Usually I’m the one writing in the blog, but for this entry one of our new private helicopter pilots, Mike Holland, has an experience to share. Mike, along with one of our other new private helicopter pilots, Steven Reel, recently had the opportunity to ferry one of our overhauled Robinson R22 helicopters to our location in Alexandria Bay, New York at the Maxson airfield. Mike and Steven had an opportunity to do this 250 mile flight – one which many helicopter pilots wait years to fly – and they jumped at the chance. Here’s what Mike had to say about it.
It all started as usual, hanging around the flight school talking about helicopters. Dave Beach asked if I had plans for the 3rd of July and wondered if I was interested in flying one of the helicopters to Maxson Airfield in Alexandria bay NY. I thought to myself, “go to another cookout or fly a helicopter 230 Nautical miles to the Canadian border?” Who would want to go with me? As it turns out, our first part 141 student, Steven Reel, just received his pilots license and wanted to take the flight. We had two new private pilots, a helicopter, a destination, and a mission.
New England By Helicopter
Steve and I met at North Andover Flight Academy (NAFA) at noon to go over a flight plan, weather, and airports for fuel. Curt also stopped by to give us a hand with flight planning and the coolest portable GPS ever. After debating if we should go the short route, which would take us over the Adirondack Mountains, or go around the mountains, we decided it was best to go around since the helicopter was newly overhauled. Also it was the 3rd of July and many airports were closed for fuel.
Boston Helicopter School
Helicopter fueled, preflight taken care of, bags packed, weather was good. It was an awesome day to do a little cross-country flying. The first leg of our flight was to head west to Morse state Airport “Bennington”, 95 nautical miles on the Vermont side of the Vermont/New York border.
Boston Helicopter School
One of the best parts of flying in a helicopter is that you are not flying too high and too fast. You really have an opportunity to see a lot on the ground. We happened to fly by a drive-thru, having not seen one of those since I was a kid. We watched people enjoying the lakes and riding dirt bikes and 4 wheelers in gravel pits. They were having fun but not as much as us from above.
Boston Helicopter School
We landed at Bennington to fuel up, take a little rest, and talk to some of the guys at the airport. Leaving the airport I tried to fly from the left seat. It is going to take some time to feel comfortable. Our next stop was 112 Nautical miles to Griffiss International. Looking at the landscape makes you appreciate how unbelievable this country is from the sky. We had to stop at Griffiss for our final fuel stop.
Boston Helicopter School
Right as we shut down the helicopter, my phone rings. It’s Curt making sure we are ok. I swear this guy is a Jedi knight, every time we landed our phones rang with Curt checking in on us. There were two Military C5s at the airport. I asked if I could get a closer look, but had to settle for some far away snap shots.
Boston Helicopter School
After resting for a few minutes and eating some complementary chocolate chip cookies, we were off again. Flying northwest towards Watertown at 4500 feet, we could see Lake Ontario from the distance. We also saw some really cool wind farms. This was the first time I ever flown in a military operation area. Now I see why it’s used for the military, there is nothing there. Steve and I are still mystified there were some houses down there with no roads for miles. You really do get a different perspective form the air.
Boston Helicopter School
Maxson was only a short distance from Watertown and our journey was almost over. Maxson was in sight but we decided to fly around a castle in the middle of Alexandria Bay to extend our flight time as much as possible. Steve and I were sad it was almost over. I was flying at the time from the left seat and performed a really nice steep approach to the numbers at Maxson.
Boston Helicopter School
I was in a hover getting ready to taxi over to the hanger and Steve decided that he did not want the fun to end. Up we went, around the airport, and Steve performed a really nice steep approach, landing the helicopter in a cross wind like a champ. Dave greeted us and asked how the flight was and how the helicopter handled. Steve and I had grins from one ear to the other. The fun was over, and we had to stay the night to drive home with Dave and Linda the following afternoon.
Every Sunday, Maxson has a steak and egg breakfast. A good amount of people came to the breakfast and the topic of the conversation, “yep you guessed it helicopters”. We enjoyed everyones company and drove home once everyone left.
Thanks to everybody at NAFA for an unbelievable experience.
Great job guys and thanks for pitching in to bring the helicopter to it’s new home! Mike and Steven will be in our first instrument ground school in August, and are also enrolled in the Part 141 instrument helicopter training course here at North Andover Flight Academy.
