Please Fly right!!

There are not to many things in my life that I can say I am very afraid of. Unfortunately heights is definitely one of them. So mixing me, with a very very small helicopter, with room for two small to medium sized adults and a lunch box just doesn't sound appetizing to me. Sounds like a recipe for extreme girlish screams and perhaps the need for a barf bag. Hows that for a story intro?

Actually, today I did in fact journey to the Riverside Airport to take a helicopter flight with California Aviations Services to capture some aerial photographs for a local southern california corporation. Even thought my fear of heights is real I must say that once we took off, this helicopter flying stuff is better than Disney Land. It was like heights were never an issue and it was just the greatest experience ever! Seriously...it was incredible. In fact I'm still surprised that I loved it that much.

So needless to say we got all the photos we needed and on our way back in the pilot did some practice runs with me. Basically we did a couple of touch-an-go's and a couple of simulated engine failure landings, one of which you will see in the video below. He simulated an engine failure by cutting all engine power and headed straight for the river bed below. I must say...it was better than a rollercoaster. Seriously, if you have never been in a helicopter before and have always wanted to...contact these guys. Its only $207 per hour for the two passenger and its something you'll never forget!!

Enjoy my short very condensed version of my first helicopter flight.