training

I started Helicopter School this week and it has been great. I have been here in UT now for about a month and a half and I am finally starting what I have come out here to do. I now go to the airport every weekday. I have 2 to 2 1/2 hours of one on one instruction from Vincent Baker, my instructor, and then he and I go fly an R22 Robertson helicopter for about an hour. It is wonderful. I am having a blast. I think my favorite part of flying thus far is air-taxiing. It is a blast. I love zipping around 5-20 feet off the ground. Flying at high altitudes is fun too but it isn’t quite as exciting as zipping around the airport or somewhere else. So far I have learned straight and level flight; turning, accelerating, and decelerating while maintaining steady altitude; climbs and descents, and hovering. Hovering is fun too, but is takes a little work to do well. I have not yet perfected it, I have only done it twice, but I am not too bad at it- especially for only doing it twice.

There is a lot to know about helicopters and a whole lot more than what I originally thought goes into flying- that goes for both rotary and fixed wing flying. It is amazing what all effects flight.

All in all, school is great, it is a lot of learning but that is what makes it so exciting. I love learning. If only I loved learning as much in high school as I do know, I would probably be a whole lot smarter.