Ride in a Helicopter.

I have riden in a Helicopter twice in my life and it is one of those terrifyingly enjoyable experiences where you are happy that you have taken part but have been gripping on to anything remotely stable during the whole trip. The first time I went in a helicopter was in New York, we were waiting in the queue and got chatting to the American guy whose job it was to make sure you were seated and safe before the pilot took over. He recognised the accent as British and asked where we were from and we told him “Birmingham”. This normally gets a small nod of recognition but on this occasion he broke into a huge smile and said “Wow, Like UB40”, and that was it. For the next few minutes we were told that UB40 were his favourite band and how he had seen them in concert a few weeks before. After this we were told to take a seat and he’d find us when we were boarding. After a while a few other people had started to Queue for the scenic flight and our friend came back from his chat with the pilot and walked over to us, guiding us to the front of the queue, still talking about his favourite English musicians. When he removed the rope from its guide the 3 people who had been at the front of the queue rudely pushed past us and started walking towards the waiting chopper. As we approached, deep in conversation our fellow passengers looked to our friend for approval and he headed over and opened the door. Once again our fellow passengers rudely pushed themselves ahead and our friend obliged by holding the door as the 3 of them piled into the back of the vehicle. He winked at us as he closed their door and opened the front door for the two of us. I am not sure if it was the rudeness of our fellow passengers or the musical connection but we ended up in the front of the Helicopter with plenty of space and brilliant views while the other 3 sat all crushed up in the back with barely enough room to get their camera from their pockets. I was quite surprised at how the Helicopter lifts off the ground, it seemed to be eager to fly once the rotor is at full speed, it almost seems to be trying to leave the ground and no sooner than the pilot flicks a switch off it goes at a higher speed than expected. We chatted away to the pilot and our first stop was the Statue of Liberty. The Pilot hovered about 20 feet from lady liberty’s face and as I leaned forward to try for a clearer picture he told me to hang fire and performed a manoeuvre I will never forget. He banked the vessel sideways, one minute I was looking at New York from my window, the next I was looking into the river and then I was looking at one of the Big apples most famous landmarks, all in a matter of seconds. After this we had a trip over Manhattan and then over Central park before returning to the port. Although it was a short flight it was 12 minutes of my life that I will never forget.

The second flight was in Western Australia and unlike the New York trip it was not pre arranged. I had gone over to Perth to meet up with Ian a few years after he had emigrated and we just found ourselves standing in the park as the Helicopter landed. Ian knew before hand that they did trips from this location but nothing had been booked or even discussed but as the Helicopter came in to land he looked and me and said “Fancy it”? After a slight deliberation I said “Ahhh, Why not”? and that was all I needed to say. Ian was chatting to the pilot within seconds and before I knew it we were being strapped in. The main difference with this ride was the fact that the doors had been removed, so the sides were completely open so we had to make sure we were completely safe before take off. The fact that I fully intended to keep a vice like grip on the seat in front of me made no difference. We also had to wear ear defenders because of the noise so we had to communicate by pointing. We took a ride up the Perth coast and over Fremantle and this was pretty spectacular but the highlight for me was a trip over the WACA where there was a cricket match taking place and the stadium was already in full swing. Ian was obviously a lot braver than me and took control of my camera and even decided to rest his foot on the edge of the door way. After this second trip I was on a high but also slightly deaf from the noise of the rotor but I can honestly say that even though you are aware that there is only one motor preventing the several tons of metal from crashing to the ground this scary experience is one of the best I have had and I would not hesitate to do it again.