scratched one off the bucket list today. I have spent a whole lot of wonderful hours in various small airplanes, including a short stint as the sole occupant of one, but I have always wanted a ride in a helicopter. Nearly a year ago, my local FBO (Fixed Base Operator--airport guy) had a Facebook contest: answer this trivia question and well draw a winner from the correct answers. My nephew Kirby pointed out the contest, I Googled the answer to the trivia question . . . and damned if I didnt--much to Kirbys disgust--win. It took this long to get it scheduled, but this afternoon, there I was, right seat in a Schweitzer 300. Dad and I used to mark every take-off in any light plane as another [bleeping] miracle but I have to say that a take-off accomplished via a big old wing and sixty miles an hour of airspeed is a pretty damned minor-league miracle compared to simply freaking levitating under a rotor. We wandered out west of the airport and the pilot asked if I wanted to fly it. Well, duh. As Ive heard from Dad, a helicopter in forward flight flies a lot like any light plane. Really touchy on the controls, and no need for rudder input, but nothing to it. (Hovering, which I did not try, is universally described as being like juggling while balancing on a beach ball.) I gave it back to the kid, asked him to do some steep turns--again, just like an airplane, except for the fantastically unlimited view--and then we headed back to the airport for a couple of autorotations. An autorotation is how you land a helicopter after the engine quits. It sounds impossible (Helicopters? Glide? Are you kidding?) but it works, and oh, what a ride. What a ride altogether. Thanks, Kent and Northern Skies Aviation. Ive never had any shortage of the-day-I-hit-the-lottery dreams, but Ive got a new one now!
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 22:38:54 +0000
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