Blackhawks at Sunset

I wrote about the venerable Huey helicopter yesterday.  It served the United States military for decades and they or their follow-on aircraft are still in service in many places around the world.

Times change for all of us as we age.  We're not as fast as the new kids on the block. Such was the case with the UH-60 Blackhawk.  I had the opportunity to ride on one as they were conducting a low level training flight while I was still in the Huey unit.  It was apparent how different the Blackhawks are even before I got on.

The Blackhawks have four fully articulated and narrower rotor blades compared to the Huey's two wide blades.  When they fly, they produce more of a whirring sound than the Huey's percussive beat.

As we lifted off, it was obvious that the pilots had a little showing off in mind.  We blasted into the air as if in a rocket chair and accelerated across the field faster than I'd ever thought possible.  Soon we were skimming the treetops, turning left and right as we skirted the hills and followed the valleys.  Everytime we turned it felt like we were looking straight down into the trees.

I enjoyed the ride thoroughly, but only had one other Blackhawk ride a few years later.  Until this week.  My trip took me so much less time than driving that it was amazing.  The pilots were flying smoothly on this trip, so no steep turns or rocket takeoffs.

Years ago, as a new airplane pilot I wanted to impress a female friend of mine with my flying skills.  I took her up and showed her stalls and steep turns and dips and climbs.  She was so impressed that she started turning  a bit green...  Must have been with envy, because she never wanted to fly with me again, even though I could hold a 45 degree bank for several turns in a row without losing or gaining any altitude.

It took a while for the lesson to seep through my thick skull, but it eventually did.  Years later, I took my wife for her first flight in a small plane.  Everything I did, I did as slowly and smoothly as possible.  When we landed, she said I was a great pilot.  I got the desired feedback, no one got sick, and she ended up flying on several trips with me over the next few years.

A few weeks ago I climbed up onto the roof of a building here and took a few pictures as some helicopters were taking off.  Up watching the sunset behind the mountains, it was a very serene feeling, despite the constant whirring of the rotors.

Since I've been around aviation for much of my life, I actually enjoy the sound of aircraft coming and going!  Even when they fly 300 feet over my "home" and wake me up, I smile as I identify the aircraft by the sound, and then roll back over for a little while. To dream...