Ty Ewup

A month later...

Christmas happened, then the "after Christmas rush" happened. So I have been horribly tardy in this post.

I solo'd, as most of you already know. I wasn't scared during the solo, I had a contract with my little helicopter. It was Whiskey, tail number 313. I was, therefore, Chopper 13. I was undeterred by the "unlucky" number. I was born on the 13th, I considered it more of a good than a bad omen.

The instructor got out and told me good luck. He strapped in the sandbag (for weight and balance), Sandy I called him, and walked away.

So I sat there, cyclic in hand, Sandy beside me, wondering what I should do to next. Well I "knew" what do to next...the next checklist response, that was the obvious thing to do. Instead, I had a chat with the Jet Ranger. It was mostly a one sided conversation, with Sandy standing in as mediator (in case things escalated to fisticuffs). I told Miss Ranger, that I was new to the game of helo flying, and that this was my first time out by myself. Her rotor hum told me she understood, that we were in this together. Fortified in the knowledge that we were on the same page, I added in some collective (think: gas pedal).

The noises were all the same, I relaxed ( the bane of all students is to tense up) and prepared to lift off. Intellectually I understood I was a lot lighter than normal and that it wouldn't take nearly as much power to lift off...but emotionally I did not. Needless to say, I was about half a foot in the air before I realized I was airborne

This was were the nerves kicked in, this was new, only half expected. I repeated the helo student mantra "relax...relax...relax", and things settled down. I rose to 4 feet and let myself breathe again. Hovering is the single hardest thing I've ever learned how to do. Hovering solo is one of the greatest feelings I have ever felt in an aircraft.

Miss Ranger hadn't let me down, she let me guide her around, and 30 minutes later we landed.

I don't remember much of that trip, except those first few moments. Flying a regular airplane solo was amazing, but flying a helo solo is what it means to be free.

Like the hawk, I can perch wherever I like, survey my surrounding. I can speed off with a moments notice, in any direction.

An airplane is guided by rules, places it can't land, places it can't go. The helo knows these things not. It was after I solo'd that I realized this is what I want to do with my life. All things before this, I couldn't have been certain, now I am.

I think I may have the coolest job out there, if you don't believe me, solo a chopper.