F-GFDG clearly lives in a rural and not suburban location and I think the 'short sleeve order' is standard fayre in civilian circles!
David Gold:
“My chief executive at Gold Air, Will Curtis, always thought that the strip at the training ground was too short, and he said, I wish you would get a helicopter.”
Within a short period Gold had taken the advice to heart and was soon on the way to a PPL(H), under the guidance of instructor Norman Collins.
“The actual flying in the helicopter is just like fixed wing, although with a bit more rudder requirement,” explained Gold. “Then you come to the hovering and it separates the men from the boys.
The instructor said to me, We’re going to try some hovering. I’m going to say you have control and then I’ll say “I have control”. OK, that’s normal instructor talk, I thought. So he says, “You have control" .. the next thing I hear is "I have control.” I was actually in control for two seconds on my first attempt at the hover and was shocked that my 35 years of flying meant nothing when it came to this task!
Once the hover had been mastered, however, Gold went on to gain his PPL(H) and now regularly pilots his own Gazelle 1, registered G-OLDH, to and from business meetings.
