Yes Dave, just got back now.
I’ve done various experiences, driving several fast cars, trucks etc, but nothing comes close to what I did today. Absolutely incredible experience.
After watching a brief video, me and the other two lads are taken to the embarking area. We all get in (me in the rear at this point) put our headphones on and the pilot tells you what all the instruments do etc. He says, all you need to do is increase/decrease speed and turn left/right, I’ll control the pedals.
He then says to the lad in the front, go on then it’s all yours
. The lad did well to be fair, takes off, we climb to 2,000 feet, and does a circuit of the airfield. The pilot asks me what I’d like to see (which we’d been pre-warned about) so I say the Etihad stadium. The pilot gives the lad instructions, and we fly over the Etihad, stunning and I mean stunning views. The lad then takes us back to the airfield, practices a hover and then lands.
We all then swap seats, and it’s my turn to fly. The pilot does his bit, increasing the speed of the rotar blades and hands me the controls. I did a bit of a nosedive take off (if that makes sense) but got the hang of it very quickly. Amazing feeling flying an aircraft (albeit a small one), but the steering is so sensitive, you literally do it with your thumb and first finger with your elbow resting in your knee. Typically, the lad behind me, when asked by the pilot where he wants to go, says Old Trafford
, so I fly us over Old Trafford then back over the airfield for hovering and landing.
Long winded post, but I’m still absolutely buzzing, what an experience that was, incredible.
When you retire, you switch bosses - from the one that hired you, to the one that married you.
