" The aircraft began to shake preparatory to take-off, the pilot suddenly shuts down. The racket and vibration suddenly began to dininish and the rotors began to slow.The pilot announced we have a problem its either a fuel blockage or its the hydraulics. If it is fuel it will be 30 min if it is hydraulics we'll be at least 2 hours."
Is this your paraphrase, or a verbatim quote from the book?
Cheers
Whirls