Have you ever been on a Helicopter Flight?

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
I have not and will never.
I think my heart would stop.
I nearly threw up in the iMax Cinema watching a Documentary on the Grand Canyon.
At one point in the film, they were shooting from the Helicopter and as it passed over the edge of the Canyon and the ground fell away to how ever far below it was, I became instantly nauseous and had to shut my eyes.
 

Bretrick said:
I have not and will never.
I think my heart would stop.
I nearly threw up in the iMax Cinema watching a Documentary on the Grand Canyon.
At one point in the film, they were shooting from the Helicopter and as it passed over the edge of the Canyon and the ground fell away to how ever far below it was, I became instantly nauseous and had to shut my eyes.
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I've taken a helicopter ride over the edge into the Grand Canyon, (in 1988, when those flights were still permitted, and we got to see the caves dug out by the Indians to house their grain in securely).

You may now think I'm a brave fellow but there was a reason why I and a couple of mates decided to take this trip in a helicopter, and it was because we all felt impregnable having survived a very turbulent flight in a twenty or so seat fixed wing aircraft the previous day. This was into a storm in the canyon, with lightening strikes etc., and the airport near Grand Canyon village being closed shortly after we landed, (and one smaller aircraft not making the runway with the loss of all four on board).
 
grahamg said:
I've taken a helicopter ride over the edge into the Grand Canyon, (in 1988, when those flights were still permitted, and we got to see the caves dug out by the Indians to house their grain in securely).

You may now think I'm a brave fellow but there was a reason why I and a couple of mates decided to take this trip in a helicopter, and it was because we all felt impregnable having survived a very turbulent flight in a twenty or so seat fixed wing aircraft the previous day. This was into a storm in the canyon, with lightening strikes etc., and the airport near Grand Canyon village being closed shortly after we landed, (and one smaller aircraft not making the runway with the loss of all four on board).
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Why are the flights not permitted anymore?
 
I took Choppers in the Oilfields all over the world to/from Offshore Platforms and Floating Production Storage & Offloading Vessels (FPSO's) during the 43 year I worked in the Oilpatch.

I do not like Helicopters and I do not like Airplanes - flew International for many years. But the job required it so....

We had to take Underwater Helicopter Escape and Water Survival Classes regularly. Thank God I never had to use the training for real.

I knew several men who had gone down in Choppers and lived. And of course, there were Crashes and men killed and drowned in them.

Early on in my career in the Gulf of Mexico, there was many ex Vietnam Veteran Chopper Pilots flying for the Oil Companies. Those hombres could fly and would do stuff to scare us - ha ! But they were dam good Pilots and I always liked having a Veteran fly the Birds.

I did go along on the Grand Canyon Chopper Flights with ms gamboogal and our kids when we took them to Las Vegas. But that was an exception.

I also will not never pay to go on a Cruise. I spent too many years Offshore on Platforms and FPSO's (Floating Production Storage & Offloading Vessels) The Sea, while beautiful to watch - scares me as it is savage and unforgiving

But I did reluctantly agree to send ms gamboolgal and the kids on some Cruises because they wanted to go.

While I was working - I carried a lot of Life Insurance so if I was killed on the job, ms gamboolgal was well took care of. A big part of the reasons was all the riding in Helicopters and being Offshore and flying Transatlantic Flights and local African Airlines that we had to use - as they were not FAA regulated.

Retirement is wonderful !
 
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We booked to fly in a helicopter over the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand in the early seventies but it was cancelled because of poor visibility. When we went to the Grand Canyon I was determined to try again for a helicopter ride.

It was one of the peak experiences of my life.
 
Warrigal said:
We booked to fly in a helicopter over the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand in the early seventies but it was cancelled because of poor visibility. When we went to the Grand Canyon I was determined to try again for a helicopter ride.

It was one of the peak experiences of my life.
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When did you do the Grand Canyon Flight?
 
Bretrick said:
When did you do the Grand Canyon Flight?
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Reagan was president. I think it was about 1987.

We took long service leave and spent 5 months travelling on a Quantas/Air Canada round the world ticket. We could fly somewhere, take as long as we liked to look around and then resume the journey as long as we kept moving in the same general direction. After flying to Cairns and exploring the reef and the Daintree we flew to Hawaii for three days then on to Los Angeles, where we took a hire car to explore the western states for 2 weeks. We did a loop LA to San Diego, then inland through Arizona and Colorado and the Grand Canyon, up through Death Valley and Las Vegas, and some magnificent national parks to San Francisco. Finally we came south again to LA and flew north to Calgary. We hopped across Canada, on to UK then came home via Paris, Frankfurt, Paris, Singapore, Perth and the Pilbara before landing at Kingsford Smith in Sydney.
 
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Warrigal said:
Reagan was president. I think it was about 1987.

We took long service leave and spent 5 months travelling on a Quantas/Air Canada round the world ticket. We could fly somewhere, take as long as we liked to look around and then resume the journey as long as we kept moving in the same general direction. After flying to Cairns and exploring the reef and the Daintree we flew to Hawaii for three days then on to Los Angeles, where we took a hire car to explore the western states for 2 weeks. We did a loop LA to San Diego, then inland through Arizona and Colorado and the Grand Canyon, up through Death Valley and Las Vegas, and some magnificent national parks to San Francisco. Finally we came south again to LA and flew north to Calgary. We hopped across Canada, on to UK the came home via Paris, Frankfurt, Paris, Singapore, Perth and the Pilbara before landing at Kingsford Smith in Sydney.
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Great trip with great memories. Thank you for sharing
 
A number of times, all work related.

In college I worked for the Forest Service in Wyoming and was on a fire crew, we were often transported to the fires by helicopter. Those were wild rides, rugged terrain and pilots just coming back from Vietnam. Flying close to mountain faces and the like seemed pretty safe to those guys, nobody was shooting at us.

In grad school at LSU (Louisiana) I did some work on offshore rigs and we were occasionally flown in or out. And a bit more recently doing some work on an Army base the people we were working for arranged a helicopter tour, my last flight.

I liked it, but if you are prone to motion sickness it can be hard. Fortunately I am not.
 
Every year, we have the Bloomsburg Fair, where they have helicopter rides. And every year, I wanted to get a ride. So, I decide I would take the plunge, and get aboard. Two days before I was scheduled to go, the damn thing crashed-nobody was hurt. Then Covid came. Maybe next year?
 
Yes while in the Navy. Quite a few times & enjoyed the flights every time except the very 1st. time.

The 1st. time was to test the new engine. Flew out over the Carribean. Rose to an altitude of 5000 feet. Pilot disengaged the main rotor to free fall to test auto rotation & positive re-engagement. At 2000 feet the helo shook like crazy when the pilot re-engaged. YEA it worked.
 
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