I watched a helicopter crash in my front yard when I was six. The pilot was decapitated. Left me with some PTSD so my dad arranged for me to fly in a helicopter a few times. It was fun and not nearly as scary as I had expected. I finally realized that I'm not afraid of being IN a helicopter, I'm just afraid of being UNDER a helicopter.
As an A&P mechanic I vote hell no. Those things are always trying to shake themselves into thousands of tiny pieces, they glide exactly like a rock (maybe Chevy should build one, you know truth in advertising and all), and generally find new ways to make your life (however short it may be if you fly in one) miserable. We have a saying in the aviation industry, if your wings are going faster than the fuselage you have a problem.
never, EVER, do I want to go in a helicopter again. of course that thing looked like a glorified erector set assemblage with a plexiglass bubble on the front and was used mostly for crop dusting It looked kind of like this:, but hey, they needed the photos from the air. who needs doors when you have a good seat belt, right? The first big banking turn the pilot pulled, I thought I was going to lose my camera, my lunch, then my life.
They wanted to send me up in one recently for aerial shots for a feature's background plates. I declined.!
I second @Ruger9mm. My brother is an airplane A&P, but has worked at sites with Medivac helicopters. He's lost several pilot and nurse friends in crashes that were due to management trying to save a buck on maintenance. Too many things that can go wrong, and limited options for the pilot to recover when the worst happens, makes my vote "not unless I'm too incapacitated to object."
My one ride in high school JROTC was fun right up until they banked it so I'm looking out the open door pretty much straight at the ground below me, praying that the low bidder who built the seat harness loved their country more than profits. (Spoiler alert: I lived.)
Got a VIP ride with some real VIPs over a missile field in Wyoming. While contemplating phallus' inserted in, unto, mother earth, waiting to spurt fire and fury then break through the opening barrier and withdraw in its own exhaust, the pilot spoke directly into my head. (We had sets on our heads.)
The pilot who looked 15 with acne, was explaining that he was flying a garble static with a ceiling of garble static and that was OK as it was as pleasant a ride as I could imagine while strapped into a shaking, deafening, metal box being held in the air by impossibly thin blades that somehow didn't break despite bouncing through the sky with a gondola pendulously swinging below. I was determined to not panic and start to scream to get me on the ground. The pilot, who I had already nicknamed, "Beaver," was saying something about how safe helicopters were and that he could, should the motors fail, float down doing something he called auto rotation. He said they practiced all the time. The asked if we wanted a real thrill he'd do it? Despite my slapping the Japanese ambassador and shaking my head they all said sure, we will let a kid drop us to the ground from five thousand feet for fun???? THIS I NOT A RIDE THAT IS ATTACHED TO ANYTHING!!!
Suddenly we dropped, and I mean fast. My body instantly reacted to cushion the fall by ejecting as much cushioning between me and my seat until it was empty of material. After we fell about, oh, say, 4990 FEET! he did something that felt like reaching the end of a bungee cord and we bounced back up.
As we flew back, my seatmate to either side straining against their seatbelts to give me room to breathe my own emergency ejection, I held my head high and tried to look like Leonardo Dicaprio, sailing through the air at the prow of the Titanic.
I then knew why they fly them with the side doors open.
Many years ago, some idiot left the gate open at the farm where I my retired horse was living. He got loose in a Nature Conservancy preserve, and the owner didn't bother to call me for a few days, to tell me that he was gone. She figured he would come home when he got hungry (another idiot...). Unfortunately, Fry had only been there for a couple of weeks, so wasn't oriented to that location. I hit the roof when I found out! Went out to Spirit Airport and chartered a helicopter, to go find him. We flew over the farm where he had been living, and then took a straight run out from where the other horses had gotten loose. We flew up and down each hill, while I watched carefully out the window for my horse. We were a couple of miles into the Conservancy, when I spotted Fry up on the top of a hill, just resting quietly. I called back to the farm for assistance, and also to the Conservancy for assistance; they had a woman there who trained hunting dogs in the Conservancy, and she knew exactly the spot I was describing to her. Flew back to the farm, got my horse's halter and lead rope, picked her up, and headed back out to get him and bring him home. We landed in an open spot on the next hill, and then the helicopter pilot hovered over my horse, until we hiked in to get to him. Fry started to spook, until he realized it was me, and I was able to walk up to him and put his halter on -- he was really happy to see me, and rubbed his big head all over me! It was a long, long hike back to the farm, and took the better part of the day to get him back to the barn. I had to call the vet to get IV's going on him, to get him re-hydrated, and he recovered nicely over the next few days. As soon as he was well enough to move, I moved him to a private boarding facility where he would have proper care.
I absolutely LOVED the helicopter ride, and would do another one in a heartbeat! I did NOT love why I was up in one, but the story had a good ending, and I will always be grateful to that pilot and his company; they were so willing to work with me to find my horse.
I declined a ride on the Goodyear blimp about 15 years ago, so I guess a copter would not intrigue me. However if I had a choice between the 2, it would be the copter for sure.
Too many times to count in a 20 year Army career. The best one was when I wan't quite "in" the helo, but tethered with a harness, standing out on the skid, dropping electronic sensors on pinpoint targets. Being claustrophobic but not afraid of heights, this was actually fun. Edited to add: This was in a training center in Arizona, not a war zone. If I had been doing this in a war zone, it would have been a lot less fun, for oh, so many reasons.
I watched a helicopter crash in my front yard when I was six. The pilot was decapitated. Left me with some PTSD so my dad arranged for me to fly in a helicopter a few times. It was fun and not nearly as scary as I had expected. I finally realized that I'm not afraid of being IN a helicopter, I'm just afraid of being UNDER a helicopter.
Yikes, I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds horrifying. Glad you had fun, though!
yikes!!!! that must have been awful
Yikes! Oh, sorry-it was trending. The coolest part is when you finally leave the ground-trippy!
I feel badly about being a downer. That said, DH and I took a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and it was great!
wtf
As an A&P mechanic I vote hell no. Those things are always trying to shake themselves into thousands of tiny pieces, they glide exactly like a rock (maybe Chevy should build one, you know truth in advertising and all), and generally find new ways to make your life (however short it may be if you fly in one) miserable. We have a saying in the aviation industry, if your wings are going faster than the fuselage you have a problem.
I wish I could change my vote now.
CRAP I forgot about my helicopter ride after head trauma. FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS. CHANGE MY ANSWER.
Memory issues after head trauma are normal, but I laughed anyway
Where's the option for "I've done it once and would do it again if I had the chance."?
Exactly!
This was the answer I was looking for.
I will secondthat exactly
Took a ride on vacation. I would do it again, It was better than a really small plane.
never, EVER, do I want to go in a helicopter again.
of course that thing looked like a glorified erector set assemblage with a plexiglass bubble on the front and was used mostly for crop dusting It looked kind of like this:, but hey, they needed the photos from the air. who needs doors when you have a good seat belt, right? The first big banking turn the pilot pulled, I thought I was going to lose my camera, my lunch, then my life.
They wanted to send me up in one recently for aerial shots for a feature's background plates. I declined.!
I second @Ruger9mm. My brother is an airplane A&P, but has worked at sites with Medivac helicopters. He's lost several pilot and nurse friends in crashes that were due to management trying to save a buck on maintenance. Too many things that can go wrong, and limited options for the pilot to recover when the worst happens, makes my vote "not unless I'm too incapacitated to object."
Wow. I learned a lot on this thread.
My one ride in high school JROTC was fun right up until they banked it so I'm looking out the open door pretty much straight at the ground below me, praying that the low bidder who built the seat harness loved their country more than profits. (Spoiler alert: I lived.)
Way back, when I was in the Army at Ft. Bragg, we trained in helicopters. Think "Ride of the Valkyries" from "Apocalypse Now"
Got a VIP ride with some real VIPs over a missile field in Wyoming. While contemplating phallus' inserted in, unto, mother earth, waiting to spurt fire and fury then break through the opening barrier and withdraw in its own exhaust, the pilot spoke directly into my head. (We had sets on our heads.)
The pilot who looked 15 with acne, was explaining that he was flying a garble static with a ceiling of garble static and that was OK as it was as pleasant a ride as I could imagine while strapped into a shaking, deafening, metal box being held in the air by impossibly thin blades that somehow didn't break despite bouncing through the sky with a gondola pendulously swinging below. I was determined to not panic and start to scream to get me on the ground. The pilot, who I had already nicknamed, "Beaver," was saying something about how safe helicopters were and that he could, should the motors fail, float down doing something he called auto rotation. He said they practiced all the time. The asked if we wanted a real thrill he'd do it? Despite my slapping the Japanese ambassador and shaking my head they all said sure, we will let a kid drop us to the ground from five thousand feet for fun???? THIS I NOT A RIDE THAT IS ATTACHED TO ANYTHING!!!
Suddenly we dropped, and I mean fast. My body instantly reacted to cushion the fall by ejecting as much cushioning between me and my seat until it was empty of material. After we fell about, oh, say, 4990 FEET! he did something that felt like reaching the end of a bungee cord and we bounced back up.
As we flew back, my seatmate to either side straining against their seatbelts to give me room to breathe my own emergency ejection, I held my head high and tried to look like Leonardo Dicaprio, sailing through the air at the prow of the Titanic.
I then knew why they fly them with the side doors open.
I flew in a few in Iraq, a blackhawk is way better than a chinook but I got a pretty cool picture of the gunner in one.
Many years ago, some idiot left the gate open at the farm where I my retired horse was living. He got loose in a Nature Conservancy preserve, and the owner didn't bother to call me for a few days, to tell me that he was gone. She figured he would come home when he got hungry (another idiot...). Unfortunately, Fry had only been there for a couple of weeks, so wasn't oriented to that location. I hit the roof when I found out! Went out to Spirit Airport and chartered a helicopter, to go find him. We flew over the farm where he had been living, and then took a straight run out from where the other horses had gotten loose. We flew up and down each hill, while I watched carefully out the window for my horse. We were a couple of miles into the Conservancy, when I spotted Fry up on the top of a hill, just resting quietly. I called back to the farm for assistance, and also to the Conservancy for assistance; they had a woman there who trained hunting dogs in the Conservancy, and she knew exactly the spot I was describing to her. Flew back to the farm, got my horse's halter and lead rope, picked her up, and headed back out to get him and bring him home. We landed in an open spot on the next hill, and then the helicopter pilot hovered over my horse, until we hiked in to get to him. Fry started to spook, until he realized it was me, and I was able to walk up to him and put his halter on -- he was really happy to see me, and rubbed his big head all over me! It was a long, long hike back to the farm, and took the better part of the day to get him back to the barn. I had to call the vet to get IV's going on him, to get him re-hydrated, and he recovered nicely over the next few days. As soon as he was well enough to move, I moved him to a private boarding facility where he would have proper care.
I absolutely LOVED the helicopter ride, and would do another one in a heartbeat! I did NOT love why I was up in one, but the story had a good ending, and I will always be grateful to that pilot and his company; they were so willing to work with me to find my horse.
I always wanted a horse.
I declined a ride on the Goodyear blimp about 15 years ago, so I guess a copter would not intrigue me. However if I had a choice between the 2, it would be the copter for sure.
Too many times to count in a 20 year Army career. The best one was when I wan't quite "in" the helo, but tethered with a harness, standing out on the skid, dropping electronic sensors on pinpoint targets. Being claustrophobic but not afraid of heights, this was actually fun. Edited to add: This was in a training center in Arizona, not a war zone. If I had been doing this in a war zone, it would have been a lot less fun, for oh, so many reasons.