SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1546251
SOARING OVER BAJA The Role Helicopters Serve During A SCORE Race By Mike Vieira Photos by Get Some Photo Helicopters are a very visible presence at SCORE races, and while most are familiar with the thrilling action pictures on the course they are able to provide for television and online video coverage, many people probably don’t realize just what an indispensable role they play in the safety of competitors and spectators. Whether in spotting potential danger on the course before a crash might occur, or in facilitating prompt medical response in the event a collision does happen, the pilots overhead are always ready, willing, and able to respond. With twenty to thirty helicopters flying over each race, a lot of coordination is needed to create safe, effective conditions for them to operate. Bud Brutsman, the founder and CEO of Brentwood Communications International Inc., while not a pilot himself, has become the guiding force for the aircraft covering the courses. In his role as a producer of SCORE’s video coverage of its races, he utilizes live footage from five or six helicopters, with sophisticated combinations of both hand-held and mounted cameras, flown by racing teams as they track the progress of their vehicles below. The teams use the shots to create video material for their own social media of their racers as they traverse the course. Those video feeds, along with footage from a dozen or more drone cameras, and about one hundred cameras in the race vehicles, allow him to weave the story of each race together as it unfolds. Beyond his background as a renowned producer of wide ranging television projects, his experience as a former racer in Baja provides him with the knowledge and feel for what it takes to present SCORE races to the audience in the most dramatic, effective way. His experience with helicopter rescues on Mount Everest, and over the years in covering Baja races, have given him the breadth of knowledge needed to manage both the video and safety aspects of aerial operations over the races. Brutsman knows all the pilots personally, and before each race he presides over a safety meeting for all the pilots involved to go over safety protocols and procedures, and to reinforce the need for strong communications between all aircraft. Helicopters are strictly required to maintain an altitude minimum of 500 feet above the ground, or have penalties assessed against the race teams they are flying for, while drones utilized by the production team must stay below 120 feet at all times, in order to avoid interference with the helicopters. However, having no control over privately operated drones over the course, which he says can number in the hundreds, does present a potential problem for the helicopters, as there have been incidents of drone strikes in the past. A collision between a drone and helicopter can be a very dangerous situation, but over the last twenty years of SCORE racing, there has only been one helicopter crash. Brutsman says that the early portions of races are usually the most hazardous for the pilots, as the teams they are covering are bunched up at the start. Once the racers spread out more along the course, so do their airborne monitors, making things a bit safer. The pilots are constantly searching for dangers to the racers below in the form of spectators or wrong-way vehicles on the course, competitors crashing ahead of them, or anything else that an early warning can prevent from becoming more serious. In long races, the helicopters are normally flying from sunup to sundown, and depending on the particular aircraft and length of the race, they will require one or two fuel stops during the day. The terrain in Baja can challenge the pilots as they crisscross the peninsula, just as it does the racers, in having to cope with jagged mountain peaks and foggy beach areas, but most have been flying over the races for many years, and are well prepared for whatever situations they encounter. The pilots are all professionals, some with military and/or rescue mission backgrounds, in addition to their civilian flying tasks. Brutsman says, “We have probably twenty of the most experienced pilots around. Every once in a while we’ll get a new guy down there, and everyone will rally around them and tell them what’s going on, and I always know because they’re asking questions at the safety meeting. Generally, it’s been the same guys for the past ten or fifteen years.” Additionally, SCORE works closely with the aviation authorities in Mexico to ensure compliance with the various regulations which often differ from rules in the United States, and often change from year to year, and even from race to race. Jim McCoy, a helicopter owner who currently flies for the Ampudia Team, has more than twenty years of experience in covering races and attests to the close knit nature of the pilots involved in the SCORE races, and the fact that everyone is always ready to help out in an emergency. While he’s not carrying camera rigging this year in his Baja race flights, he has in the past for other teams, and also currently does aerial video for other types of racing. He says, “I often joke with people saying I’ve seen more off-road racing than anybody, except for a driver. Most people go to an off-road race, and the car drives by them, and that’s it. We’re up over the course for multiple, multiple hours.” “These races really couldn’t happen safely without the helicopter pilots,” says Brutsman, “Not only do they try to keep our racers very safe, they’re there for any medical situation. Every single team, and every single pilot will stop their race to go help somebody.” Unfortunately, in a recent race, three emergency situations came up almost simultaneously, with a helicopter crash, motorcycle crash, and a spectator crash, and all the available pilots dispersed to render aid as quickly as possible. “Our pilots are all heroes,” he says. “Every single one of them will do everything they can to help somebody, and I don’t think they get enough credit. They’re kind of the unsung heroes of what we do. Anytime that a racer needs those guys, they’re there. They don’t charge money, they don’t ask for gas money, they don’t ask for a rescue fee, they don’t ask for anything.” Of the contribution the helicopters make, Brutsman concludes, “The race is better, not only from the television side for the coverage where they’re essential to what we’re doing, but more importantly they’re essential to the safety of our racers, and it’s any racer. Air support for the racers and air support for emergencies is a central part of what makes a SCORE race amazing.” SJ