[Chicago Slices raw: female pilot #1 – Slices billboard cutaways]

CATHY RUMSEY, copilot for United Airlines, talks about being a female pilot while sitting in the cockpit of an United plane and as she leaves O'Hare Airport. Con't on 132. SLICES BILLBOARD cutaways.

00:00Copy video clip URL Videographer Patrick Creadon in car at parking garage records himself stating that he is heading to United Airlines to pick up Cathy Rumsey, a first officer.

00:27Copy video clip URL B-roll of Arrivals display monitor. Camera focuses on flights from Austin and Baltimore.

01:40Copy video clip URL Creadon walks through terminal looking for Rumsey.

02:40Copy video clip URL Creadon goes through security with his camera.

03:10Copy video clip URL B-roll of a United jet parked at a Jetway.

04:05Copy video clip URL Creadon in the cockpit of a United jet with Rumsey. He climbs into the Captain’s seat. Rumsey says she’s been flying for 12 years, 3 with United Airlines. She demonstrates opening one of the cockpit’s windows.

05:23Copy video clip URL She says there are no feelings of nervousness, no more than someone climbing into a car to drive. The airplane is where she feels most at home. She goes over the controls with the videographer and comments that in training the focus is on emergency situations. She comments that there are a few female captains.

07:12Copy video clip URL Rumsey notes that the rank of Captain is what fliers aspire to be. She recalls clipping a coupon 12-years ago for a $20 plane ride. That’s how she became interested in flying.

08:12Copy video clip URL Rumsey goes demonstrates how the jet starts up. She notes the challenge in flying a commercial jet but says it’s also logical and that buttons in the various aircraft are basically the same, the only difference are the systems that need to be learned.

09:44Copy video clip URL She says the fringe benefits of working for United are the uniforms and that they treat employees well. Safety is their main concern. She notes that some of the passengers mistake her for a flight attendant.

10:17Copy video clip URL At the request of a ground crew member, Rumsey turns on the APU, an extra engine in the tail of the plane that helps maintain power in the jet while parked. She says ground crew will connect hoses to the plane for added electric and air power.

11:41Copy video clip URL Rumsey notes that when some of the passengers assume she’s a flight attendant they will put their bags at her feet. She’ll stow the bag and walk into the cockpit, stunning the misinformed passenger. Creadon and Rumsey contemplate the stereotypical image of a commercial airline pilot: male, former military, gray hair, all the characteristics Rumsey does not share. But she notes everyone at United is professional and treats her well. There’s no prejudice. It’s the passengers who are surprised to discover she’s one of the pilots. She says thirty years ago she would not be able to be in this position.

13:47Copy video clip URL Rumsey answers internal communication phone, a call from maintenance to see if the galley power was turned on.

14:18Copy video clip URL B-roll of planes on the flight line.

14:26Copy video clip URL Rumsey explains a digital display mounted on the outside wall of the terminal next to each gate. It communicates to pilots and ground crew details about the aircraft and flight expected at each gate. She also describes United tracking service. When a plane is within a certain distance from the airport, the plane is tracked in relation to all other planes in the area which means the airline can accurately gauge an estimated time of arrival.

16:06Copy video clip URL Creadon and Rumsey exit the cockpit. Rumsey notes a mirror hanging nearby for officers to check their appearance before greeting passengers.

16:48Copy video clip URL Rumsey comments that Creadon has been stopped 3 times since being here and notes how safety conscious everyone is. They walk up the Jetway and through the terminal. Rumsey notes she works about 17 days a month and gets 12 days off. Her job is constant travel, 13-14 hours a day. For her the best airport is O’Hare, they have the best controllers. The worst for her is Mexico City because it is surrounded by mountains and smog.

19:24Copy video clip URL Rumsey and Creadon joke about the difficulty in locating airports from the sky at night. She comments that she has become good at packing a lot of personal items in a little amount of space.

19:54Copy video clip URL Rumsey comments that layovers are about 12 hours, enough time really just to sleep and rest. Usually she has about 4 flights a day, short, to Denver or Des Moines or Austin. Maybe to San Francisco.

21:03Copy video clip URL B-roll United planes on the tarmac.

21:21Copy video clip URL Creadon records an image of himself on a security monitor. Creadon and Rumsey exit the airport chatting about how bad the traffic is.

22:21Copy video clip URL Creadon is in his car driving through heavy traffic recording notes to the editor to use these traffic shots as a segue to another story. He notes he is on his way to shoot the Chicago Slices Billboard.

23:07Copy video clip URL B-roll female construction worker on side of expressway. B-roll of slow moving traffic. B-roll driving through construction zone on expressway. Tries to focus as he drives. Car drives along expressway, the on-ramp.

24:50Copy video clip URL Focuses on the Chicago Slices billboard from the expressway

26:13Copy video clip URL Shot of Chicago from the expressway, shots of painted faces on the side of a building. Videographer records note to editor to use that shot of the faces for the interview with the guys painting the billboard.

26:28Copy video clip URL Creadon is now up on the billboard, 130 feet from the ground. He notes: that’s the Kennedy Expressway, that’s Elston Avenue, here are my feet and that’s the ground.

27:27Copy video clip URL B-roll of Bill and Dave, the sign painters from Tape 14099, continuing to paint the Chicago Slices billboard.

28:32Copy video clip URL B-roll Creadon walks along the catwalk, shoots Bill at work. Bill comments that once the extensions are done, the rest of the work will go more quickly. He comments that the extensions are simply nailed onto the billboard. B-roll of Bill painting; he gives a shout out to a friend who works at Sherwin Williams.

30:55Copy video clip URL Bill says they’ll get close to finishing today. Signs are expensive to produce. They are about $1.50 to $2.00 per square foot, five to eight dollars a square foot if there are extensions. The price is also affected if there is a lot of picture work involved. Bill and Dave lower the scaffolding a bit and continue painting.

32:46Copy video clip URL B-roll of Bill and Dave painting the extensions. Dave says the work isn’t all painting. There’s some carpentry involved. Dave saws a board to use in between the extension and the billboard to prevent the wood from bowing. Dave and Bill continue to saw wood.

35:23Copy video clip URL Bill says he and Dave work well as a team and that you have to have a partner you can trust doing dangerous work like this. Dave notes you cannot work with someone who doesn’t have experience.

36:15Copy video clip URL When asked if he’s ever been on TV before, Dave notes that he has been on the news a couple times for Chicago Fest. Bill, who was once an extra on the Love Boat TV show, says it was weird seeing himself on TV. It made him appreciate how movies are made. Like painting signs, he continues, it looks easy at first but once you see how it’s done you see how much work is involved.

38:20Copy video clip URL B-roll of Bill and Dave continuing to work on the sign.

38:53Copy video clip URL Dave says they won’t work in heavy rain, but a drizzle doesn’t bother the work. Bill comments that the danger involved in this kind of work is the reason he thinks billboard painters should get paid more.

40:32Copy video clip URL Audio disappears. Bill and Dave go up on the scaffolding.

41:15Copy video clip URL Audio returns but fades in and out, B-roll of videographer focuses on the ground below, out across the city.

42:26Copy video clip URL Audio continues coming in and out. B-roll of paint cans on the catwalk. Bill and Dave on the scaffolding at work nailing on extension pieces.

43:07Copy video clip URL B-roll nearby quarry activity as seen from the billboard.

43:19Copy video clip URL B-roll, Bill and Dave nail on extension pieces.

44:21Copy video clip URL B-roll of a Wendy’s hamburgers billboard. Various shots of the city, expressway, and traffic as seen from atop the billboard.

49:14Copy video clip URL B-roll again of the Wendy’s sign.

49:30Copy video clip URL At the request of Bill, videographer hands them a rolled up piece of paper.

50:00Copy video clip URL B-roll of Bill and Dave at work referencing a small scaled drawing of the finished Chicago Slices billboard sign. Bill explains the rolled paper Creadon handed him has the word Chicago patterned on it. They will use this as a guide to stencil the word onto the board. They will tack up the paper and paint over it. B-roll of Bill and Dave trying to gauge accurate proportion of the word to the sign. They reference their small paper with a scaled drawing of the finished billboard.

53:51Copy video clip URL Dave performs an original rap song he wrote.

55:23Copy video clip URL Bill signs off with a plug for channel 50 and for Chicago.

55:48Copy video clip URL Change of location. B-roll of three dogs in a yard playing. Their owner pets them.

57:35Copy video clip URL Creadon stops pedestrians on the street and asks if they’ve ever been on TV.

59:06Copy video clip URL Note to editor not to use the last person he recorded.

58:24Copy video clip URL END.