The Freebird Times - Issue 3

PROFILE
High Flyer
International correspondent, Karin
Holly, writes about her father, the
high-flying Captain Bob.
Meet Capt. Robert F. Holly. He’s 73 years old and
works as a helicopter pilot on contract for the U.S.
Navy. He’s currently stationed in the Middle East
on a supply ship. From there, Capt. Holly launches
his Puma SA330 helicopter to make deliveries to
other military vessels. Quite often the ships are far
out at sea and have no way to obtain supplies of
food, fuel and spare parts in a safe harbour.
Capt. Holly and his colleagues deliver everything
ordered by the men and women living on board
these ships at sea. Most appreciated are deliveries of
mail and ice cream. The pilots pick up sling loads
of the supplies to fly them to the vessels and have
to contend with tremendous heat, sand storms and
strong winds. His job also includes the occasional
medical emergency airlift where an injured crew
member is flown to a land-based hospital for help.
The work requires a lot of training and my Dad
spends several hours each year in a flight simulator.
Here he practices worst case-scenarios. He also
had to train to become a fireman, as well as be
submerged in a pool to practice freeing himself if
an aircraft goes down. The U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration also demands regular written tests as
well as a medical exam every six months.
Robert Holly was born and raised in Connecticut.
He started flying helicopters during the Vietnam
War. After his tour there he was transferred to
Germany where he met his wife. Dad then decided
to continue his flying career in the private sector
and took a job in Iran. Since then his adventurous
career that has taken him around the globe and he
has spent many years working in Chile, Borneo,
Trinidad, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
14 THE FREEBIRD TIMES – ISSUE NO. 3, AUGUST 2018