for the next batch of clouds.

The seed bucket would only hold about 300 lbs. of the light, fluffy seed at one time. Ed landed the helicopter for each load as a hover would create too much wind and would fling seed everywhere. I would then empty 6 - 50 lb. bags of seed mix into the bucket and Ed would lift off.

Watching the helicopter pick up the bucket and fly off is always an awesome sight. On one of the loads a ranch hand helped me load the bucket. When Ed took off blowing wind and bits of ice into our faces the ranch hand looked at me and said, “That was cool.” Then he called his puppy and walked off.

We were stationed within five minutes of the treatment sites so my wait for the reload left me enough time to setup and open the next six-bag load.

A WAG GPS performed some of the guidance. But due to the wind scattering seed and the juniper cut units’ odd shapes, flags were often employed as reference points.
On this type of project target areas are not always able to be flown out the way the pilot would like. Wind and landscape often determine the flight pattern. Turbulent air coming off a ridge presses the helicopter down requiring more horsepower to stay in the sky. When the wind gets too bad the control limits are reached and it’s time to land. Another problem is that in these types of conditions the seed is being applied who knows where. When the cuts are on the right side of the hill the wind is not a problem and can actually be an advantage giving the helicopter good lift. These irregular conditions kept the application speed on this treatment at about 50 mph.

One morning we setup on the top of a hill to access a juniper cut that grew on a hillside at a 60 degree angle. To get to the staging site we had to 4-wheel a load of seed five miles through some pretty sloppy snow and the ever present mud. A cowboy from one of the ranches came along with us bringing in a load of seed with his pickup. The road had some deep ruts but nobody got stuck. Later, we would need to navigate this road again to make a few phone calls. In this particular area cell service is only accessible by climbing to the top of a tall hill.

This type of work is tricky because of very mountainous terrain with trees randomly scattered throughout. There are many canyons and draws and as the winds picked up, the helicopter would be pitched about by the drafts speeding through these areas.

Each day Ed would fly as long as possible then come in, land and give me the cut throat sign.

The weather did not cooperate with us resulting in several hours of flying being made impossible by the unsettled winds and rain.

Whenever the conditions are unfavorable we simply wait out the squall. Mornings are usually the only time we have to work, as a rule the afternoons are lost to the elements.
We camped and took refuge from the rain in an RV complete with living quarters, a cargo area and a couple of generators. The broadcaster, torpedo heater and all the other paraphernalia were transported nicely in our trailer.

In spite of the January cold, snow, rain and wind we finished the grass seed job and in fact, came back in February to complete another seeding project for the ranchers.