Flying High

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helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft cannot perform.

The word helicopter is adapted from the French language hélicoptère, coined by Gustave Ponton d'Amécourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix (ἕλιξ) "helix, spiral, whirl, convolution"[1] and pteron (πτερόν) "wing".[2][3][4][5] English-language nicknames for helicopter include "chopper", "copter", "helo", "heli", and "whirlybird".

--so says Wikipedia

I got to go up in a helicopter as part of my work a couple of days ago and I can tell you, IT WAS FANTASTIC. I cannot recommend a 10 minute ride around Manhattan any more highly. It will clear your mind and your heart. I expected to be afraid, but I felt safer than I do in a big jet airliner. The pilot was great, telling us what we were looking at and making the occasional joke.

Neil Degrasse Tyson says it all,

"Those who see the cosmic perspective as a depressing outlook, they really need to reassess how they think about the world. Because when I look up in the universe, I know I'm small but I'm also big. I'm big because I'm connected to the universe, and the universe is connected to me."

Go for a ride.

Comments

Submitted by VikramRajan on Tue, 05/19/2015 - 21:14

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Vik Rajan

Only been on 2: Hawaii, across the island's valleys, hovering over the Jurassic Park falls. And then on my honeymoon, over & landed on the New Zealand glacier
Cayce Crown

Those sound so great, Vik! It's such a unique experience.
Fred Klein

Three for me: from atop Pan Am Building to JFK to start my honeymoon was most memorable (especially since no longer allowed).
Cayce Crown

Wow. You win.
I'll bet that ride wasn't as smooth as it is today.
Maybe that applies to your marriage as well...
Shelley Simpson

The closest I will get is one of those beanies with the prop on top. Looking at the ocean does the big/small thing for me which I agree is important. But with that I don't worry about not being able to actually fly.

Submitted by SoniaSaleh on Wed, 05/20/2015 - 08:06

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Sonia Saleh

An amazing time was over Niagra Falls, AWESOME! One of the coolest times was being on Marine One- they fly the President around- they didn't fly me anywhere but let me sit and play with the buttons, wear the helmet,etc.
Corey Bearak

been on small planes; never on a copter. Suspect time will come one day.
Riva Schwartz

only a couple times, but the best was flying over and then landing on a glacier in Alaska! There were a bunch of copters in formation, which reminded us of MASH

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