Arrived today. As usual, a beautiful piece of work. Thanks Ned.

Ned, many thanks for the calendar: stunning photos as always, and a very generous gesture to share with Rotorheads around the world :ok:

Mine arrived this week as well - many thanks Ned:ok:

Mine arrived yesterday.... outstanding product again, Ned... :ok:

Mine arrived yesterday also. Thank you very much Ned. Brilliant photos! Besides a good photographic eye, you must also be a good judge of pilots!. It is no mean feat to put a cameraman in the "right" spot.

Glad everyone is getting then ok,

Anyone else going to add to this thread and get themselves a calendar or do we lock this off for the 2019 one.

Soggyboxers & All, thanks and this years one is prob the best. Might be the last year we do this, 1500 views and only 20 people want the calendars.

:eek::{:{ That would be an absolute shame!!!

Twinstar - not much point offering them out there if no one wants them, might as well just make a list of the 20 that did and send them direct next year

I have been writing my "Most memorable moments" for quite a few years now in order to receive one of your Calendars (often on an Australian site), but I have never written about my MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT" which would have to be my first flight in a helicopter.

Like a lot of people I knew I wanted to be a helicopter pilot from when i was at least ten years old. When it came time to do a weeks 'work experience' at school I contacted a local Heli Operator (Jayrow) enquiring about completing it with them. They said yes and I went out there bright eyed and bushy-tailed. I ended up spending the week building a Horse float for the boss with the engineers. But that didn't phase me, I was in a hangar with helicopters (the closest I'd ever been to one before).

On my last day there, they had a local TV networks AS350 in for a Track and Balance. I was given the task of washing the machine afterwards. Needless to say I was wrapped! Afterwards the pilot came out and said "well i better take you for a flight now that you've washed it for me". We only did a circuit, but I was hooked! That first feeling of hovering and then when he nosed it forward and I was looking at the ground as we departed, I was blown away at how cool it all was. 13yrs later I got my license and now 25yrs later I'm still recounting the story. What I learnt from that day and still try to always remind myself of is that; even if flying Helicopters is still my job and sometimes losses a little of it's shine, for the people in the back it could be their first flight in the helicopter and they may be experiencing what I was 25yrs ago. As a result, I never try to diminish the experience of flying whenever I have unknown people on board.

Yakking---I guess that would have been Alvan T...…?

Wasn't expecting this thread until a little later on!

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to contribute to a project representing what could be an entirely new phase of vertical flight. Taming the costs will be (thankfully) someone else's problem, but designing a solution that combined safety considerations with operational flexibility was one of my top moments in the industry.

Great photos in the calendar. Mine arrived today. Thanks!

Ned,

If you've not stopped accepting contributions, I'll add one of mine.
My most memorable moment was my private check ride. I was very nervous before the flight, as in the prep for the ride, I had been given an impression that the examiner was very strict and my thought about my own performance was not very high. The theory part was ok, and I got the go-ahead to prepare for the flight. The OAT was around 40C which did not make me sweat any less! Off we went and the longer into the flight with errors here and there, I was sure that I had failed at some point. The examiner told me to head back and land for the de-brief after about an hour which seemed a lot longer. He jumped out and told me very short to shut down and meet him at the office we started out in once I was done. I was prepared to hear that I had to do a re-take, but the debriefing was very short: A handshake and a simple: Congratulations!
The sensation of relief was incredible, and is something I will always remember.

Thanks again for your generous offer! A real pity if it's the last year for this.

An early Happy holidays, in any case!

Thanks Ned,
calendar made it to the Fatherland today. Great pictures again .
Fly safe
El Finz

Many thanks for a wonderful calendar for this year too. It helps me understand the importance of the industry. All those image and the effort to be so nicely presented.


Happy 2019 to KiwiNedNZ and all of you in this forum.

Also many thanks for the calender and the work of supplying!
Mine arrived today :-)

I've only just seen this post! Hope I'm not too late.....

I was the first person to fly a civilian helicopter in Armenia, a Bell 429. After a few days flying with crappy weather, the weather suddenly cleared up and the scenery was spectacular. I got to see Mt. Ararat from a perspective that very few have. And there's the rub. I have been blessed enough to have flown helicopters around the world, from the Atacama Desert in Chile to the coastline of West Africa. It has allowed me to experience things that few others have. So therefore it's pretty hard to pick out a single event. Would it be watching humpback whales breaching off shore in Ghana? Flying the entire coastline of the Ivory Coast at 500 feet? Helping flood victims in Mexico? Watching the sunrise in Oklahoma? Working in the driest place on the planet? Too many memorable moments to choose I'm afraid.