We started our fall season with what has become an annual trek to Sherman Farm in North Conway, New Hampshire. They had a rough time when Irene blew through, but thankfully they managed to save the pumpkins and one of the region’s most impressive corn mazes. Every year they say thanks to their sponsors and employees by giving them a bird’s eye view of the maze from a helicopter.
After a beautiful flight up and a few minutes scratching the heads of some very friendly fainting goats, we took off from the driest field there for some tours. Everyone had a great time — kids, reporters, executives, and farm workers alike all enjoyed seeing the fantastic results of their hard work and cooperation.
As always it was a great time, and the fall festivities up there promised to be loads of fun — stop by and say Hi if you find yourself in the White Mountains!
Back in our own home town we stopped by the North Andover Merchants Association Fall Festival to liven up their Touch a Truck corner with one of our R22s. It was a bit cloudy but the ceilings lifted just enough for us to take a hop over Sutton Street to the Knights of Columbus parking lot – the shortest flight we’ve made in quite a while.
Steven, one of our CFI students, and our newest instructor Mike brought the helicopter in for a perfect landing across the street, and spent the day introducing folks to the business behind the helicopter sign on Sutton Street. It was a great meeting up with old friends and new ones, and it was a great chance to support our home town.
But helicopter pilots are a restless bunch, and it wasn’t long before one of our commercial students came up with a fantastic idea. Why not get two hours of day cross country, two hours of night cross country, and dinner at the Carnegie deli all in one shot? Sounds like an unforgettable flight lesson and on a good clear day, Stu and instructor Mike were headed off to the Big Apple in our Robinson R44.
They got a bird’s eye view of some of the tornado damage in western Massachusetts before heading down to the Connecticut coast, then over to the Hudson and into the city.
They had no problem finding the West 30th Street heliport, though they did take a little time circling Lady Liberty and checking out the progress on One World Trade Center.
One World Trade Center
At the West 30th St Heliport
After setting down our R44 on the helipad our boys headed out for dinner and waited for the sun to set so they could start the night flight home. They stopped in for dinner at the Carnegie and Mike went to battle with “The Woody Allen,” — I think the sandwich won. But our intrepid travelers returned with the commercial cross country requirements done, lots of cool pictures and memories, and of course a souvenir NYPD helicopter!
Check out more pictures from their New York adventures on our Facebook page, and stay tuned for more student news. At NAFA we don’t limit our students to practicing maneuvers in the pattern, but involve in diverse and challenging opportunities as soon as they are ready. Stop by or call to find out more about helicopter flight training with New England’s finest helicopter school.
