Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by airplanes and helicopters. It may have spawned from the Fischer Price airplane I had as a toddler or the poster of the A-7 Corsair getting ready to launch from the deck of an aircraft carrier that I had hanging from my bedroom wall that my dad gave me, but the fascination has been long-lived.
Fast forward 50 or so years, and I finally bit the bullet and took my first helicopter flight lesson. It took a bit of looking to find a school locally that offered rotary versus fixed wing instruction, but I finally found an awesome flight school in Eden Prairie, Minnesota (AV8).
I booked my intro flight on the day of my birthday and Maggie, myself, and her mom decided to make a weekend of it. I will admit that I was slightly nervous getting buckled in for my first lesson, despite researching the principles of helicopter flight, the Robin R44 helicopter, and watching countless hours of YouTube videos.
Fear gave way to excitement though as we lifted off, hovered, and then took off down the runway. I was hooked. We flew to an area near a place they hold a renaissance festival to practice hovering. Hovering. Hovering.
To be continued …
