I became fascinated with helicopters when I did my military service. Like Radar of M*A*S*H* I was a company clerk, except my outfit was a mechanized infantry battalion, not a medical unit. We would go on exercise and sometimes it involved planes and helicopters. As part of the country?s obligation to NATO, we were shipped for a few weeks to Norway where we took part in war games with other member nations. It was in the middle of winter and cold. I remember waking up in the morning and the five-gallon jerrycan of fresh water was frozen solid.
And it was inside the tent.
Winds of Change
We were in the northernmost part of Norway, near the Swedish and Finnish border. For some reason or other, they needed me to do some clerical work at another location. So, I was flown by helicopter, along with other personnel. It was a Bell 212, or more commonly known as a Twin Huey. It had two engines. Flying through the fjords of Norway, the wind was particularly virulent that day, so much so the pilot considered turning back. The sun was shining and the scenery was spectacular. Even though we bounced quite a bit getting there, I was hooked. When I left my sales representative job with a major oil company, I attended flight school for my commercial pilot’s license. The training copters were Hughes 300C. Only one had a governor, which meant that when flying the other helicopters, you had to control the flow of fuel manually. The throttle was in the handle of the collective. That?s the ...