What are you going to fly?

I get this question a lot. While I can't answer it yet (I won't know until I graduate in March), there are three possibilities. This post will simply highlight the three options. Future posts will dig deeper and show you a bit more about each airframe.

1. UH-1 "Huey"

- Missile support operations (Wyoming, Montana, & North Dakota)

- Top secret mission at Andrews AFB, MD

- Assist with survival school at Fairchild AFB, WA

- Hueys are more of a "9 to 5" assignment. They do not normally deploy. After a tour or two in Hueys, most pilots are eligible to transfer over to HH-60's.

2. HH-60 "Pavehawk"

- Combat search & rescue, medevac, special operations, personnel recovery

- You have to be pretty good to get into this aircraft

- This is the quintessential helicopter mission, but you are gone a lot

- Examples: Hurricane Katrina rescue support and rescuing troubled sailors off the coast

- Afghanistan, South America, the Middle East...you name it & Pavehawks have been there

- Operate primarily at night and air-refuel on most missions

3. CV-22 "Osprey"

- Infiltration & exfiltration of special operations forces

- Quieter than a helicopter with a longer range

- Brand new - still working on deploying first squadron

- Technically a "tilt-rotor" - not a helicopter

- Usually, only one of these is given out per class and the top-ranked student gets it...if they give one out at all!

Do You Have the Monkey Skills?

So my first phase of training, the "contact" phase, is officially complete. During this part of training, we basically develop and refine our "monkey skills." Simply put, you learn how to fly a helicopter without crashing. You do this in the simplest and most forgiving environment - on a long, wide, flat runway; in broad daylight with an experienced instructor.

Now that my hand and eye coordination are up to standards, I progress onto the next phase of training, the "remote" phase. Now we start to see what a helicopter can really do. Runways have no use during remotes. Essentially, we try to land the helicopter in a field (see picture below). Simple, right? Yeah, that's what I thought.

You have to consider a lot of factors before deciding to set your bird down in a field. All of these factors must be considered in the air on the fly. Although it's pretty cool to land in a remote area, the margin for error narrows considerably.

For instance, what looks like flat terrain from the air can actually turn out to be quite rugged once you set your bird down. Stumps can be hidden by long grass. Trees don't look nearly as large at 500 feet. All of these things are waiting to mess up your skids or roll your helicopter.

Despite these threats, landing in a field is going to be super cool. I can't wait! I'll tell you more about remotes as I progress.

Two Weeks Deep

Yes, it's already been that long - two whole weeks of flying. After only 7 rides, I've progressed from barely being able to hover to flying a multitude of approaches & take offs. The number of life-and-death encounters per ride have decreased from a dozen to only 3 or 4.

Here's what I don't understand: I can take off and land with minimal problems, but I can't park the damn thing! That's right, the hardest part is setting it down exactly on the parking pad. If you thought that parallel parking a car was tough, try doing it with a helicopter!

Despite my setbacks, I'm loving this job. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing than buzzing around the tree tops with the doors open and the windows down. All I have to do is stay alive!

Some More Huey Action

For those of you wondering what makes the Huey so legendary, watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeBcTV5-5E8&feature=fvw

However, it looks like you'll have to go to Australia to experience it.

First Flight

It started out early this morning at 0430. But the early start was well worth it, because I finally got the chance to take the controls in a helicopter - and not just any helicopter, but the legendary Huey.

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.

Another Week Down...Who has a Dollar?

This week was pretty much a repeat of last week - more academics - more school. It's all going to come to an end on Tuesday when I go up for my "dollar ride."

Some of you may be wondering, what is a dollar ride? Here's how it works. After a student pilot receives his first ride, he gives the instructor who flew with him a dollar. The dollar is personalized by the student, thanking the instructor for their first ride.

Sometimes the dollar accompanies a bottle of booze or parts of the aircraft (if the flight really went wrong.) For example, the dollar I gave to my instructor for T-6's had two tires with it. (I landed pretty hard and maintenance had to replace the tires.)

This tradition dates back to county fairs of the early 1900s. Barnstormer pilots charged a dollar for customers to ride in the front seat and act as if they were the pilot.

For those of you wondering what this dollar ride will be like, it will NOT be like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ZUXNeBoHo

She's Old but She Cleans up Nice

In the process of learning about the various systems on the Huey, I'm also getting a history lesson on the way things used to be. This helicopter is nearly an antique.

The Huey was first accepted by the Army in 1956. What were you doing in 1956? I wasn't even a thought at that time.

Smoking was allowed while flying the Huey until the late 80's. It was disbanded because there were too many burn marks on the floors. The Hueys we fly still have ash trays in the dash.

The clock on board must be wound up for power. Needless to say, the only digital item on this helicopter is my wristwatch!