What is your best flying moment?

[Guest]

What was your best moment flying helicopters (or working on them)?

[Eric Hunt]

Wouldn't call it the BEST, but it was a GOOD moment, and it was today.

Surface wind southerly at 35 knots. I came hooking in from the south in the 76, timed the descent and turn perfectly to do a 180 onto the threshold, touchdown, taxy in. When i went into the FBO, three separate aviators commented on what a good-looking approach and landing it was. Just seemed normal to me, but at least somebody else enjoyed it! Simple things amuse the best. :laugh:

[Heloplt]

That moment had to be when the DE told me to go back in so he could sign my commercial helo ticket; hmmmm, or was it when the FAA checkpilot told me to go back in so he could sign my helo instructor??

I'm sure that'll be surpassed when the DE tells me to go in to sign my double I.......The fun just never ends..........

But there was the time flying over the mountains watching the sun rise..........Some of the things that non-aviators will never experience become commonplace for us, remember to savor those moments for it is truly a few who will experience it.

The fun never ends when your wings swing over your head!!

[twinstar_ca]

my best/favorite moment was 31 yrs ago at the tender age of 15 when i strapped into a bell 47 on the canadian side of niagara falls... i still remember as we came light on the skids... awesome.. :cool:

[RDRickster]

Conducting a static line parachute jump from the back of a CH-47.

[Kuma]

I have had two great joys in flying.  

 

The first was doing a "no-hover" take off.  For the first year of  my training, we lifted to a hover, taxi'd over to a designated spot and then transitioned to forward flight from the hover.  The day I took off straight from the ground was memorable.  I don't know why I enjoyed it so much, but I did.

 

The second is my first TERF flight...that's "Terrain Flight".  During this flight, we work in the low level environment (below 200 feet) until we enter TERF (min alt 10') where I chased a desert jack rabbit and a Mountain Ram in the same flight with my 14,000 lb AH-1W.  Pure joy.

 

After that, flying kept getting better, but those are the two events that will be etched into my memory.

[Flying Pig]

Wow......chasing a jack rabbit in a Cobra!!!!!

 

 

Semper Fi!!

[Flying Pig]

Sounds kinda silly.but its all I have....

 

 

I was out at my local uncontrolled airport.  Fired up the bird....merely a 300C, but heh...

 

Anyway, I decide to hover over to the taxiway and use the runway for my take off.  Being a fixed wing pilot also, I jumped in line behind a Cherokee a Cessna 182, and a 150, maintained a safe distance as to not bother them with my  rotorwash, and as the line moves, I pick up, move forward, and set down.  After a  few minutes, I hover to the numbers, set down and do a very nice running take off.

 

Then several  radio calls followed with "concerned" pilots reminding me I was in a helicopter.

[CJ Eliassen]

Twinstar,

 

That was my first helicopter ride too!  I think I was around 12.  Me an my father took a Bell 47 for that quick little 5 minute tour.  Thats what got me hooked on helicopters.

[Bag swinnger]

Yes I remember it well it was the first day working on a heli logging job on vancouver island. (before I was a pilot) I was the new firstaid attendant and had never before been in a helicopter.  We were 10 minutes into the day and a call came in of a man down with a possible back injury.  as I climbed in the old 206 I remember thinking hey this is cool, followed a few minutes later by the pilot saying ok get out!  My first flight and also my first hover exit wich of course was on to a steep mountain slope to load up my first patient! once loaded into the basket the patient was picked up by long line. as we steered the basket in about a three foot hover, about two hundred yards over the fallen timber to the closest mountain pad where the 206 landed. Then we pulled the door and post off to slide the patient in on the backboard.   The door was handed to one of the guys who turned and put the door over his head and proceeded to walk up hill in the direction of the blades.  (still spinning at idle)  as the pilot is yelling at the top of his lungs, the only person that could hear this is the firstaid guy sitting in the back recieving the patient (thats me) luckily this fellow with the door  in his hands figured out what he was doing wrong because he stopped within a few inches of impact.  once the door and post were re attached the pilot lifted off the high pad and turns around to say, where are we going.  To wich I reply where is the closest hospital, and away we went. once I had a moment to collect my thoughts and think about all that had just happend with the steep learning curve that I was going through, I new that this crazy buissness was just what I was looking for, and I was hooked on helicopters!

[Randy Greenhalgh]

Well the first time that I was able to control the durn thing in the hover.  We'd be in a huge field, and do you think I could hover the thing ??  Well my instructor gets this idea, "if he can't hover in a huge field let's try something smaller".  So we go to this frozen lake (ice was 12"+ thick) and he takes control.  He takes us into this corner, trees on 3 sides of us.  Then he gives me control.  For some reason I needed a "confined" area to figure out how to hover.

 

Next big moment was the first solo.  Then the CPL-H ride.  Getting the 500 endorsement.  Also getting on the mediums.  There are many more, but I'll quit boring you guys now.  ::

 

Cheers

[iflytandemrotor]

My best moment was, as a new LT in the Army and being sent out to Colorodo to do high altitude triaining in CH-47Ds.  I was told by the IP (an old crusty CW4) to land at a pinnicle called "By Your Self". It was named that because it's a pinnicle about 1500' AGL with an altitude of 8600' and just big enought to set the landing gear of a Chinook on...and that's it.  I predicted my simulated max torque and made my approach.  I landed that Chinook, without flaw, on top of that pinnicle.  The old CW4 said to me, "LT, you fly like a Warrant Officer."  That was the best compliment anyone has ever given to me.

[helopilot2be]

I have had three.  1st many years ago.  I was selected to be an aerial observer for my police department(former department).  While on my first flight (the pilot did a bunch of stuff to guage my reaction to emergencies to evaluate my suitability) we got an actual call.  While we were going the pilot had to look up the address on the map and had me hold the controls.

2nd was on my check ride.  The examiner had me divert to an airport that I had never been to (Clearview).  If you are familiar with Clearview in MD you know it is hard to find.  Well I knew I was going to have trouble findind it and make a small error figuring how long it was going to take because of the wind.  The DE kept asking where's the airport every 30 seconds.  Finally when I was about to give up and start heading back it came into view.

Third was just recently. While flying security checks during the heightened security threat level I got to fly between the two spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Pretty cool.

Chris

 

 rotorheadsmiley

[matador]

Back in 1884 I was designated to go through the AMOC course and Test pilot course for the CH 47 at the US. That was a happy moment for me and even more when I came back to Spain with my diplomas and top scores in all tests

But if you add that I was an NCO (E7), that made of me the only NCO in the world that had taken those courses ( and I think still the only one)  I was issued a special ID to go to the officers club and mess... quite a big thing since I was young and felt kind of unique

Another special moment was the other day. We were filming a rescue operation in the mountains for a TV channel and the guy was filming during the flight inside the cockpit. When he was done we were already landed and he say: Oh! I didn't realize that whe had landed already! That made me feel very well :thumb:

[407 Driver]

One of my most memorable and difficult jobs was a Sock-line pull on the local ski hill.   I had never done a sock-line pull before, so got some information from a few guys who had.  The pull was for 4 wires, one at a time, the Up gondola cable, the Down gondola cable and 2 communication lines, the length was 11,000' the vertical was 4,200'. It took 1.0 hours per pull, I backed down with a 60' line and a 500 lb headache ball while placing the 9/16 cable into guides on each of 25 towers. Intense concentration !!!   The customer liked my job and used me on several other ski hill projects in the area.

 

Another great job was grizzly Bear darting (350B).  The Biologists want to shoot the dart into the Bear from INSIDE the rotor disc, as a shot that exits the rotor disc area wil encounter a much different wind pattern.  We'd circle around and get the Bear moving up hill, then dash in and take the shot from 15 ' high and less than  15' away. Talk about split second concentration as the bear ducks and weaves away, or stops and stands up swinging at us.  After a successful shot, we'd herd the bear into a safe area until the drug took effect, then land beside it and install a radio collar and take the scientific measurements (weights, DNA, etc, etc)

[iflytandemrotor]

Not a best moment, but a moment:

 

While in flight school at Ft. Rucker, we were practing hovering autos.  When the IP rolled the throttle off, I, like a good student, looked out 50-75 feet to get a good reference point and immediatly had my concentration broke by two dogs in their "special moment".  Needless to say, that Jet Ranger hit the ground and my IP gave me my pink slip for the day and kicked me out of the aircraft.

 

Immature? Yes. Funny?  Well....hell yeah it's funny!! You should have heard that IP yelling at me with his broken English/Spanish accent. "Ju stupit lutenent! Wha di F$#% u tink ur dooiiing!"

[aser]

Back in 1884 I was

Matador... you may have a girl friend as class 1 medical examiner?  :laugh:    :laugh:  

[matador]

God, I didn`t realized I was that old !!!!

I see you are a sharp guy. Congratulations :cheers:

Hope your tests came out right, let me know and if you come over give me a call.

Buen vuelo

[Mokiis]

my greatest moment was on a trip to kauia when i was like 12. my mom told the pilot i wanted to fly helicopter when i grow up. he gave me a very special tour of the helicopter and showed me the RPM gauge. when we got ready to go he told me to get in shot gun with my sis and the other tourist had to sit in back. he told me he was going to do a running take off and we did. he turn the helicopter till we were litterally facing strait at the ground, and road it all the way down the strip very low to the ground.  that running take off is something i will never forget.

 

if you know any pilots in kauia please contact me i want to talk to him. he was an austrialian dude, he was trying to hook me up with a school in arizona. if you know him by chance contact me.

[gmsemel]

Oh I had a lot of good moments over the years, the best one, the day it all came together with a 150 foot line.

[Gunner]

Super Bowl Sunday actually...  Finnished with my commercial ticket and was flying for me and not for any rating or any goal.  

 

Was only in the pattern but the WX was great and just having a grand ol time.

 

Most fun I've had in a while.

[canguy21]

Batswinger, a cousin I never met was killed that way. It was his first summer tree planting.

[troops23]

Was nothing special, but while I was still training at Buttonville, ONT (CYKZ) I was going up solo in the JetRanger to work on my confined areas, I think. Was a busy day, and the wind had shifted so that the active was runway 21, which was right on my tail. The nose was facing the hangar. I did my run-up and got the ATIS. Managed to get my call in to the tower, 10th busiest airport in Canada just so you know. The controller came back to me and asked if I could go on right now. Sure no prob, so as she was clearing me, I lifted off, started a slide to the left, began a left pedal turn, still sliding left, then shifting back, swung the nose around and nosed her over down the runway, with a Cessna 142 not 15 seconds behind me. Always seems cool when I replay it in my head !!

[Gomer Pylot]

I don't think I can recall one flight that stands out that much, but an ILS to minimums, precisely flown, or an offshore instrument approach, getting the rig in sight just at the MAP and getting onto the deck past all the obstacles, crosswind of course, always gives me some satisfaction.  If these are part of a medevac at 3AM, so much the better.  I've done 3 ILS approaches in the past month or so when the weather was reported at 1/4 mile vis, vertical vis 100', and while they no longer give me a huge thrill, there is some satisfaction in being able to do something that relatively few people in the world can do, and doing it well.  Mostly what I enjoy these days is flying precisely, not just getting from here to there by stumbling along, up and down and around.

[67november]

one of my favorite flight moments was back in the mid 80's when I was a Huey machanic for the Army guard.

I had spent 3/4 of a hot summer day doing maintainence on my assigned bird and when it was finally ready it need a post maint. test flight, so I went to the pilots rooms stuck my head in the door as said who wants to do my test flight. no more then I got the words out of my mouth one of my favorite pilots had his helmet and flight bag in hand heading for the hanger. I grabbed my helmet and headed for the SIC seat with a grin you couldn't wipe off my face with a 2X4. flying was and is my favorite thing about helo's. we got airborn and headed east to do the maint. tests these took about 20 mins. to complete, when I finished making the notes in the maint. log book the PIC turned to me and said are you ready to fly her, my eyes were probably as big as sausers, I said where to, I'd never had the controls before, he said east I direct you as we go, he kept his hand close to the controls as I took over he briefed me on the RRPM and speed, he was soon comfortable that I could handle it.  spent 20 mins. flying at 1500' AGL part of that was when we came upon a house in the country with a high fenced in back yard, the pilot said put it in a hover here for a moment he assisted me with that then he turns to his flight bag and pulls out a pair of binos you could see moon craters with and scans the ground with them, then chuckles out loud, turns to me and grins and hands me the binos, says I'll take over a minute you look. you guessed it a golden goddess soaking up the afternoon sun. I grin and chuckled as she never even realized we were hovering over her house. i turn back to him with a grin and said great topper to the day, he then said you fly it back and I'll land. I flew back to within 20 miles of the airfield and he took over and made a perfect running landing (we had steel skid plate on the bottom of our skids), picked the craft back up and taxied to the pad and shut'er down. I was on cloud nine for a month ::2thumbsat::