It's All Yours
Tim Scott
C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 12th Cavalry
1971-1972
There was a time when I flew with my company commander in an OH-58 when he needed some flight time on a weekend. We went out to the heliport and, when the crew chief saw I was along, crew chief decided there was no need for him to be along, gave me his helmet, strapped me into the co-pilot's seat and away we went. We flew for about two hours, sometimes within about a half mile of the East German border.
At one point, my CO, Captain Bardyan, asked me if I had ever flown before. I told him that I had taken some flight school and had a few hours flying time while I was in high school. He then told me "Put your feet on the pedals, grab the throttle, grab the stick.....it's all yours" whereupon he released control the helicopter to me.
I was about half scared to
death, but was in heaven at the same time. I couldn't fly in a straight line,
and don't know how well I did at maintaining speed and altitude, but it was a
great time.