I made the briefest of contributions to his thread earlier on and have avidly followed its progress. It has brought back many happy childhood memories of watching helicopters flying back and fore across the sky where I lived. The detail in this thread has revealed the reasons why. I lived between Ripley, Fairoaks and Brooklands from the mid-70's and from aged 6 I remember looking skyward every time I heard a helicopter. Almost without exception it would be another Jet Ranger or best of all a Bell 47. Over time I developed a keen interest in helicopters and would often persuade my parents to pay a visit to Fairoaks or to Battersea when we travelled into London. Several years later I was fortunate enough to join the RAF as a pilot and rather than follow my heart and head off to helicopters I followed the stream and was very lucky to fly the Tornado GR1/4 for 14 years. I have now retired from the RAF and like many of my predecessors joined a civilian airline. Perhaps I should have followed Dennis K's path and made the transition to helicopters. I doubt I will ever be able to afford to now, but this thread has definitely re-kindled a childhood passion, long may it continue. With 7 years to age 50, I have half promised myself that I will set aside a little (a lot I think) every month and at the very least try and solo in a helicopter (perhaps even a Jet Ranger) on my fiftieth birthday!!! Thanks for the memories......
