Helicopters

This demonstrates an amazing bit of flying ability. To perch the rear end of a Sikorsky helicopter just lightly enough on top of a rickety mountain shack so as not to crush it, and effect what one assumes to be a rescue operation ... well, this guy has my admiration.

On the subject of helicopters, there is a very well known after-dinner speaker named David Gunson. He had been an Air Force pilot, and later became an air traffic controller. His speech delivery is outstanding, and oh so funny. When he gets to describing the techniques of piloting a chopper, he goes on ......"piloting a chopper is entirely different. You have a single stick between your legs and the rules is you can do whatever you like with it, except hold it steady. You have to keep it moving all the time. You put on phenomenal amounts of power, it defies all known law, and lifts off. It should of course screw itself into the ground. Once you have it in the air you just go crazy with the thing, and when you have it at a sensible height , you hold the stick in one position and watch what the helicopter does, because if you want to do that again - that is where you put the stick. It's a bit hit and miss on a chopper; even the people who build then don't have a lot of faith, and normally put wheels, skis and floats on them, so you have a fighting chance when you come down......".

The history of helicopters is quite interesting and although the Chinese had had a child's toy employing the principal of spinning blades for two centuries, way back around 1490, Leonardo da Vinci conceived the idea for practical use, (pic on right), and although during the early part of the 20th century a number of designs were built and flew, they did not reach proper production until 1942 when Igor Sikorsky invented his first design.

Actually riding in a helicopter is one of my few unfulfilled ambitions, and will probably remain so, unfortunately.

Hope readers found all that interesting.