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Tim Collette, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, explains the FLIR system to St. Cloud Composite Squadron members.
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Cadet Airman Johnathan Sowada is all smiles behind the controls of the DNR’s Enstrom 480B helicopter.
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Tom Pfingsten, DNR conservation officer/pilot and a captain in the Minnesota Wing's Crow Wing Composite Squadron, talks with a St. Cloud cadet’s father.
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Tom Pfingsten and Tim Collette with some of the members, family and friends of the St. Cloud squadron.
Photos by Maj. Richard J. Sprouse
Maj. Richard J. Sprouse
Public Affairs Officer
St. Cloud Composite Squadron
Minnesota Wing
MINNESOTA – Members, families and friends of the St. Cloud Composite Squadron learned about an unfamiliar avenue for aviation when a helicopter and aircrew from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources visited Aug. 20.
Conservation Officer Tom Pfingsten, one of the DNR Division of Enforcement’s seven pilots, said the agency’s planes and choppers provide cost-effective platforms to gather information that no other means can provide.
“One pilot in an aircraft can gather certain information over a large geographical area very quickly, representing a significant savings in time, manpower, vehicles and other resources that would be required if the same information would be collected from the ground,” Pfingsten said.
DNR airframes fly natural resources enforcement, research and resource management missions. Their hangars include four Cessna 185s, two American Champion Scouts, an Enstrom 480B helicopter and two Bell OH-58 helicopters.
Pfingsten, whose interest in flying began while he was growing up near Crystal Airport and intensified while he was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, has spent the past 26 years as a law enforcement officer, the last nine with the DNR.
He earned his private pilot’s license 20 years ago and joined Civil Air Patrol at that time to get more flying time. He now holds the rank of captain in CAP.
“I like to say that the ink on my private pilot’s license wasn’t even dry when I joined the Crow Wing squadron in Brainerd. Thanks to CAP I was able to earn my pilot instrument and commercial ratings,” said Pfingsten, who later learned how to fly helicopters.
Many DNR missions require pilots to fly at very low altitudes, often well below 500 feet, at slow speeds. The pilot must be able to gather and record information, such as the number and species of waterfowl on a body of water. While flying this low, the pilot must also avoid obstructions and other aircraft and often communicate by radio with personnel on the ground or air traffic control.
“The DNR pilot keeps their attention ‘outside the aircraft,’ and the pilot’s skills must be at a level that they can safely operate the aircraft in this environment and still accomplish the mission,” Pfingsten said.
The assistance of DNR Enforcement aircraft is important to Conservation Officer Tim Collette of Pequot Lakes, whose 650-square-mile field station includes Crow Wing County in central Minnesota. Conservation officers and conservation officer/pilots are fully qualified and licensed Minnesota law enforcement officers.
“The CO/pilot provides an aerial platform to detect violations and activity for the field conservation officer and directs the officer to these areas by radio,” said Collette, who’s trained to operate the helicopter’s FLIR system. That thermal imaging system is used by the military and law enforcement for surveillance, monitoring, tracking and search and rescue missions.
Most conservation officer/pilots’ flying consists of resource management “survey and census” missions, locating and counting wildlife from the air or locating radio-collared wildlife using aerial telemetry. CO/pilots also perform search and rescue missions. Enforcing natural resources laws is important as well.
“Locating illegal fishing, hunting or other regulated recreational activity from the air would be an example of much of a CO/pilot’s daytime flying, while night flying detects poachers using spotlights to take game,” Pfingsten said.
Minnesota’s nearly 150 field officers use aerial photography to document violations or provide an officer with access information to a given location.
“We are often asked to check certain areas by air to detect and sometimes photograph illegal activity,” Pfingsten added.
Angie Steffens, parent of a St. Cloud cadet, was among the nearly 60 squadron members, family members and friends present. She enjoyed Pfingsten’s and Collette’s presentations.
“What they do is unique. It exposed the cadets in the squadron to something completely different, something they probably weren’t aware of as a career option,” Steffens said.
The unit’s aerospace officer, 1st Lt. Paul Wentler, agreed, saying the presentation was “definitely good for kids to see different aspects of aviation instead of just military and airline flying” and also “good to show how CAP can benefit you realizing goals in aviation.”
For Cadet Chief Master Sgt. John Dvorak, cadet leadership officer, the experience was “very cool and interesting, awesome.
“I want to thank the DNR for providing the experience!”
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Tim Collette, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, explains the FLIR system to St. Cloud Composite Squadron members.
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Cadet Airman Johnathan Sowada is all smiles behind the controls of the DNR's Enstrom 480B helicopter.
