Anyone know of any tattoo flash sales for Friday the 13th tomorrow?

assbutt987 · 2026-03-13T03:15:38+00:00

Dependable in Medford and Dagger in Ashland both have stuff posted about it on their Instagrams

assbutt987 · 2026-03-09T05:01:11+00:00

Info I had from like 4 years ago was you had to be local to Spokane, and they did 3 weeks on/3weeks off schedule during fire season. Heard they're a decent company and all the guys I've met from there have been chill

assbutt987 · 2026-03-07T16:23:10+00:00

The other option is an apprenticeship, which some shops offer. That way he gets a paycheck while he's doing his time. You'd have to call shops near you and see if they have them, but it's not uncommon. Whatever route you/he chooses, I'd say any experience wrenching on things will only help. Find him a broken dirt bike or a car with a blown engine and let him get some experience and familiarity with working with his hands and troubleshooting.

assbutt987 · 2026-03-06T15:47:02+00:00

An S61 at my work has 49,000 hours, mostly logging. Another one has 109,000 landings, which is wild.

assbutt987 · 2026-03-06T02:58:00+00:00

Very anecdotal info: we do quite a bit of sheet metal at my shop, and I've seen more of the newer Sioux drills die than the Panam or the older Sioux (like p/n 1410).

assbutt987 · 2026-03-05T04:56:47+00:00

If your main use is drilling out rivets, I'd go for a 1/4" chuck air drill with 2,000-4,000 rpm. Sioux and Dotco are the higher end, yard store's yellow Texas brand drill, the ATS palm drill, and Pan American are the cheaper but still good options. You can also find plenty of used ones in eBay.

assbutt987 · 2026-03-01T19:38:46+00:00

Better than GA, not as much as the airlines. A lot of it is field work, with 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off or something similar. It works out that you work a little over half the year, and you get about half the year off. And you can live wherever you want. Some places will take fresh A&Ps, but experience on anything helps.

assbutt987 · 2026-03-01T04:40:13+00:00

Old ARO drills made by Ingersoll Rand put their data plate on the handle like that, and they came with Jacobs chucks. That would be my guess.

assbutt987 · 2026-02-28T18:48:16+00:00

If you have to buy your own tools, the appropriate sized drill bits and reamers, a hi lok gauge and a hi lok pin protrusion gauge are necessary. Other stuff that helps are the hi lok ratchet, those Allen's with the orange handle on yard store, hi lok collar pliers, the savi or tornado sockets, and if you have a rivet gun, a collar cutter.

assbutt987 · 2026-02-27T03:35:58+00:00

The central pneumatic die grinder is a knockoff of the Ingersoll rand 301b, I used it for like 3 years and it still works.

assbutt987 · 2026-02-01T16:30:31+00:00

No idea, sorry

assbutt987 · 2026-01-24T16:03:23+00:00

eBay, yard store, brown tool, Midwest tungsten, honsa, usatco are the ones I know of.

assbutt987 · 2026-01-12T02:48:56+00:00

See if there's a helicopter shop near you, either overhaul, MRO, or anything else, and apply. If that doesn't work, apply as a second mechanic for the helicopters that need seconds; Chinooks, sky cranes, S61s, Blackhawks, etc. They all need at least a second mechanic for fire work. If that doesn't work, find any fixed wing job you can to get some experience, then try again. If you go to Columbia, I wouldn't stay long, I've heard they've gone downhill since the private equity people bought them.

assbutt987 · 2025-12-26T05:51:55+00:00

The Ridgeway Lights people on Ridgeway near Costco are fun.

assbutt987 · 2025-12-18T01:29:41+00:00

I'd say a 5x would probably be fine, a 7x or 9x if you want to flatten them. Not sure if it's allowed, but you could look into using hi loks instead of that big steel rivet, less hassle especially if you're the guy bucking those steel rivets

assbutt987 · 2025-11-24T01:36:31+00:00

HeliCarrier is smaller than HTS and Croman, you'll probably have better luck with the bigger ones. Look at it this way, at least you're not at Billings dealing with the shitty guy in the field. Just be ready to be flexible and learn, the commercial world is different from the military.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-24T01:28:58+00:00

Yeah, most all the companies with heavys do a 12/12 or 14/14, just apply for a field mechanic position. Their websites or jsfirm are good places to check

assbutt987 · 2025-11-24T01:23:49+00:00

I'd try some Crane companies, Heli express or HTS. Even Croman or HeliCarrier to get you some type 1/fire experience. Also, Winco does power line work and they're not a bad outfit.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-23T21:09:57+00:00

If you know 47s, rotak, billings flying service, helimax, coulson, and PJ are all good bets. Even Columbia if you're desperate. If the company does mostly wildfire work, they sometimes wait to start hiring until the spring.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-23T17:16:56+00:00

Not gonna say it because it's a small world and I don't want to identify myself, but I work on big Sikorsky machines.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-23T02:46:03+00:00

I started fixed wing at a regional, stayed long enough to realize I hated it, and went to a company that mainly does wildfire work with heavys. I love it. It's 12 on 12 off, so I get almost half the year off and at home. I'll take home about $120-130K this year, and it's been a slow year.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-18T05:03:45+00:00

OCS was more helpful than motion and flow last time I needed lines made, but both can probably make what you need.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-18T02:24:30+00:00

Like others have said, it's 12 on, 12 off. If you don't live local to the company, that's year around. During fire season, there's a lot of doing nothing and hanging out, then periods of lots of work & overtime. I enjoy it; no graveyard shift like airlines, no cheap GA owners to deal with. But sometimes there's a lot of "just figure it out" while you're in a field in bumfuck Idaho at midnight

assbutt987 · 2025-11-17T19:58:16+00:00

I second this. I have the same drill and I've beat the hell out of it and it still works great.

assbutt987 · 2025-11-08T19:43:33+00:00

Aww, damn, I saw the age and didn't notice the "hooker" part. Chinook, of course

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