falling

It is quite an exciting feeling when you are cruising along at about 15 hundred feet all find and dandy, when all of the sudden, you are falling. What a thrill! At 1700 ft/min it is quite a rush. Now I have never jumped out of an airplane for such a rush but I think this is more fun, but it won't stop me from doing it if the opportunity presents itself. Today in flight class we did auto rotations, the ability of the helicopter to "fly" (really more like fall safely) in the event of a power failure. The blades continue to spin and you still have control and most importantly- the ability to land gracefully. It is such a cool experience. The reasoning behind my thinking that auto rotations are better than parachuting is because you don't have any sudden yank, smashing your acceleration as if against some invisible concrete wall- you can gently roll on the throttle giving you a gentle return to reality. Another up side is you don't have to jump out; that is silliness (once again this would not necessarily hinder me from doing it)! So those are my thoughts on falling, one of the most happy feelings in the world if done with the right equipment and as long as when you touch the ground it is done softly.