Volunteer pilots support sheriff’s department

Ted Schwabenbauer (right) ferrying two helicopter mechanics who had been aiding the firefighting efforts in Yosemite National Park.

In 2006, an 82-year-old man drove to see his son in California’s Mojave Desert. He took a wrong turn along the way and his car became stuck in a dry river bed. To avoid the intense sun, he took shelter amid the bushes.

Concerned by his father’s delay, the son called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBCSD). Helicopters searched in vain for two days. The department then dispatched Ted Schwabenbauer and David Guthmiller, both volunteers with the SBCSD’s Aero Squadron, who added their airplanes to the search. Guthmiller’s crew spotted the car, and Schwabenbauer’s crew reported its coordinates. The man was found, dehydrated but fine.

“It reinforced the reason we’re there,” Schwabenbauer said. “It’s not necessarily because we can assist someone every day of the week, but [we] provide additional manpower. We’re an adjunct. We’re another resource—and aviation is a resource.”

Searching for missing people is among the many services the all-volunteer squadron provides.

Pilots and their observers (sometimes the observers serve as copilots) survey the vast county to assure that things are as they should be. Large gatherings of vehicles in the remote desert east of Apple Valley could mean drug parties. Trucks have been known to pull up to farms, steal cattle, and drive away. Unauthorized vehicular racing is noticed and called in, too. Other times, pilots are dispatched to search for hikers who get lost in the cold mountains or children who stray from their parents on camping trips.

The county’s sheer size—22,000 square miles—means that airplanes often represent a better alternative to road vehicles.

Schwabenbauer (far right) poses with fellow sheriff’s department volunteers at a recruiting booth they hosted at an air show at California’s Cable Airport several years ago.

“We have the speed, as aircraft, to check out remote locations, watering holes, and springs, etc., to see if there’s any unusual activity,” Schwabenbauer explained.

Aero Squadron also picks up ballot boxes from county polling stations and delivers them to the sheriff department’s rotary wing, which then helicopters them to the registrar. Aero Squadron pilots often take officers to training sessions far afield and help get replacement crews to the scenes of forest fires. When detectives must interview witnesses throughout the state, volunteer pilots can ferry them there and back in one day, at great savings in time and money over commercial flights.

Schwabenbauer, an information technology specialist for a Pasadena engineering company, has been with Aero Squadron for eight years. He enjoys the camaraderie and teamwork, along with the positive feeling of helping out.

The squadron is based at Rialto Airport and at San Bernardino International Airport. Last year, its 48 members donated 12,356 hours, logging 90,604 vehicle miles and 41,953 air miles. It now includes 55 people, of whom 21 are pilots who supply their own aircraft or rent planes when necessary. The sheriff’s department pays for the fuel—and that’s it. Schwabenbauer estimates his hourly flight cost at $190-$200.

For that reason, he said, “when the FAA adds taxes—as it is considering—it affects the little people like us. Our pilots have to own and rent an aircraft to provide this service.”

He added, “I’m just a working stiff. If I have to add additional costs to my flying, I might as well hang it up. I won’t be able to afford it. Matter of fact, I’m looking to retirement, concerned that I won’t be able to afford owning and maintaining an aircraft—insurance, especially.

“Additional costs will force me out of aviation, which will force me out of a volunteer program that many feel vital to our community.”

Berend Meelker, a deputy sheriff in the department and a pilot in its aviation division, said that Aero Squadron performs a valuable service at “a huge savings” to the county.

This collage, which Schwabenbauer designed, is used on a certificate he issues to each person serving as co-pilot or observer on his missions.

“If you figure out the volunteer hours they put in? Two guys come in two days a week and do nothing but answer phones,” he said. “[Others] go to air shows and recruit volunteers and spread the message to be safe and to enjoy flying.”

Meelker said that he looks forward to Schwabenbauer’s impending promotion to reserve deputy.

“He’s almost there,” Meelker said. “He’s a good guy. So is the whole group.”— By Hillel Kuttler