Richard Birt

“Watching Paul close the door and walk away from the helicopter, a sudden moment of realisation came to mind, OMG, I’m about to fly a helicopter on my own. My mind filled with thoughts of, what’s it going to be like lifting off in a lighter helicopter, what if I mess this up in front of Paul, what if the skid digs in and I have a dynamic roll over, what if I have engine failure.

When Paul turns and gives me the thumbs up that’s when all those thoughts disappear and the training kicks in, after requesting ready to lift with my new Student Call sign and all checks are complete its time to lift, the Heli becomes light on skids a lot quicker than usual due to the reduced weight but once yaw is in check I smoothly lifted to a hover.

 Paul signals all clear with a second thumbs up and when all checks and calls are complete, I start the transition, OMG the helicopter performance with the reduced weight is so noticeable and as a result the transition is a lot quicker than usual and before I knew it I was up and away.

 With my Downwind checks and Calls complete I was now on final, with “watch out for Vortex Ring” playing in my mind, I can honestly say I’ve never been so focused on my airspeed and the rate of descent, and as a result made a nice constant smooth approach.

 After taxiing up to our agreed spot and a final thumbs up from Paul I touched down nicely on the Grass, once collective fully down and RPM rolled back, I could feel the excitement/relief and a huge smile appear on my face, Wow what a fantastic feeling flying a Helicopter solo for the first time, especially when remembering back to those early days of learning to hover, Let the Adventures Begin!” – Richard Birt