Freebie HeliOps Calendar - That Time Again
 

Well its nearly December and just got the 2018 HeliOps calendars off the printers - probably our best one yet :ok:

So for the first 150 people who post on here a response to the following question you will receive a complimentary copy of our 2018 Calendar.

"Describe your MOST memorable moment in a helicopter and why it was so memorable".

Responses cant just be a one or two word response - please put a little thought into your replies. Once you have made your post then please send me a PM with name and postal address to send them to. You can use a bogus name for delivery if you wish to keep your identifies here secret, just make sure your postman is aware :ok:

Thanks everyone and hope you enjoy them.

Ned

I have had too many memorable times to list. However I vividly remember this last spray season pulling up on the third to last swath of a field and seeing a wire running through the treeline that I had already crossed a bunch of times.......

First SAR mission ...
 

At the beginning of my flying career, I was called once, early in the morning, to rescue the crew of an anchored vessel that hit the bottom in heavy seas and strong winds. That had developed fast during dawn, catching the crew with surprise. I´ll never forget their faces of relief getting inside the aircraft as the vessel started to roll over.

Many thanks for your kind offer again this year, @KiwiNedNZ :)

It's still quite early in my helicopter flying career, and without anything too exciting to report, my memorable moments seem to all be related to more and more challenging landing spots. The most recent, and most challenging to date, was a very small, sloping gravel spot, not much larger than a dolly, that services a remote, off-grid transmitter site on top of a minor mountain. Unlike a dolly, this one is surrounded on all four sides by small pine trees, and on two sides by antenna guy wires, and requires a bit of vertical to get in and out of with no escape once you are below the top of the antennas. It's the sort of place you wish you brought a chainsaw to so that you can open it up a bit more before leaving :} At any rate, it was a nice feeling of accomplishment to get in and out of there safely and smoothly, and without sliding off of the sloping, loose gravel, either!

One of my latest memorable moments was just the other day in my R22. Depart from home with calm winds, climb to 500ft agl, 25 knot tail wind. Climb another 500 ft, 40 knot tail wind. Climbed to 2000 ft agl, 50 knots on the tail and silky smooth cruising at 140 knots. Dreaming I was in a Gazelle, but could of been a B-47 if I were heading the other direction.

I no longer fly, too old now to even get into one! I have several memorable events burnt in, but to restrict it to a magic moment event, I would have to say it was the last day of the Americas Cup event off Fremantle in 1987.

Although Australia lost to that pesky American, the spectacular sight of the huge fleet of boats escorting the competitors back into harbour in picture perfect conditions, and the fleet of helicopters following it all, still appears in my mind like it was just last week!

My most memorable was the very first time I decided to take a trial lesson. Went out to the R22, never been in a helicopter at all before. The instructor, picked us up into the hover, I couldn't believe the sensation, still as vivid in my head today. It was in these seconds and a 5 foot hover I realised my life was about to change dramatically! All those years on I'm still at it.

My most memorable moment in flying occurred at one of my first initial training lessons: While flying from airport A to airport B, we crossed an industrial plant, and out of one of its chimneys, there was leaking out a huge smother, lying exactly on our route (calm wind conditions).
As beeing a complete newbie, I took the worst decision and kept flying the planned route, although being fully aware of the vapor.
Immediately, we went full IMC, my FI took controls without moving them, and a few seconds later, we returned to clear sunshine, not being harmed.

IMC to the max, and since then, I strictly keep myself flying VMC (as long, as I don't have the IFR and a properly equipped machine), no matter what the planned route is telling me.

Thracian

Securely fastened!!!!!!
 

Beautiful and cold morning sitting on the saturated floor of an RN SAR Whirlwind out of Culdrose, canvas 'seatbelt' very wet and loose, gazing out of the open cabin door opposite.
Insufficient sockets for all to plug into intercom so truely fat, dumb and happily unaware of the announced steep turn which sent me thru the 'seat belt' and feet out the door towards the freighter everyone else was watching now directly below.
Said safety belt did however grasp me securely around the chest and taught me so much so quickly.

I would say my most memorable moment in a helicopter would've been in the summer of 2016. I was doing my first ever solo cross country which was about a three hour flight.

It was a beautiful VFR day without a cloud in the sky and the tailwinds in my favour ;) I remember just appreciating the freedom and perfect flying conditions flying over the countryside and near a large lake, it was pure bliss!

Calendar
 

Hi Ned

Thanks again for the offer.

My most memorable moment was just recently, after a 20 year career in helicopters in the UK doing Training, Charter and Pleasure Flying. I was lucky enough to be tasked to help on a filming job, flying two Twin Squirrels in close formation (less than 2d) at 50ft along the River Thames in London, Flying at high speed.

The visibility was crystal clear, blue skies, and it was by far the most exciting two hours I’ve had in a helicopter. We passed Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The Shard, The Gerkin, St Paul’s Cathedral,, but the best bit was the high speed pass over the North Tower of Tower Bridge at 50ft.

Brilliant.

Hi Ned, thank you again for the kind offer.

I can still vividly remember the moment hovering a helicopter finally "clicked"!

I was with my FI waiting to cross Bristols runway to transit to the South side where we were allowed to train. I had been struggling for sometime to hold the helicopter in a stable hover for any length of time. On this day, the airport was quite busy and I was watching a passenger shuttle bus on the other side of the runway, that was ferrying people to the terminal building, and as it was "in the distance" I had my head up, and finally it all clicked together and I found myself relaxing into the hover!

Now I understand why I kept being told, look outside, look up and scan the distance, don't fixate on the 10 feet in front of you!

Fond memories!

JBL

Mid air collision with a Sea Harrier - in cloud at 2000 feet. Seems like yesterday..............:rolleyes:

Flying with Air Zermatt in the Alps, albeit as a pax. Stunning scenery and the helicopter in its element.
Thanks for the generous gesture, love these calendars.

For me one of my most memorable moments in aviation was my first time doing high altitude training with a bell 206.
I’m a part time mountaineer my self and I love mountains so It felt really good flying around high mountains with a helicopter.

Precert 214ST development flight. Attitude / Altitude Retention System flight. Pilot and FTE onboard. We were both watching instrument panel 'eyes inside' when I looked up and saw a red ball from a radio tower guy-line. Stated 'Holy Sh--' and the pilot quickly moved the cyclic to the left. All ended fine. Whew!
Otter.

One night years ago, flying up the coast in the 22, I turned towards the golden gate bridge and noticed a full moon directly above it, shinning a brilliant beam of light over the water cutting the bridge in half,...it was pretty sweet!:cool:

Most rememborale moment?
Just dangeling along with Vy with passengers over a lake in the hills, 2-300 feet above the water, killing time cause I could ´t drop them.
When I slammed down the collective and they started to cheer, thinking some fun flying would start.
When I said, negative fun, just saving our lives nobody understood.
So I flew a circuit and went to a hover at the same spot. Everybody looked out, including the Co-Pilot and nobody saw the danger.
After I pointed out three narrow lines on the left over may be three meters beachy shoreline and asked them, to follow the lines, they suddenly understood.
A nice non marked powerline hard to see against the waves in the sun...
Sure it was my fault in the first time decending below the horizonline- even with lots of feet over the water. Would ˋt do it again without proper recee....

Georg1na, yet you lived to tell the tale. Maybe we should here it.

KiwiNedNZ, thanks for the offer once again. My second flight as pax on a helicopter is the most memorable. Arguably it was the most pointless flight I ever took yet I did enjoy it. The helicopter was to cover a car race, and it was not allowed to stay overnight at a local military which was used during the day. So they shuttled it out about 3 minutes flying time away. I was offered a seat on the transit and it was nice to fly out of an airport and land in a landing zone outside one. For some one only flying scheduled fix-wing flights it was memorable.

Happy 2018 to all.

Georg1na, yet you lived to tell the tale. Maybe we should here it.


Very luck day! SH going 250knts one way - me going 110knts t'other way.


SH fin to WX5 tailwheel/pylon. Lots of bits fell off. Too much for gaffer tape.


I land in pub car park he landed back at Yeovilton. Big cock up on ATC front but they could not have planned it even if they had tried to. They are not that accurate!!:}