A lovely sunny spring Sydney Saturday morning – what better time to take a trip in a helicopter. I’d bid for the ride in the Channel 9 chopper in a silent auction at a fundraiser for Les Kennedy’s family. A sad cause, but a good result for us.
We had room for three, so it was Jan, me and golfing partner Peter Barnett, his first time in a chopper. We rocked up at Channel 9 HQ in Artarmon Road, Willoughby and met the chief pilot, David Wilson, who having been in that job for more than 20 years, knows his way around Sydney pretty well.
We cranked up the turbine in the Squirrel – Eurocopter AS 350 and headed off over the harbour and the Sydney cliches – the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge. I’ve flown over the patch lots of times, but it is still a fantastic experience – Sydney is a beautiful city from the air. We headed west up the Parramatta River past our house to the Olympic site, then Parramatta, then north and across to the Northern Beaches.
A light plane had crashed into the sea on Friday near Long Reef off Collaroy Beach, killing one chap and badly injuring another. The news chiefs asked our pilot to take a look as they’d heard the Police and a rescue team were bringing the wreckage ashore. Sure enough, there was some action and we circled overhead with the Channel 7 TV chopper keeping us company.
Our pilot was told he had to come back and pick up a cameraman to film the rescue, so we headed back. The pilot cranked the machine up to full speed – about 130 knots, and we skimmed the sea surface past Manly and to North Head where we hugged the cliffs in a thrilling dash back into the harbour. Then past Balmoral, over The Spit, Northbridge, and to the home helipad.
For a fixed-wing pilot like me, chopper landings are amazing. We headed for the tiny patch of green grass not much bigger than our backyard, slowed right down and pivoted slowly and gracefully back to Earth. Great trip, big grins all round. Video to come.
