August the 14th 2019 I ticked off one of my bucket list experiences of flying a helicopter. Prior to my first lesson I had not prior aviation experience other than being a passenger in a number of aircrafts. My first flight was out in Moorabbin with an instructor named Ed. Before entering the helicopter Ed gave me a quick 10 minute overview of how each of the controls work and how everything in a helicopter works against each other and its bizarre how they are actually flying. Ed covered the main rotor, tail rotor and how each act against each other. After the brief introduction in how things worked we went out to the helicopter which was a Robinson R22 a little one with an open back.
We entered into the aircraft and Ed explained to me each instrument and where they should be sitting when we're flying. To put it into context there are around 5 instrument each moving in different way. He then explained how the cyclic (the big sick) is used to move the main rotor which sits on top of the helicopter, how the pedals are used to control the tail rotor and how the collective and throttle are used to raise and drop the helicopter.
After briefly explaining everything in the aircraft Ed started it up and took us up over the water. Once over the water he gave me each instrument one by one. The first was the cyclic which was very sensitive and only needed to be moved slightly. The next were the tail rotors which moved the back rotor. This was slightly harder to get the hang of due to the effect the wind has on the back of the aircraft. Finally Ed gave me control of the collective and throttle, Once I had all three controls it felt like I was trying to rub my belly and pat my head. However after a couple of minutes I slowly got the hang of it and felt comfortable after 10 minutes.
Over the remaining 40minutes Ed showed me how to turn, hover and stop mid air. Overall it was a great experience and one that hooked me on getting my license. Its a great feeling being so high up and focused on one thing.