Artigo Publicado na Revista Nayak a 19/Sep
It was last New Year’s Eve, and Chinatown was covered in a thin layer of crispy snow, glowing beautifully in the neon city lights. I take a Chinese bus to New York every other month to see my friends and to enjoy the landmarks of my favorite city. When I entered the bus, I was happy to see that I was seating alone, for I could read, listen to music, or just sleep and enjoy my privacy. But then along with other passengers one guy entered the bus, approached me and asked if he could sit near me. I quickly said: “Sure”, and continued to listen to my IPod. We began to talk only after about an hour of driving. I found out that his name was Joao, and he was from Portugal. We laughed about it together – a Russian and a Portuguese were riding a Chinese bus in America! He turned out to be a very nice, funny and intelligent guy, who came to Florida a couple of months ago to become a helicopter pilot, which had always been his dream. I felt that I respected him for this – leaving his home, family, friends and a very successful business to come here and begin everything from scratch in pursuing his dream. That was what I always wanted, and what I hope I have been doing recently. We had a nice trip together, and before we left the bus and went to our own destinations, he invited me to visit him in Florida someday and promised to give me a ride, or, as he said, “a flight” on a helicopter. I politely answered that I would love to whenever I am in Florida, and left.
I did think about my new friend and about his offer sometimes, and in a couple of months there was an opportunity for me to go to Florida with my friends, so I contacted Joao and asked if I can still come. He seemed to be happy to hear from me, and a week later we were already driving together to the training airfield of Bristow Academy in Titusville, Florida. I had always wanted to jump with a parachute, to fly a hot air balloon, or to do some similar activity, which causes adrenaline rush, and which I never did. So I was approaching this school, thinking about those people who flew not for fun, but for work. But what a FUN job it should be!
I was surprised by the size of the helicopters in that school – they were much smaller then I thought. They looked like giant dragonflies gathered together and lined up for some important meeting. Joao explained that they were made for training, and they were much more challenging to fly because of heir high maneuverability, but it was much more exciting then flying big helicopters and especially fixed wing. It took a long time – about thirty minutes – to get the helicopter ready for flight. Joao checked everything, uncovered and untied the blades, and took one door out, clarifying to me later then that way we could see and feel everything better. I also had to sign some papers, to give my address in case something happens and to confirm that the Academy is not responsible for anything that could happen. But I was not scared or even worried; for some reason, I was sure that everything would be great, and I felt I fully trusted my friend. Finally we got into the helicopter, fastened our seatbelts and put headphones on, that way we could talk to each other during the flight, and Joao also talked to the people in the watching tower. There were so many different indicators, levers and all kinds of buttons on the instrument panel, and besides that, Joao had to use both his hands separately and his feet for maneuvering the helicopter’s movements up and down, left and right, and rolling left and right. The first minutes after the take-off were amazing – we could see everything so close – the field, the road, and then the ocean! And then Joao said: “Ok, your turn!” I could not believe this – he trusted me his life! That training helicopter had sets for both a teacher and a student, and of course I was not fully controlling the aircraft, but I did keep it stable and smooth, followed the highway under us. It was very important to use gentle movements, as the helicopter was very sensitive to the slightest turn. I had to look at the horizon line and keep the distance of about three fingers, so we could fly forward at the same height. We also did engine failure simulation and fell down, stopping when it was a couple of inches from the ground! It was much better then roller coasters, but it did scare a couple of deer grazing nearby.
After all, I had a great time flying a helicopter, and I certainly want to repeat it. I am sure I will always remember my first time, because it was one of the most exciting and unusual things I have ever done, and I was together with now my very good friend. (Anonymous)
