Yesterday afternoon, I shot aerials of a project in the Nevada desert. After the first section of the shoot was completed, the pilot and I headed to downtown Las Vegas to shoot a few images for a book I am working on and to fill out the stock library.

The Las Vegas strip is a busy place –– on the ground and seven-hundred feet above the glow. Last evening there were three photo missions going on at the same time. Two B model Eurocopters, one with a FLIR ball on the nose and the R-44 I chartered. The controllers at McCarran did an excellent job of keeping us separated. All of a sudden at dusk, twelve Eurocopters in a pulsing line of landing lights, returned to Las Vegas from a day of Grand Canyon tours.

I’ve never seen so many commercial helicopters in one Class B airspace all converging to a single landing area. The controllers at McCarran did an excellent job of spacing and flow amongst the three photo/video shoots. It was quite impressive to see.