Anybody can have sex but..................

The week of August 11th through the 15th of 1969 was easy for me to remember. A couple of guys in our Flight soloed and we were able to go to the Holiday Inn in Mineral Wells to observe a long standing tradition. The Holiday Inn had allowed the school to place a couple of rotor blades close to the swimming pool and first solo flight students were taken there to walk under the blades that were crossed in an arch and then thrown into the pool. It was a tradition that had been in place for quite some time and was considered by the students to be something kin to a Christening. For those of us who had finally mastered hovering, it was quite an exciting event. Soon after solo we would be dunked and then have a pair of wings sewn on our caps which showed everyone in the entire school that we had flown without the instructor. During that week, Diable started showing up every night. Instead of staying on our asses about polished boots or inspection issues, he began a question and answer period where we could ask anything we wanted to about flying. During one of those times, he brought out a wooden chair and two broom sticks that were cut off to a length that was close to the length of a cyclic and collective control stick. When someone would ask anything relative to any maneuver, Diable would tell them to "Get in the chair". We did that several nights in a row and Diable continued to explain the control positions and why they needed to be placed in any given position for the maneuver. I continued to view him as one of the McInnis brothers sharing their experiences in war. It's easy to remember those dates because the following Monday, August 18th, I soloed. When Monday came, Mr. Chapman and I flew from the main heliport to the stage field and did a couple of autorotations on the way. When we arrived at the stage field, we went to the area where hover practise was underway. We did a couple of hovering autorotations and then, simple hover maneuvers. After that, Chapman told me it was time for me to have a check ride with the Flight Commander. I must have said something to him because he told me not to worry that it was normal for the Flight Commander to check student progress and that nothing was wrong. He added, "whatever you do, if he gives you an autoration, make damn sure you make your landing into the wind". He then repeated himself and said: "Do NOT attempt to land downwind during autorotation". Chapman got out of the helicopter and Flannigan got in. He began the flight check with "Let's go", and that was all he said. I took off to the north being careful to gain as much airspeed as I could before I made my left turn out to the downwind leg. Half way through the downwind leg, he "chopped the throttle" and cut the power. I knew I was going to have an autorotation but I didn't expect it right off the bat. I was ready none the less and remember reciting the autorotation creed. "Put the nose in the wind, Rotor RPM Good, airspeed good". I remember that the completion of the 180 turn found me lining up with nothing but trees and very rough scrub brush in the only area I could make. I thought I'd blown it. When we were down to a pretty low aliitude, Red took the controls and put us back in the traffic pattern. While doing so, he said: "Good job, you can NOT make a downwind landing here and even if you had to go into the rough, you'd be better off than losing it downwind in a clear field". Once he put us back on the downwind leg he said: "You got it, get us on the ground". With that, I made my downwind to base leg then on to final and a full stop landing. I hovered to the parking spot and Flannigan got out. I noticed Chapman standing by Flight Ops and, running his index finger across his throat, he signaled me to shut it down. When I did, he motioned for me to come to him. While I was getting the helicopter shut down, I noticed that he and Flannigan were talking. I wondered what they were saying but I knew that whatever it was, two things existed. First had to do with putting the nose in the wind on autorotation and the second was the fact that he said "Good Job". I was still nervous as hell but continued with my shut down then made it to where Chapman was standing. Chapman told me to get it refueled and that he would be out in a minute. I went back to the Hiller as the fuel truck was showing up. Soon after that, Chapman showed up and after another pre-flight examination, we got in and he told me to fire it up andhover to the north end of the field. When I did, he told me to put it down. Then, in typical instructor pilot gargon, he said: "You've scared me enough today so I'm getting out". He then said: "You take it around yourself and come back here and pick me up". I wasn't shocked but I was super excited and had an attention to detail moment. I will never forget the take off portion of my solo. I nailed all of it was thrilled with the first leg of the circuit. I made around the field and hit the altitude and airspeed dictates right on the numbers. When I was on final approach, I notice Chapman still standing in the same spot. I made to that point and saw a huge grin on his face. I was totally stoked. I was now one of the annointed ones. Even though I didn't have a set of wings on my chest or any Warrant Officer bars on my shoulders, I knew that I had made it through that part of the training where most of the wash outs failed. August 18th, 1969. I will never forget that morning or the instant I was thrown in the pool at the Holiday Inn. Throughout the rest of that week, most if not all of us, soloed. I was amazed that I was only 1 month and 14 days past the night I had to make love to the water fountain when I reported for duty AWOL on July 4th. When the numbers added up at the Flight Commanders Office, Flannigan felt that a speech was warranted. When we returned to the main heliport and assembled in the class room, he took the podium. The class fell silent as he stood there and looked each of us in the eye. With that, he began his speech, one that I clearly remember. He started with: "Anybody can have sex BUT not everybody can fly a helicopter by themselves". He talked to us about the many great things that happen in life such as having our children, buying a house, our first new car, getting married and a number of other things. He compared all of those things to solo flight and explained to us that no matter what we went on to accomplish in life, flying solo would always end up being the greatest achievement. He cautioned us to not let it go to our heads because we were going to begin a phase of flight training that included many difficult things such as cross country flight, pinnacle approaches, confined area landings and night flight. He explained that we were like baby birds who had just made their first flight and that we were a long, long way from becoming Army Aviators who would be instrument rated and comfortable in flying on instruments only. He mentioned that beyond the instrument rating there would be a transition course where we would be flying the turbine powered Hueys and added that they were day and night different from the old Hillers we'd been flying. It was a great speech and he was right with every statement he made. It was a great time for all of us that made it. Not all of us did. One guy washed out for attempting an autorotation landing downwind. I wish I had known that before Flannigan got in for my check ride, I would have felt a lot better about my decision to keep my nose in the wind and make my approach to the trees and the rough area around them. In any event, those of who soloed became Candidates at a different level. It was great and I began to look forward to more solo flights and the cross country part of training. Before I leave I would like to welcome Kenny Kooperman to the blog. Kenny was one of a few guys from high shcool that could do anthing that needed to be done automotively and has been successful in that business since I was in college. He was also a go cart racer that competed at the National level. Welcome aboard, Kenny. Ya'll stand by, I have one hell of a story to tell about my first cross country trip and the emergency landing I had to make.