I did it!!

My first flight was yesterday and it went well. I was actually given more control than I expected. There are three major controls in the helicopter that the pilot must use during flight. They are: (1) Collective pitch control. (2) Anti Torque Pedals or Tail Rotor Control. (3) Cyclic Stick Control. The collective is a lever located to your left side. This control controls rpm and altitude. The pedals turn and prevent turns and the cyclic is the stick between your legs that can control small altitude adjustments and turns. We went on a short flight from Orlando Executive Airport to downtown Orlando. During this flight I took control of the cyclic and tried to keep us at 600 ft and on heading (it's so not as easy as it sounds!). Then we came back to the airport and played around with hovering. I got to try each of the 3 controls individually. The cyclic was the most challenging...you don't think that you're even touching the thing and the helicopter is going every which way. It became rather amusing. Ian was off on the side watching and could totally tell when I was in control. Anyway, I can totally bored you all with all the details, but I will leave it here. It was fun, scary, and very challenging...I wasn't a natural like I expected, but oh well. Nothing worth doing comes easy.


This school is a little different than Bristow. It's a little more self guided and is smaller with more family like feel. I will be starting as soon, I get my medical Thursday and hopefully be in the air for my next lesson next week!!