Family Time

The helicopter -- I think the biggest benefit it brings, we joke that it's a time machine, but it's really not so much because you're trying to enhance your productivity of the day, all that's a great benefit, but it's what it gives you back at the end -- it's that time to spend with family, and those hours you don't get back otherwise you do get back. Being able to bring the family together towards the end of the day, I think, is the most appreciated part -- the helicopter gets us there. I've always been in aviation, but something drew me to helicopters -- that magic-carpet-ride feel, it's unlike anything. For me it was sort of the ultimate freedom. I'm Christian Palmaz -- I fly the Bell 429. My family owns and operates three companies here in California: Palmaz Vineyards in the Napa Valley, a material-science company based in Silicon Valley, and also a Wagyu cattle ranch in the High Sierras. The ranch is an incredibly beautiful place, and the family loves to enjoy it personally. The Bell 429 is a perfect platform -- it has the safety that I look for in order to feel confident taking the family up to the ranch. The drive to the ranch alone can be about four and a half hours on a good day; add in icy roads and winter environments, and that can actually become kind of an unsafe situation if you do it every single weekend -- the aircraft turns that four-and-a-half-hour drive into about a 50-minute flight, and not only that, but you're doing it in the best time of day, best weather -- you get to choose that time, and you have your whole day. The pleasure of experiencing the aircraft is not just from the front seat, but actually the back seat, I think, is the best -- right in the house, it's quiet. The aircraft has really excellent seating layout, and it really allows them to feel safe and comfortable and aware of what's going on -- big windows, a lot of visibility to the outside, they really become a part of the flight, and I really enjoy being back there as well. My son particularly loves helicopters -- as he's been growing up, he's been spending a little more time in the left seat with me, asking a lot of questions; hopefully when he gets a little older, he'll be right there ready for his first solo when he turns 16. Family for us is everything -- it's almost a way of being able to have the ultimate reward, to not just share what you create every day with your kids, but also to learn from your parents as well. Being able to have these three generations working side by side together, kind of for the same unified goal -- it's the ultimate for me.