Deniz Burnham flies seaplanes, helicopters, hang gliders, paragliders, paramotors, and sometimes- jumps out of them!
Deniz Burnham is an Alaskan resident who just happens to RUN an oil rig. Not work on an oil rig, she runs the show. She’s the only female on the rig and has worked in some of the most remote places on Earth, which would be more than enough to fill an entire podcast on its own, but as this is a free-flight podcast we reached out to Deniz to talk about her rather adventurous relationship with free flight and her passion for flying just about everything that flies. Deniz pilots seaplanes, helicopters, paramotors, hang gliders, paragliders, sailplanes and from time to time- jumps out of them (or walks on them!)!
In this fascinating talk with a fascinating person we talk about staying safe when you don’t have the time to build up “currency”; flying recreationally vs commercially; the pursuit of knowledge; how to recognize poor decision-making; the art of auto-rotation in a helicopter; why flying hang gliders top them all; the risk of the chase; seizing opportunities and passing the torch and a lot more. Enjoy!
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talk the higher everybody. Welcome to another episode of the cloud. Base may him. We are trying to venture of out of our kind of Typical show with paragliding next. See a little bit of Acro and trying to talk to people who have very different backgrounds and flying different aircraft. This this is certainly no exception and this talk. I speak to Denise Burnham who's on Alaska resident and she works on oil rigs all over the world right now. Oh she's on a two week rotation down in Texas working on a gas rig but she runs the rig. She's the only female that that is on that rig which is fascinating but she's a chemical engineer by education and she flies everything helicopters sea plane sailplans param odors paragliders. Hang bladders so has a real interest. Obviously in aviation and this was just a fascinating talk with a very very fascinating person I think. Enjoy it little bit housekeeping before we get into the talk. I don't have a ton of stuff but remember that I were having a little thing for those who share share the show will be put into a pot and I'll do a little grab bag for Patagonia big Patagonia discounts. And also. We've got a couple of blue flies areas left from Alistair. GimMe some of these couple years back and got a couple of those so please share the show with your friends or put it out on social media or just talk about it on the way to launch. Let me know you've done so we'll put your name in a in a sack in withdraw from that sometime early January happy holidays everybody and hope you enjoyed the show cheers. Don't go for young things. So I this denise. Welcome to the cloud base mayhem been really excited to talk to you. I was just fascinated to follow you recently. on on instagram a friend of yours reached out and said you gotta check this girl out and see what she's doing and I thought an interesting place to start. We just had this kind of long conversation about if some of your history and education and work but if you and I were sitting at a party and we've never been we'd never met we didn't know each other and I said hey what do you do. How do you answer that? Because you've got background. Thanks I think a dis- kind of normally tell people I just work on oil and gas industry is kind of taken me some really promote locations Like I spend years in the Arctic. I've worked in Cana in a in some other places throughout the US and But my background itself is engineering. And you you you have quite a a unique position on these racial right now. You're down in Texas. Is that right. You're drilling for gas. Nannies Texas okay. So and you're schedules. You're saying it's two weeks Sean. Two weeks off. And you live in Alaska. So that's that's a lot of travel a lot of travel. Yeah I'm definitely gone more than six and a half of the year because the troubled troubled as count against the. And how long you've been doing this. It's been about ten years now and so case so you said when we were talking before the we started recording you went to USC and UCSD CAL- California. Was this kind of on your radar can into oil and gas no not at all. I studied chemical engineering at. UCSD are so. Biotech is huge in San Diego. So that's kind of where I had focused my our nine internships on alternative energy or a little bit of stem cell research but it was just one of those opportunities I got to be interviewed in. Bakersfield will end as the first time I've ever even seen an oil rig and they made a job offer to me to go to Brazil and being from San Diego super excited the and of course I was like Oh heck out you know I'm GonNa Start Up to that. And then they sent me to Arctic crazy Amin what what was the catalyst for the flying the discount from your parents and to find they'd be lurking to be fascinated to learn all the things you do fly so we'll get into the various aircraft you fly but when did that all happen. Both both my parents were in the military but neither one of them was a pilot. I guess I just from very young age had like a true love of Aviation Withdrawal Raleigh little pictures of helicopters Getting to go to school in San Diego. Of course there's Torrey Pines Rather La Hoya in. I remember remember seeing stuff but of course you know you can't afford it so you just kind of watched people do things But I've always had that desire.
00:05:06 - 00:10:03
I started actually flying at the local aeroclub on base. Yeah no seven teen so I got a taste of it and I knew I loved it but most of the other types of flight. I just got the cuddle. Watch people doing it until I knew. I had a dedicate the time and the the resources and Wallace I so gone my fixed-wing license I that was about ten years ago are in California and so that was just a single winded land and so this is when you were going to school So that was right after school and then I I kind of like to try a lot of things and unfortunately sometimes try something and then I'll come back years and years later and finish it so I kind of dabbled around in a couple of things. That's kind of the first time I tried Helicopters offers but it was you know helicopters are quite expensive to fly and inquires a big time commitment and when I was working Arctic. I didn't actually have a normal rotation Shinzo I would work for sometimes six straight on get three days off and obviously when you're in the Arctic. There's you're working right you're on a rig. There's nothing else to be you there so you would kind of talk to other people maybe hear about something and you just Kinda take a little mental But I kind of the the next thing I remember doing doing is kind of like I tried accelerated freefall skydiving. So I I went down that path a little bit and then I actually went and did the hang-gliding Alabama and Then I kind of I kind of learned that periodic backwards I win and I learned how to fly para her motor first and then I did paragliding and then we ended my seaplane rating than helicopter. Licensed Alaska so a lot of people. All I know out in the Mid West. There's a lot there we get unpacked. But I can't believe ow awesome. I mean it's also great. You fly all these things without the you. You got to find helicopters on your own you know. Most people have to go through either military training. Or you know it's expensive. Aren't how to fly a helicopter. Misunderstand I understand you've done all this through your job for sure so I did all this Just kind of self-funded working on a rotating schedule also in my days off. I would go and say okay. I'm going to focus on this one area and so You know for instance for the helicopter took me several rotation dried so I had to probably do it over the course of six or seven months whereas some of the other stuff Promoters I was able to do it in in just one of those days off rotations. And do you own like do you own your own sea plane or how does that. How do you get any get hours so a lot of this stuff like helicopters? Here's a once you get your license through school. Go normally let you rent it through them. So I've done it that way. So renting it through the people that I learned from or You know there's some little clubs you can join like aero clubs or something like that but I do own my own paraglider and that's so I know a lot of people learned para motoring I and that's not that unique there on the mid West and there aren't mountains to hop off but it's always. Yeah that's always scared me. The first paramount I flew is actually up in Alaska with my Buddy Kenny up there and it just terrified me. I just I felt so out of control. Troll and heavens was just really. I've never really gotten into paramount during but how do you learn how to paramount or repaired. Lied I've I've never really understood that I mean first of all one hundred percent agree with you. Something about the takeoffs itself might yet there's no way you can make that look good I mean even the guys there they really do it professionally. That gray taken off is just. It's kind of weird little steps and it. We'll also have so much thrust with pushing your hips forward. So in a way like say there's really no cool way to take off but it is really pointing to think developed makes me laugh. I had a really good instructor. His name is Joe Cruise. He's a he was out of valley springs and like he did it very because he's actually flies preflight as well as the pair motors so he does like the Water itself and he's very talented pilot. So he kind of progressively like the one thing he always threats like you've got to know how to Kaija wing so everybody learns just gotTa learn how to fight the paraglider and then and They had like a winch. They would kind of toe you with just the paraglider because they wanted you to get used to having are getting pulled from the waist a little bit Remember how when you're getting the motors on exactly you're getting pushed with her. Your hips forward in any kind of let you kind of have you do. Dry Veyron with the the paramour itself so of course you know.
00:10:03 - 00:15:01
This is a lot of ground handling a lot of training on the ground. The pair motored self-control heavy and I actually. I found it quite heavy for launching and stuff like that but especially when you're carrying a lot of fuel so yeah I mean I remember to the first time you actually take off. You're just like oh my gosh like there's no way over magical. You're in the air but I've learned on some hard lessons too right like I learned when an instructor tells you don't jump. I learned that the hard way unfortunately like one of the Times where you kind of feel like okay I. Yeah I know I got enough speed. I'm just GonNa you know like do a little hop in no like you come crashing down and it's pretty brutal right because you have like seventy pounds on your back with its impressing you into the ground. You just Kinda lay there just ashamed. Yeah yes if you you ever had any actions flying all these different apparatus. Current knock on wood. No I haven't You know especially actually I would hang gliding and stuff like that. I've had a little bit of maybe a little bit of rough landings and stuff like that but thankfully most things in the air kind of fly the same way so it's always take off and landing that makes it really unique. Something you're doing is is very foreign to me. You're you're flying all these different things. You're also working pretty hard so you can't leave that much time to really devote to one thing and I I got an paragliding that was it. My life just became paragliding. I I am. I stopped doing a lot of other things probably did all those other things detriment for sure. But how do you how do you kind of approach. Maintaining -taining security and flight by. How do you approach? You know. You're you're probably not getting enough hours to stay super proficient as to how. How does your approach approach Berry when only jumping a sailplane jumping helicopter go fly hang glider? Yeah how do you broach all that that that side of things so stuff like the helicopter. Airplanes seaplanes as a federal licenses. They actually have like a sense. currency Frenchie requirements. But because you're renting it grew school. They have their own currency requirements. Right so something like that You you know helicopter helicopter to me was the most expensive and I kind of feel like Consequence wise like I think it's quite easy to get killed doing it If you're not careful careful because you literally cannot control met so I feel like if I take a little bit too much time off always like there's no ego in this aviation right go go instructor. get checked out again. Make sure you're comfortable practice. Auto rotations a use commonsense. Right like I never just say I don't take a month or two off something. Say Okay I'm just GonNa go wing like that's crazy. I always say like for instance when I took my gear. 'cause I got my gear here in Santa Barbara for the paragliding so to Europe to Alaska I went infound like local pilots. And I got a site orientation in I. I just don't care to pay somebody to come. Hey do you mind. Just walk me through. It's been a little while or just get a refresher that way and then I kind of go off and do my own thing but always always as I make sure that uncomfortable I Because you can pay with your life for sure. That's that's like I think of it in terms of currency will will any of these endeavors. Do you ever see any of them becoming commercial or these will just stay journey recreational activities. I mean in terms of like my hours. I definitely have enough hours between helicopters and fixed-wing I to pursue the commercial license. But you know I could be wrong long this kind of how I feel like I never wanted to paint my love because it was just like for me. It's A. It's a hobby enjoyed so much and I kind of feel like if somebody was paying you to do it will. Now it becomes an you'd have to Kinda see how I fly right. 'cause I I kinda just characters or a missile flying. Somebody's paying you money. You're GonNa be like what are you doing so I kind of like keeping his separate. I kind of like getting to express myself through flying that I kind of feel like it would be affected. It's I I was paid. Where are you based? So I'm actually an Alaska resident but you know I travel every two weeks or so. You're you're you're near Anchorage it's our north. Yeah is you're flying site then how hatcher pass right. Yeah actually fly site okay. So see planes helicopters hang gliders para motors paragliders. What's your favorite? If I missed any there you instilling in terms of all the licenses.
00:15:01 - 00:20:06
That's what I have but I have a all the check ride for that sailplane. So for gliders sailboat into I just truly enjoy the learning process test yourself rikers. I'm not somebody that's sitting there breaking records or anything like that to me is is like cluttered. The pursuit of the knowledge. Intestine yourself like seeing. Hey can I do this or you know not everything I do. I'm I'm not like amazing everything right. I'm I'm okay L.. In terms of like my favorite like I've I've been obsessed with helicopters since I was a little girl so when I got that license I was just so thrilled rolled and You Know My. I told me that I had started when I was Kind of right around. Got My swing license but it was one of those that it was expensive wanted. I couldn't really dedicate the time so I always wanted it but I had to really wait a long time to to get that and I was just so thrilled accomplish infamy like taking it back and doing it in Alaska scores really special to so helicopters are your favorite in terms of like the amount of effort in like I spent so much time and energy and thought thought goes into learning on the fly in but out of all of those are hang gliding was only one. That's ever made me emotional in terms of like I literally like the first first time law shop lookout mountain. I was crying so it was just a pure flying. Yeah and I think being prone is pretty special. You know you're like Bergeres. Here's which one of those do you kind of have the most respect for. Maybe the most fear for like with the helicopters. Also say the type of helicopter. I fly right because it's It's our twenty two right so there's a lot that can go wrong. You're not careful you know some of the stuff like in a fixed wing We have a lot of hours. You can get a little bit complacent right. You can like trim it out can take your hands off the controls for a second if if you need to do stuff like that in helicopters. I mean it's like requires vigilance because any Event of emergency one point two seconds direct reactive at that collected down sounds interesting and then as you go up now food You're kind of time. Window starts shrinking so in terms of like you always feel like oh my gosh. Like he can't really like you enjoy it. But you can't do it too much but I've always enjoyed solo fly para motor paragliders to me the launch has always felt a little bit different. Like I've seen some people do some crazy things where I thought like holy spokes person going to survive the launch or use kind of poor decisions sometimes where people. But maybe you're launching out of you know you just as an observer or sometimes you're just like I can't believe somebody's watching those conditions. Everybody has their different. I guess threshold skill said Yeah thresholds department uncomfortable but purolator launching to me. I always found on that very different compared to the others a denise for the entertainment of our listeners. I think probably a lot of people don't know about on a rotation it's it fascinating to me. Just incredibly scary so describe what act was what an auto rotation helicopter entails so so essentially. It's like if you have an engine failure or something like that right because now you picture like a pinwheel. Remember those little things as a kid. You'd have it new glow on it. So the whole point of automation is you gotTA keep that main rotor spinning right so You're you're having to manage between your collected in your cycling so you have worn. That's collectively changing the pitch of the blades and the other one. That's Kinda like cycling through So you're trying to manage that energy to make sure that taping the main blade spinning. And you have like a little RPM threshold there because obviously you can't over speed the rotor but you also if it slows goes on too much It can it becomes from that. You can't recover from right. So you're bleeds controller core. Pinecone happen like that. And you just. You'RE GONNA fall a refrigerator at that point but Yeah self this super talented pilots out there that can enter it from conditions that most of US probably couldn't most of us Do you know like when you're getting your private licenses like that like you're kind of entering it from always like a standard set conditions pay. You're already have a Ford Air. Speed of like he does sixty knots. Or something like that in your just trying to maintain your air speed. Because you're gonNA have to need. We need an energy at the bottom of flare too. Because you can imagine like that's it. You don't have power our you're just coming down and then you're GONNA flare set the helicopter down but interstates and stuff like that. Look I can't speak for overseas. I'm not sure You actually they don't train you in those schools to do full set down. Autos it's something that you do recover at the very end crazy. The way you're describing I think s I v with with paragliding and when we go and go to a course and take heavy and you're taking it in perfect conditions.
00:20:06 - 00:25:11
It's not combat. You know it's it's You know it's over the the water was you're telling everything to do and I think the people often forget that when it happens in real life. It's a little different but that's is so important to practice here. You're hoping that the muscle memory over stops. You probably wouldn't even have time to think about so when you're flying a helicopter how much how many auto rotations are doing a year. I mean there's no standard like that is something that like. For instance if it's your solo in you're renting somebody else's stuff. They actually wouldn't allow you to go do that on your own. Their expectation is that going to respect their decision to the right. Because it's a minimum quarter million dollar machine. It's obviously don't want you to kill yourself. But they also have to break destroy their machine. Yeah so yeah. It's something that like. Whenever if I'm going solo flying and stuff like that it's great but always make sure PRAC authorizations with an instructor before I go up because in the adventure by herself like what are you GonNa do right. You gotta you gotTa make sure you could save yourself. Are you traveling a lot to fly or these days because you're working so much in those two weeks sof you just mostly going home and fine at home so a lot of these licences have been kind of spread out like I used to love traveling to go learn something new you because I would like local do of my research online and so k where do I think go gets good instruction so like you know hang gliding was in local mountain. The promoters was in California in Northern California. The paragliding itself was in Santa Barbara helicopters. Alaska main I did the planes and then the took swing. I did in California so I used to be totally willing to go out live in travel for it but I do find now that I don't like to do as much like now take my wings somewhere in Like as far as paragliding those fly locally and hunters past Other than that like helicopters. I've done it in California too. It's just because it's like kind of where you can go out there. They're spied schools throughout the country. That you can go in either rent their equipment or or whatever is it's a lot easier than have takes up with you. How is how is flying? I mean usually I would say you know house paragliding hang gliding. Change Your Life but with USA's flying how has flying line change your life so for me. It was kind of maybe a confidence thing are so because I studied you. You know chemical engineering. UCSD it was very like. I spent a lot of time. Just kind of focusing on schoolwork and then I got thrust into do like a predominantly male dominated industry with oil and gas industry and I was in a remote location so for me like it was the number one hundred escape away to kind of serve daydream. A little bit and kind of picture. going out and doing things I've always wanted but it's also like to accomplish certain things right gain more and more confidence Gordon. You kinda makes you a safer pilot. But that's where I got. I wasn't always like dressing up in costumes that it was something that I've got more confidence and KINDA NFL like okay. It's not going to distract me from actually flying the aircraft or whatever it is I'm doing but that's actually how I started off. There was like a film intestinal in northern California. It was probably about six or seven years ago and it was like a free flight film festival and like the what I made made for that entry. was I called it overcoming. Fear so I made different characters that I would say like okay. If you're afraid to go tackle something yourself create a character victor and have them go tackle it for years so I I made like two characters. One female was a man and the female was based off of like one of my favorite songs at the time. I'm like a chandelier songs. Like there is a certain way the girl dressed in the video with like a ballerina outfit to. That's kind of what I did was like and super super embarrassing looking back on it but for the guy it was kind of my way of expressing like having always been surrounded in that kind of industry or even like with so much flight instruction. It's almost predominately men teaching you so it was kind of my way of poking fun at always having you. I get that feeling of like people. Expect you to be one of the guys and stuff like that so I kind of made those characters like one just for that video by the way I learned how to do the Para Motors and I did it as the girl you know as disagree Ballerina unstop which was super funny because I can tell you. Falling Down entites is not a good retire we I had some pretty gnarly grass stains and everything else and Yet I mean that's kind of how I I started off like.
00:25:11 - 00:30:00
I didn't really know how to articulate the way I was feeling Sol's. PM Just GonNa do performance art so for me. It's like a big confidence boost. I think is performance. Formats are something you've done before you've mentioned this costume day a couple times. I should probably take you down. Lb Yeah I just I guess yes I never really whenever I kind of share stuff like I should say that I put a lot of time and effort into Festival submission in that film actually got cancelled that year. So I never I never got to like show anybody so I was like. Oh man like the super disappointing. But I was like okay. I'M GONNA just post it on Youtube and see what happens and of course people were trying to earn what is so. It was kind of a good experience here. Because it's like the expectation expectation versus reality. Just because you put a lot of effort into something It's sometimes difficult to portrayed others which are actually thinking feelings. I don't really like to talk a lot. I just kind of preferred preferred Action Speaker itself in terms of the flying learned. Something from that. I have submitted again. And and I actually got to the show. One of my films at one of those home festivals maybe a year or so later and you know he did okay but like honestly like I got to see. How other people's take on stuff wasn't smokes cap? Yeah definitely do in the bazaar route. I don't know how else to describe it because I was just trying to to show. Maybe this different perspective. Obviously there's some super high skill level pilots out there that are doing absolutely crazy thing quizzing visually whereas for me was more like okay. I can't do that but I can. You know if I still have a right dissipate. I'm going participate at my own level. I'm not gonNA take the series but I'm going to do something that I think it's Kinda funny and that was kind of always my goal with this man you know maybe at least I can make people laugh. If you've been saying Hilar- Dr for Cooper car no I have it would be the best entry there you've probably seen videos of it in pictures and that kind of thing but I mean everybody dresses up. Thousands concern thousands of people as the biggest festival in paragliding but free lemonade. They have ballooning acro- the and hang gliding everything. But it's the it's the biggest investable in the world flying every year since September and it's a hoot and you should if you liked dressing up you'd you'd love it just terrific. People do some amazing like fifty foot foot long dragons and just fantastic stuff you know eating wine and breeze they're flying around and it's it's good. It's very entertaining. Okay so the rig What do you think it is about you and your personality your you are definitely partaking partaking? Not only in your recreational time but in business time in very male dominated things We were talking before we started recording. That you're you run the rigs at right yes so As a website leader so overseeing all the drilling operation will and you're in your position they're they're divided change. Change this I think is you're in it but you're called a what man or something. So traditionally known as a company man has this kind of behavior title is But now it's more so like well site leader or discounted other companies. Call it different things maybe drilling manager or something like that and with satellite being in that position as a as a female. I mean I don't need to get into the sexiest stuff too much. But it's I mean I imagine that's pretty tricky or you're you said you're the only female I'm on the rig right online for sure. Yeah I mean it's something that I think when I was younger. Of course. The experiences were A lot different. Because when you've never seen something before obviously you have the knowledge. Gap is huge right. You have so much Sean. Learn so you kind of feel intimidated too because you know it's it's a different culture. It's kind of hard explain. It never been around it but the expectations thinks people can be kinda rough to each other terms of how they talk or anything like that and you know when you're destroyed out of college and like I said you've never seen before in somebody's talking to you certainly away. You're just Kinda like horrified and you're just super upset but you kinda like okay like I would just kind of be quiet and I was like okay like any to study a lot and make sure that I have to do my best clothes knowledge gap near what else can you do. I don't think quitting is always the right answer. It's just because you face hardship. You know what I mean like. It's like okay. It's a hard industry. I mean it's it's a modern prison. It's voluntary so like I F- obviously like you know if I chose the beer I can't complain so It was one of those things where I was going. I'm GONNA suck it up.
00:30:00 - 00:35:11
I'm going to study and just make sure that I just learn something new every day and I kind of take my hobbies insane way. Is it enjoyable. Being on the rig I mean is it something that you know when you're having these two weeks off like you are now You you're going back tomorrow. Is that right. Yeah we find that are. I've I've done a long time so I think I don't. I don't always get the same. Like fear factor or anything. Like that like. You're just kind of more focused on accomplishing the task. And you want everybody to be saved and you know you want to do well because we all we all kind of exist. We get to operate as long as we're doing. I'm good job so it's Kinda like a lot of different pressure. Drive is not just a technology or or people management or anything like that. You know it's also financial so you have to make sure that you're not overspending budgets. Earning that is are you always on land-based rigs or both motion and land so my experience in the lower forty-eight like that's always been on lands in Alaska I did get to go out to the sea. They had a manmade island there. Those really different different but because it freezes you would like drive out her. You said that hang gliding was the one kind of form of aviation you undertook. That really made you super emotional of talk about that a little bit more. Yeah so I learned how to fly in McCallum. And I'm not sure if you've ever seen what their ramp looks like but it's pretty gnarly it's And I think now like maybe this his last year so they started allowing paraglider pilots to start flying there as well but when I learned back then it was only for lighters and so they kind of train new is everything I guess the training starts similarly start on small hills and kind of progressively. Work your way up but he kind of go from like you know maybe fifty foot to maybe like one hundred or one hundred fifty foot in the next thing you know you're like in the thousands range because they say it all kind of the same. There's no point kind of taking more increments than that So I remember doing the training and then going up that launch site now with like holy smokes like it was so steep it was so cold. it was in maybe January. I don't know how long it's been. Now maybe seven or eight years ago Am I remember. My mom was with me you know. She was horrified when she saw Iran. I remember some you hang gliders right you had to kind of set it up and tear down every time to like I was setting it up and it takes about fifteen twenty minutes or so so I'm kind of side there and I could hear my mom killing that instructor. She like look. I don't think denise supplied today shoes so scared like this is just such breathtaking. It's gorgeous area are you. You know for those of you. That don't know it but if you definitely just take time to look it up. It's pretty shocking. Yeah so like I was kinda nervous when I hear my mom saying that and I was like holy smokes. You know. Arabi shouldn't do it but I remember like I kind of set it up and then of course in in Chuck China offering encouragement to but the only other experiences. I ahead up to that point. Look ahead done than skydiving ahead. Done you know. Had My fixing licensed stuff like that but when I actually took those steps and then is just such a sheer sheer. Drop off the ramp. I remember when it when you actually hanging your straps. They're like Oh my God like you're so relieved Steve but just overwhelmed or at least I was I was so I had thought about it for such a long time. You know in San Diego seeing being the hang glider pilots. Poor Pines always got to watch people. I thought about for such a long time and finally getting to do it myself but I was like. Oh my oh gosh I can do this and it was just such a beautiful flight to I mean it was definitely even though you're up so high like it was still you know a sweater on because they chose like a super calm day if your first time you launch and I remember just kind of a flying and kind of taking the hands off and they want you to kind of find the trim. I like that or just kind of play around with it a little bit. They give you like simple tasks and I was just really in such a out of all the things I've done like there's a few things that really stuck in my brain and that's one of them is just the kind of first time launching off that ran. Do you think that's ever. That feeling is something you can have again because it you hear from people all the time and I'm certainly one of these people as well that in some ways our flying in careers are always chasing that first flight. That sensation is indescribable for sure. I wonder if that makes some people take take more risks to get that feeling than kind of found that for me I spent a long time to thinking about like okay because because I don't get to do this every day.
00:35:12 - 00:40:09
I have to be a little bit more cautious. I always try to be a very cautious pilots or anything that I do but you know getting to fly like the helicopter solo and stuff like that. That was such a wonderful experience tube because I've always been obsessed with it but I remember like there is no time for tears like you. Don't get to just fine tramp pick your hands if nothing like trade like it was such a intense feeling like I was really excited and happy but you feel it more like after the fact rather than didn't like while you're doing it or you feel like super anxious before 'cause you're just like instructor pilot until the Okay you want to hop Now you'RE GONNA go solar folks I do remember my first. Solos Solos for fixed wing and stuff like that too but it was one of those things where you're like you're a little bit anxious but you're so focused on the task at hand 'cause they have you do something very specific like okay. You're going to go flying a pattern at the airport three times in Nassar purcell whereas with hang gliding. Letting you know I mean you're you're kinda like everybody else like. It's maybe hard identified her Solo. Obviously you know you could maybe let me tell from the type of glider persons flying. It's more of a beginner slider or something but you know it's I think it's harder identify. Because you're you're just like the the person next to view whereas in the airplane nobody else do sitting there. Circling the patterns like that Define fine goals and ambitions and I have thought about for me. It's no longer about like accumulating ratings or certificates. It gets or anything like that. It's it's not bad interesting for me like I've I've tried certain things Like I've done wing walking wing got the 'til drager. drager endorsements flown in some embiid amphibious plans so at this point in my life I like to go try different things and I'm I'm still. I'm searching for something I don't know like before I commit to purchasing something. I kind of feel like what is out there but I do want to in the near future kind of own my own aircraft breath but other than that I like I like to just make little kind of silly videos and kind of the desire to make people laugh right is still going to be something light hearted for me. Do you have other hobbies tours flying. You're you're kind of biggest hobby skeeve D- d- do other stuff up in Alaska. That's not flying based. Yeah for sure her like a key mind like flying take-up majority of my time just because I've invested so much time into you know how many years down ten twelve years I do have a couple motorcycles. In addition to that like I can ski. You know I went to high school in Northern California so as near Tahoe so like like the military would have buses in south. That could like bus. You up there and so there's some other stuff that I can do but I would say like blinded allowing described. Do definitely the best all the places. You've flown what's your favorite. Well like last good has always been on kind of a special special place to fly There's such big aviation community up there. I love seeing the mountains. Like it's really something that I guess like one of my favorites sola fide says he's going in and flying in the mountains are even with the plans itself. I just go landing in a random lakes under dishes so much opportunity for flying up there in the scale of the mountains and zero humbling. It's Big Alaskans. Just big yeah. It's in it's crazy tunes it's like you. Es such a small population right. It's it's got more coastline than the entire lower lower forty-eight combined that amazing yeah it's crazy. There's a huge so vast. It's really hard I very I struggled. We struggled with that in making the film there north of known film that we did in the Alaska range. It was it was. It's hard to articulate just the scope of it just makes you feel really really. I've spent a lot of time at sea. Which makes you feel very small but some about those mountains? Some about that stays just. It's just big huge. Yeah for sure to questions to wrap us up. What's spend a biggest challenge of your fine career and then the second one what's been the biggest challenge of your professional career in terms of the flying itself? I I'd say the greatest challenges that I faced was And we touched on at some right like I spent so much time away balancing bouncing the hobbies interests. Like there's a give and take right. Something's always going to suffer and sometimes You have to pick and choose like there's certain things I don't ever WanNa let Kinda crumble right like I spent so much time and money on the helicopter.
00:40:10 - 00:45:01
I just kind of feel like in a way kind of keep that current so yeah I mean the because I have to balance my my work in life Nice My hobbies like that and I've always had to do it without the time off I think my biggest challenge is just finding the time it to dedicate to anything without getting burnt out and professionally. You Know I. I did my master's while working full time. You know there's a lot of responsibility as you kind of move up to where you're operating and I'd say I guess the the biggest challenge itself he's like you you're pulled in so many directions you want to do a really good job. You want the people because they kind of become your brothers in a way like you seeing these same people just this gives you an idea. People Work Minimum Twelve hour shifts. And you're working for two extremely spent a Lotta time together with the cruise so you see them like your brothers you want them to stay safe or to you. Want to do a good job. So you're you're pulled in different directions so in terms of multitasking like that always comes to the forefront right so I'd say professionally like Juggling Juggling so many things at once I it's just like private life right like it's always give and take right trend. Something always wants your attention negotiation. Yeah for sure. I'm always grateful for the opportunities that I've been given right like if I'm given an opportunity I try to do. A good job is in. You hope that it opens the door for others that come behind you right that it's men or woman. I don't WanNa make it seem like Just one sided riot. Like I'm grateful for any young person to be given an opportunity and and Hopefully by doing an honorable job and you make that available to others. Turn my main point of flying in stuff I had to like I came. I guess we're really different because I'm not like is accomplished like record holder. Nothing like that mine was more like the ability to share with others when you spend so much time in remote locations. I think that was mostly. My Hope. Rides is like reaching out the people wider audience. I've had I think what's what's giving me the most joy to sharing the flying adventures with people that maybe have never tried it before I because you're not necessarily going to impress somebody that that's done at all but Somebody that hasn't been in maybe inspired they go big into go. Try it or that's kind of what makes me happy things like number one. I do enjoy when somebody gets a good laugh out of it because it's meant to be light hearted but sometimes people riding they say hey like they want to learn more about like for some reason. People are super fascinated by parallel. There's so I always want to reach out to you. How do you get into that or whatever and I kinda love that the knowledge sharing but it's what keeps the sports alive to write? Lower keeps the hobbies alive or or whatever right like I'm always afraid of hang gliding going away. 'cause that's one thing that I don't really see much in Alaska in I do want to Take Hang Glider up there and and you know Kinda keep doing my little solo flying and stuff like that but I'm most afraid of that stuff is vanishing one day in like what a shame it would be because there's so many people that came before is that took those risks develop. It just seems like a sad way to die off. Yeah Great Talk Talk in the last show with Larry Buehner. They did this X.. Flight Expedition from the Gulf of Mexico up to Canada the Canadian border and series of flights where they were there was car supported order but they all the south north. It was all done in the air so the they could move laterally but they had to fly if they were going north and is awesome. Ask Talk it was really fascinating in May but it also made me realize how much knowledge they all have when I was doing the Alaska traverse one of the I took off above the road goes through between then Denali off on your left off. You can't well and then just beyond me while there's a little tiny village that's kind of where a lot of people kinda amount. They've stay before they go into. The park can't remember that little little tiny village there and they have a pizza place. Anyway I was holed up there and really bad weather for quite a few days and then I took off. Were I kind of started going in. After Dave left I took off from it was like Panorama appeak or something. And you're up there and you're like there's no way anybody's ever flown from here before and hang gliders were using it back in the seventies go up there in flying off and it you love special at all these guys they were up your decades ago. It's just there's a lot of knowledge there that Edo that were slowly losing. Yeah for sure not yet we got gotta keep got to keep the hanging hanging.
00:45:01 - 00:49:10
He's alive for sure not the not the people that sport didn't general ride like it's something that It something that I noticed too with a guy when you share snuff either on social media or whatever like a lot of people that have been through. It can't relate to the effort or skill skill or whatever it is right like The demand to and that's something that I really feel strongly about is like try to those different types of things if it gets too much like negatively or positively. I actually ignore extremes because Totally kills her creativity. Like if you're always getting crazed the near you're always keep doing the same thing like the kind of the outliers to the super negative people like okay. They're not really contributing their dislike. Why is it like what is it making them so negative so it's already been tell slumped if you talk to a person or bought But yeah just generally. That's been my experiences like I kind of feel like my contribution or way of paying Ford is at least try to keep the interest alive in some of this stuff or If I go out the small little glider porch or whatever it is at least giving shout out them or something and hoping that others will Kind of reach out because most of what I do right as general aviation and even that had is always you know you hear about time-to-time risk of dying out or declined as so as always been my fear right. It's it's such a it don't so much individuals Dell's Yeah it really does Or the fascinating talking with you. You're a fascinating person. I hope I get to see you. In cost him one of these days the flying around that sounds like a lot of fun and thanks for sharing your stories with us. I really appreciate it. Thank you bye bye. If you find the cloud base may have valuable you can support it. In a lot of different ways you can give a rating on I tunes or Stitcher. However you get your podcast? That goes a long ways to help. Spread the word you can blog about it on your own website or shared on social media. We can talk about it on the way to launch with your pilot friends. I know a lot of interesting. Conversations have happened that way and of course you can support US financially. This show does take a lot of time. A lot of editing lot of Storage and music and all kinds of behind the scenes cost so if you can support US financially always ask for his buck show and you can do that through a one time donation through pay pal were you can set up a subscription service that charges you for each show that comes out we put a new show out every two weeks so for example. If you did a buck show and every two weeks it'd be about about twenty five dollars a year so wage leaper than magazine subscription and. It makes all of this possible. I do not want to fund this show with advertising or sponsors we get asked about that Pretty frequently but I a whole bunch of different reasons which I've said many times on the show. I don't WanNa do that and I don't like to have in that stuff at the front of the show. An awesome. Want you to know that these are authentic conversations with real people and these are just our opinions but our opinions are not being skewed by sponsors or advertising dollars. That's a pretty toxic business model so so I hope you dig that you can support us if you go to cloud base May dot com. You can find the places to support. You can do it through Patriot dot com for slash. cloud-based mayhem if you WANNA recurring subscription. You can also do that directly through the website. We've tried to make it really easy and that will give you access to all the bonus material a little video cast that we do. Oh an extra little nuggets that we find in conversations that don't make it into the main show but we feel like you should hear we don't put any of that behind a paywall if you can't afford Ford to support us then just let me know and I'll set you up with an account of course that'll be lifetime and hopefully you're being in a position some day to be able to support us. But you'll find all that on the website all of you who have supported us or even joined our newsletter or bought cloud-based mayhem merchandise t shirts or hats. Attorney thing you should be all set up. We should have an account and you should be able to access all that bonus material. Now thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate your support and we'll see on the next show we'll take you.
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One thought on “Episode 108- Deniz Burnham and flying EVERYTHING”
Deniz Burnham flies seaplanes, helicopters, hang gliders, paragliders, paramotors, and sometimes- jumps out of them!
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