There's a lot of prep work involved before you get to the fun part of flying. I'll spare you details because it's not very exciting. After crawling all over the aging bird, fingering every bolt, and reading countless gauges, we strapped in and prepared to start her up.
It's pretty cool sitting behind the controls of a 1963 helicopter with over 20,000 hours of flight time. It makes you wonder how they keep something this old in operable condition. How many 1963 Chevrolet's do you see on the road today?
Despite her age, the Huey's engine whined and the rotor blades began to turn. Suddenly you're bouncing in the seat as this beast comes to life. Loose grass starts flying and all others noises are drowned out by the whomp-whomp of the rotor blades.
You couldn't wipe a smile off of my face as we lifted off the ground into a hover, as if we were riding some 7700 pound magic carpet. The instructor gave me the controls and said "keep the aircraft four feet off the ground with the nose fixed on that tree over there." After a few seconds, I was lucky if we were even 50 yards from the point where I assumed the controls. We were all over the place! After a few tries and some "oh-sh**" calls, I was able to hover comfortably for day one.
A half hour was all we had, but it was 30 minutes of my life that I'll never forget...and I am exhausted. It took every ounce of concentration to keep that helicopter from hitting the ground or drifting in the wrong direction. Let's hope that my proficiency builds fast.
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