Planning a helicopter spotting trip

[Sachse]

Hello everyone,

due to the planning of a trip to California (covering the area from San Francisco to San Diego and then further on to Las Vegas) with a friend in February 2018 I came across your community and hope for some support with some open questions.

As mentioned in the topic name we are 'specialized' in helicopters. A 'big point' on our list is to catch some fire fighting helicopters, especially the (for Europeans) rare ones like Skycrane, Sea Kings, ... Unfortunately it's hard to find detailed information about that, probably because there are so many contracted companies. So could anybody help me out with where fire fighting helicopters, especially the big ones, have their permanent bases (if not out for a fire somewhere else) or if there are contracted helicopters at all during that time of year? Sorry if that seems to be a dumb question, but I'm not very familiar with the fire seasons in California, but it seems to be an issue also in Winter regarding the recent events...

For the the helicopters of public authorities itself it's a bit easier, but also here there are some unsolved issues.
Regarding CalFire I found out about Helitack bases in Sacramento McClallen, Columbia, Prado and Hemet-Ryan. Are there any other bases in Southern California?
According to http://www.adamsairmed.org/states/California.pdf LA County Fire Department as well as LA County Sheriff's Department have helicopters based outside their 'main locations'. Are these permanent locations? (on Google Earth often no helicopters are visible)

Does anybody have an e-mail contact for the CBP Air and Marine office? My attempts to contact CBP via the general contact form on their website were not successful so far.

We will head to Las Vegas not only to do some 'ordinary spotting' at the various airports but also in hope for witnessing the arrivals for the HeliExpo. Are there yet any information available on which days the arrival will take place and if it will be the same conditions as the last edition in Las Vegas (same landing site, visible from public ground)?

And finally a general question: Are there any helicopter related events when we are in California (15th to 27th Feb) we should know about?


We were glad about any information, so any contribution is welcome.


Greetings from Germany,
Johannes Herrmann

P.S.: My photos can be found on:
https://www.jetphotos.com/photographer/33471/photos?term=Johannes+Herrmann
http://www.airliners.net/search?user=69329
http://www.helionline.net/511-201392-396265/photogallery//////Johannes+Herrmann/photographers.name.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138495678@N05/

[Realbigtaco]

Typically February is not in SoCal's fire season.  It usually ends in December, but this year has been really dry, with very little rain so it did creep into December.

I'm not really much of a Fire helicopter guy, there are a couple more local airports down in San Diego that have the local fire/rescue Hueys (Gillespie field and Montgomery).

The only other thing i would say, is that if you are into Military helicopters, Ream field (Imperial Beach) has a TON of SH-60 activity year round.  Miramar is also good for CH-53's and Osprey's as well

[Sachse]

Thanks for the input. We are aware of the military fields as well, but are there any good photo positions? It seems the 'action' mostly is far away, the only 'good' locations I found were Sacramento Mather and Fresno. (Not sure about Los Alamitos?!)

By the way, my requests for base visits at Camp Pendleton and Miramar were rejected (as expected), but the press officer mentioned the possibility of public bus tours at Miramar?! Any Experiences with that?

[Realbigtaco]

Yes, you are correct that most bases are tough to get good shots.  NOLF Imperial Beach is an exception, there is a perimeter road to the northwest of the base that gets you pretty close to the action.  I believe there is also a walking path that you can walk onto to get you to the south of the active runway so that it puts the sun at your back.  Don't quote me on that one, I've never actually been down there.  I work down in the area, and during the work week, there is usually a lot of action.


http://www.apsocal.com/forum/index.php/topic,1006.msg8770.html#msg8770

[phantomphan1974]

Yes, you are correct that most bases are tough to get good shots.  NOLF Imperial Beach is an exception, there is a perimeter road to the northwest of the base that gets you pretty close to the action.  I believe there is also a walking path that you can walk onto to get you to the south of the active runway so that it puts the sun at your back.  Don't quote me on that one, I've never actually been down there.  I work down in the area, and during the work week, there is usually a lot of action.


http://www.apsocal.com/forum/index.php/topic,1006.msg8770.html#msg8770

I have photographed once from that corner and along fence like and its a great place if its busy.    Always Dog Beach but that is mostly fixed wing stuff.  Around the LA area there are helos its just not non stop action.  VNY had a couple helo operators and LAFD, Whiteman has news helos.  SNA in Orange County has the Sheriff and a few private companies.  FUL has OCFA and Anahiem PD.  TOA(my area) has Robinson Helicopter factory so they are flying quite often and there are a few vintage planes there.  One flying over as I type this.  NAF El Centro is great for jets and helos along fence line but mostly jets.  Basically its all random.  Camarillo has the Sheriff and their Hueys.  Santa Ynez airport has the Santa Barbra Hueys and a Indian Casino..lol  Arrivals for HAI not sure but is not to be missed.  Check with Heliweb Mag online. Message them to see if they know.  Points north not as familiar with.  CalFire you mentioned should not be too much of problem.  Call ahead. KSBD had the San Bernardino Sheriff.  Erickson is up in Oregon.

Never shot at Pendelton and Miramar only during Airshow.  Sometimes you might get lucky along the 5 Fwy that runs thru Pendleton if they are doing Ops along coast.  USCG is in San Diego across from Lindbergh with Jayhawks.  Los Alamitos has random activity.  Fresno has the sheriff and the PD.  Hughes 396 for sheriff and EC120 for PD

[phantomphan1974]

Typically February is not in SoCal's fire season.  It usually ends in December, but this year has been really dry, with very little rain so it did creep into December.

I'm not really much of a Fire helicopter guy, there are a couple more local airports down in San Diego that have the local fire/rescue Hueys (Gillespie field and Montgomery).

The only other thing i would say, is that if you are into Military helicopters, Ream field (Imperial Beach) has a TON of SH-60 activity year round.  Miramar is also good for CH-53's and Osprey's as well

And no per se "Helo" events in this time.  Our Heroes show was in November.

[SBGrad]

San Diego County had a Skycrane on contract for the past fire season- it was/is based at Gillespie.  Thing is, as others have said, Feb is not really fire season and so I doubt if it will be around when you are here.

NOLF Imperial Beach has US Navy (and US Coast Guard once in a while) helicopters pretty much every weekday.  There are lots of trails to the west of the base where you can get a variety of angles and different shots.   Parking is easy but there are no bathrooms or water there.

I don't have any connections with CPB, but they DO have at least one H-60 at North Island, I've caught it in the air from time to time.  Homeland Security also has a couple helos based at North Island (I've seen a MD 369 and an Eurocopter).  You'll see them in the air up and down the Silver Strand, but I've never seen them at NOLF IB.

I've never tried this, but for Marine Corps H-53s and Ospreys you might want to visit the Flying Leatherneck Museum at Miramar.  It is open to the public and is /probably/ your best bet for seeing USMC helos.  Just wander around the outdoor exhibits and see what flies by.