Dusty Times - Issue 01

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I S S U E

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Energizing An Institution Plain and simple, we love playing in the dust. No different than any other romance. We have no choice once bitten. It’s the way you feel the first time you make a tire spin, the first time you conquer a hill, the first time you wear a helmet. It’s a ritual, passed from generation to generation of hopelessly obsessed.

You know you love it.

We represent this obsession. We place it on a pedestal. We aren’t the first, but we accept the responsibility with all due reverence to what once was. Dusty Times is curated content to feed this fascination, even when we can’t actually get dirty. We want to be a window to the daydreams of our kind.

The places we want to go. The stuff we want to apply throttle. Maybe a story of adventure we’ve never heard before. For like-minded dirt, gear, motor, outdoor, and adventure individuals, with an eye for the well-crafted.

We intend to energize this institution and what it represents.

An experience we are in love with.

Good clean fun.

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Contents 0 4

H O N O R I N G

10

A B O V E

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R A I N

S PA R K

3 0

E A S T

C A P E

4 6

S A N D

R O YA LT Y

6 4

R U B B E R

7 2

N A V

8 2

T R O Y ’ S

10 6

T H E

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T E Q U I L A

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19 6 5

Photo: Brian Binkert

T H E

H E R I TA G E A C T I O N B A N G R E T R E AT

S I D E

D O W N

F A V O R I T E

E N D L E S S

T H I N G S

S W E L L

P R I M E R

W A G O N E E R

W I T H B Y

S A L

I C O N

F I S H

15500 Cornet St Santa Fe Springs, CA 90221

VISIT US AT dustytimes.com

CONTAC T info@dustytimes.com

SUBMISSIONS submissions@dustytimes.com

CREATIVE DIREC TOR Boyd Jaynes

ART DIRECTOR Brett McMillin

PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Custom Wheel House Method Race Wheels Troy Lee Designs Tensor Tire

Honoring Heritage

1983 - 2013

Put down your Smart phones for a minute and pretend, just for a minute, there is no internet. I want you to get a feel for what it was like to get your Off Road Racing news twenty or thirty years ago. The only way to get the full stor y on what happened at the races was from magazines and newspapers.

Dusty Times magazine came onto the scene in 1984 the same year as the “Brick phone”. Most magazines just gave you the highlights from the race, that was until Dusty Times came onto the scene.

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Covering the world of

the

dirt

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in

H onoring H ertiage

competition

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Once

you

opened

the

mailbox

and

saw

that

light

brown newspaper folded in half, you could pretty much reschedule the rest of your day because you had shit to do.

The story goes that Jean Calvin had been working for SCORE News magazine up until about 1983 when

H onoring H ertiage |

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absorbing every word and checking out the fantastic

don’t want to go on-line, I want to flip through a magazine

photos from Judy, Trackside and Centerline photo.

at my leisure and still have it 20 years from now. When was

SCORE was approached by a company to take over the

When moving from fan to racer, Dusty Times

the last time your internet went down or your favorite web

magazine. This was news to Jean and she was somewhat

became even more important to me. If you were lucky

site crashed? Thanks but no thanks, I’ll take my printed

upset that she wasn’t consulted or even made aware of

enough to get your race car in the magazine from the

magazine any day of week!

the deal. Jean decided then and there to start up her own

last race, it was a great feeling. After reaching that goal,

A message for you guys here at the NEW Dusty

magazine with her husband John. While sitting down over

the next milestone would be to have your car gracing the

Times, I will leave you with the words that three time Baja

a cup of coffee they came up with the name Dusty Times.

cover. I was never that lucky.

1000 winner Mark Stahl graced me with before strapping

As an off road racing fanatic, I could not get

The internet was the beginning of the end for

enough about the sport. Dusty Times filled that void with

most magazines, Dusty Times included. It took a while for

in depth race results and stories. Not only did they cover

it to happen largely due to the fact Jean, John and Judy

the winners, they also covered everyone else. The Losers

did such a masterful job keeping us all informed about

was an article that told the other side of the story, the story

our world. Despite Jean’s death in 1997, John kept Dusty

of the guys who didn’t win and their adventures. This was

Times going until his own passing in 2013. From there

always a favorite of mine and Judy Smith did a great job of

John’s family tried to keep it afloat but the last printed

getting the stories and got them in fantastic detail.

issue was in July 2013. After a couple of unsuccessful

Once you opened the mailbox and saw that light

on-line only issues the doors were finally closed forever.

brown newspaper folded in half, you could pretty much

It was the end of an era for our generation.

reschedule the rest of your day because you had shit to

Print magazines are dead they said, why come out with

do. I would read that magazine front cover to back cover,

a magazine when you can just go on-line? Guess what, I

into our recently restored race car and my first stint behind the wheel at the NORRA Mexican 1000:

“Try not to fuck up” - Rory Ward

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A B O

T H E

Growing up in east San Diego County, Jim McCoy could ride a dirt bike as far as he wanted, right from his house.

That freedom he experienced as a teenager now comes in an adult version: flying his helicopter whenever and wherever he wants. For the past 13 years, he’s turned his passion for flying and knowledge of motorsport into a livelihood, catering to off-road racing teams and action sports filmmakers. He’s a southern California native, a family man and an entrepreneur, but to many people he’s known simply as Heli Jim.

WHAT GOT YOU INTO FLYING? As a kid, I was always fascinated by helicopters. Anytime a helicopter would fly by, I’d watch it. So a friend of mine: Steve Wright. He bought a helicopter while he was in the process of learning how to fly. He got his license, and a friend of mine invited me to go fly with him, and I was like “Hell yeah! ” We take off and we’re flying around, and I’m thinking “Damn this is the coolest thing ever; I have to learn how to do this.” Next thing you know, I decide to start taking lessons. So I go to Corporate Helicopters, sign up for lessons, three months later I got my helicopter license. As

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A C T I O N

V E

I was going through the licensing process, always in the

dirt bike’s going to do before the rider does it. And I

back of my mind, I was like, “I can’t afford a helicopter,”

think other pilots probably don’t understand that, or

but then I started looking around, and they weren’t as

understand angles of what you want to shoot, and stuff

bad as I thought. And next thing you know, I’m putting

like that. That was season one of The Great Ride Open.

offers in on ones, and so I ended up buying an R44. My

They only had budget for one episode in Glamis, and

wife knew I was learning to fly, but I didn’t tell her I had

they were so stoked on the stuff we got that trip, that

bought one until I flew her and myself to a wedding in

they said, “Next year we want a helicopter the entire

Palm Springs. She thought it was a rental. Mid flight, I tell

trip.” Season two was a twenty-day trip, with Renner,

her, “Actually we bought this helicopter,” and she says,

Clowers, Tilton, Drake McElroy and Lance Corey. We

“You’re such an idiot.” And I said, “No, I’m going to turn it

had such a great time on that trip, and when it came out

into a business: chasing off-road races! ”

on TV, my phone never stopped ringing.

SO YOU ALREADY HAD THE OFF-ROAD RACING STUFF IN MIND WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT? Yeah, I knew Ivar was doing it, and I had been to a few races, so I thought I’d do that and photo

There’s ‘camera courage’ when you want to get the lowest and coolest shot usually filming within ten to fifteen feet of the ground, and it’s dangerous.

flights, and then boom. Sure enough, it worked out. Marc Brunett was my first off-road race flying job when he was racing motorcycles back in the day, Baja

HOW IS FLYING FOR FILMING DIFFERENT FROM A

500, I think. It really kinda blew up from there, and I go

REGULAR FLIGHT?

to almost every race now.

You obviously want to get the best shot, but unfortunately, it always seems like the jump they pick is downwind

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FILMING IS A BIG PART OF YOUR BUSINESS NOW

which is bad for the helicopter, or they sit around all

ALSO, YES?

morning and wait for the light to be right, and then the

Yeah, that all started with the Red Bull TV show, The

light is good but the wind is bad. Then there’s ‘camera

Great Ride Open, and I was literally only 150 hours

courage’ when you want to get the lowest and coolest

deep into flying..

shot, usually filming within 10 to 15 feet of the ground, and it’s dangerous. You gotta make sure you’re crossing

THAT WAS A DIRT BIKE FILM?

your T’s and dotting your I’s, making sure you put all the

Yes, and I think that has been a niche of mine because

safety precautions in place before you take off, and don’t

I was always into moto, and I understand what the

let yourself get sucked into doing something you don’t

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feel comfortable doing. It’s not going to be a great shot

board, you know I’m landing on beaches and in hotel

non instrument (IFR) flight plans at night. I think thats to

if we’re dead. Chances are, it’s going to be a bad crash,

parking lots, and the soldiers always appear out of

keep the drug problem down, moving drugs at night. The

you know? Versus like when you’re on your dirt bike,

nowhere. We have all the permits and I hand the soldiers

idea is if there is an airplane flying a low level at night, it’s

you go for a triple you might break a leg, an arm, back

the paperwork; they love paperwork. In the bigger towns,

probably a drug smuggler.

or whatever else, but in a helicopter, it’s near fatality

you can’t just land anywhere, but in smaller towns we

almost every time. So it’s not something you want to mess

land wherever and get our paperwork out, but I really

WHAT IF YOU ARE FLYING ALL THE WAY TO LORETO?

around with.

should learn more Spanish though.

WHAT ABOUT FUEL? I can make it all the way to Loreto now; I have a thirty

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

YOU DON’T FLY AT NIGHT OVER BAJA. WHAT IS THE

gallon tank I put in the back seat, and I have a mechanical

FOR FLYING IN BAJA?

REASON FOR THAT?

hand pump., I’ll fill up in San Felipe and from there, with

We have a whole booklet of paperwork we carr y on

In Mexico, they don’t allow single engine, low altitude,

good winds, I can fly about 320-330 miles, then land in

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Photo: Brian Binkert

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On you r dirt bi ke you go for a t riple you m ig ht br e a k a le g , a n a rm , back or whatever el s e but i n a h el ic opte r it’s n e a r fatality almost every time

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The idea is if there is an airplane flying a low level at night it’s probably a drug smuggler

the helicopter, it just wasn’t good. A few days later, I went

land and pump my gas from the tank in the back seat.

of my chest, and of course I didn’t want to make the

back and picked it up. Luckily I was by myself for that

passengers nervous, so I didn’t say anything. Another

one, probably the most scared I’ve ever been. That’s the

I’M SURE YOU’VE SCARED SOME OF YOUR

time, flying Ryan Dungey to Ocotillo, the wind was so

bad thing, I don’t know why they don’t just have off road

PASSENGERS WHILE FLYING, BUT HAVE YOU EVER

gnarly. [Ryan’s] like “Is this ok? ” and I’m like “Nah, this is

races in Santa Barbara, and I could just fly up the coast

SCARED YOURSELF?

nothing. A five on a scale to 10.” But in my mind, it was

the whole way… no mountains to cross over.

One year at the Mint 400, just flying along, chasing the

like an 11. Next time I saw him, I had to admit to him that

race car and everything is going perfect. We come around

it was actually pretty bad that flight. Recently, coming

YOUR FAVORITE AREA TO FLY OVER?

the mountain and there isn’t even a puff of wind all day,

home from the Mint by myself, I had to land partway

I like the beach. Coastline, I never get tired of it.

and I hit something in the air that turned the helicopter

home. I just left the helicopter at McGrath’s ranch, and

so quick, so sideways, that I literally got like a whiplash.

called John Marking to come pick me up because the low

My head hit the window, my headset flew off. It was so

clouds and the winds were so bad. I just had to get out of

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instantaneous and unexpected, my heart was racing out

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the middle of nowhere. I like to be away from people, just

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