Today's the day that some dude said the world would begin to end, using some effed up biblical math. Concidentally (perhaps), it's also the day that I finally scheduled my "28th" birthday gift from my best girl Natalee. If the Earth started to crumble, I might be lucky enough to watch from above, because today I flew for the first time in a helicopter during my Introductory Flight Lesson.
As it turns out, the details of this experience were almost the opposite of what I expected. I went in thinking going up in the air would cause me to crap myself, followed by a demonstration of my video game knowledge of how the controls should work, if and when my new pilot buddy Graden handed them to me.
What really happened was: Flying at 1500 feet was incredible. Left and right controls, up and down controls were fantastic. Total confidence! It was a totally different story 5 feet above the ground, trying to hover in one place. What I thought was less than a millimeter or less of motion by my hand equated to 15 yards of out-of-control swinging left and right by the R22 helicopter that I thought I was in command of! While it was an awesome experience and and I would recommend trying it at least once to anyone, I do not plan to pursue flight as a hobby (except MJ style on a basketball court!)
Thanks, Nat, for providing the opportunity! It was an experience I'll never forget!
