Yul Lose Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 Back in the 1970’s a company that I later went to work for built a solar powered mountain top repeater site on the southern end of the Sierra Estrella mountain range south of Phoenix. Back then the solar panels were rather large and heavy. I went to work for the company in 1978 and over the next couple of years went on quite a few service and maintenance trips up to the site via helicopter because that was the only way to access the site. In about 1981 or so I became the service tech responsible for the site. Early one morning I got a call from the 24 hour answering service that was also part of our operation that one of our big customers repeater wasn’t responding. So I scrambled out of bed and headed down to the shop and got the truck ready. The operator had already called the helicopter company and arranged for the meet below the site on the desert floor. It was about a 40 mile drive and when I got to the meet site the helicopter was already there. When I greeted the pilot he told me that he knew what the problem was. He told me that he had flown over the site before he landed and that the solar panels were gone. I thought he was joking but when we flew up there the solar panels were gone. We sat down at the site and I called into the operator assist mobile phone center, also a part of our company and they connected me up with my boss, the owner of the company who really didn’t believe me. Anyway I told him that Lem the helicopter pilot could fly me into Sky Harbor where there base was and I could pick up the replacement panels there if Kyocera who was nearby could get the panels there. Whoever stole the panels didn’t disconnect them, they just cut the cables so I told him what I’d need to repair that too. We got to Sky Harbor and a short time later the panels and cabling were delivered and if I remember correctly we were back at the site at about 1:pm. We lashed the solar panels that wouldn’t fit in the helicopter onto the skids and flew them to the site. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get the site up and running on my own before nightfall so my boss had sent out 2 more techs that were waiting down below when we got to the site. The pilot and I unloaded everything and he flew down and picked up my helpers and sleeping bags and some food and water. We got the site back on the air but it was after dark and the helicopter couldn’t get back into get us until the next morning. That was a very long night. Believe it or not that happened 2-3 times over the next 4-5 years and we never determined who stole the panels. Because it was on an Indian reservation the BIA police got the FBI involved but nothing ever happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 Wow, you can't make that up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 I guarantee you that more than a few folks on the Rez, know exactly what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 6 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said: I guarantee you that more than a few folks on the Rez, know exactly what happened. But did they have the funds to pay for the helicopter to fly up to the site to remove the panels? Technically climbing a ragged peak like that and then getting the panels back down would have seemed like quite a task for the locals, if you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Yul Lose said: But did they have the funds to pay for the helicopter to fly up to the site to remove the panels? Technically climbing a ragged peak like that and then getting the panels back down would have seemed like quite a task for the locals, if you know what I mean. Not saying they did it or even were complicit, though anything is possible, just always aware of what is going on around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus Jack Calder Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 Back in the late 80’s our family took a trip ‘out west’. One of the sites we visited was Canyon De Chelly (pronounced Dee Shay I am told). The visit included a tour of the canyon guided by men of the Navajo Nation. One of the features of the tour was a large column of stone (football field size on top). The guides informed us that in the 1800’s part of the Navajo tribe had sought refuge on top of this column from the still hated, Kit Carson and the US Army. During the siege the young braves of the tribe would climb down to the river below via hidden trails, and retrieve water for people and stock that remained on top of the column. The guides further informed us that Carson and the Army eventually gave up and left the Navajo in peace. Even though De Chelly is now a National Park several Navajo families retain ancestral rights to homes and grazing rights within the canyon. I also am not saying a particular group is complicit in the disappearance of the solar panels. However, no one knows a neighborhood better than those who live and play there. As the saying goes, ‘Could Be’. CJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Cactus Jack Calder said: Back in the late 80’s our family took a trip ‘out west’. One of the sites we visited was Canyon De Chelly (pronounced Dee Shay I am told). The visit included a tour of the canyon guided by men of the Navajo Nation. One of the features of the tour was a large column of stone (football field size on top). The guides informed us that in the 1800’s part of the Navajo tribe had sought refuge on top of this column from the still hated, Kit Carson and the US Army. During the siege the young braves of the tribe would climb down to the river below via hidden trails, and retrieve water for people and stock that remained on top of the column. The guides further informed us that Carson and the Army eventually gave up and left the Navajo in peace. Even though De Chelly is now a National Park several Navajo families retain ancestral rights to homes and grazing rights within the canyon. I also am not saying a particular group is complicit in the disappearance of the solar panels. However, no one knows a neighborhood better than those who live and play there. As the saying goes, ‘Could Be’. CJ Read Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides a great read about Kit Carson and the story of the exact place you’re talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 It had to be an impressive amount of work to get up and back to steal the panels. Hiring a chopper doesn't seem cost effective either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said: It had to be an impressive amount of work to get up and back to steal the panels. Hiring a chopper doesn't seem cost effective either. Back then the cost to rent the Jet Ranger 3 helicopter was around $450.00 per hour. The A Star was around $600.00 per hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said: It had to be an impressive amount of work to get up and back to steal the panels. Hiring a chopper doesn't seem cost effective either. What if you owned and operated the chopper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 8 minutes ago, Cholla said: What if you owned and operated the chopper? We only had one site that was helicopter access so it really wasn’t economically feasible to have our own bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 6 hours ago, Yul Lose said: We only had one site that was helicopter access so it really wasn’t economically feasible to have our own bird. I meant to steal the panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 1 minute ago, Cholla said: I meant to steal the panels. I realized that after I wrote it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 3 minutes ago, Yul Lose said: I realized that after I wrote it. Well, there you have the next book for Alpo to ponder. The chopper pilot back from 'Nam that had to pay off the debt his now missing brother racked up against their company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 12 minutes ago, Cholla said: Well, there you have the next book for Alpo to ponder. The chopper pilot back from 'Nam that had to pay off the debt his now missing brother racked up against their company. The helicopter pilot that I referred to above was a Vietnam vet and flew quite a few mission, he had some stories to tell. A few times we had a Vietnamese pilot and he did not like flying around the Sierra Estrella sites and he wasn’t afraid to tell you about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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