WRITING PROMPT | FLYING HIGH | HELICOPTER

Flying High: A Terrifying Ride in a Helicopter

My best — or worst — flying adventure

pockett dessert wrote a fantastic story about her exhilarating ride in a hot air balloon. That one is still on my bucket list.

But I have had a ride in a helicopter. It was my birthday in 2014. I had mentioned to my partner about a helicopter ride I had paid for but never taken. Not without checking first with the company providing the tourist flights over Paris that there was availability for six passengers on any one of the three days we were in Paris, I had paid Groupon €594. 6 x €99.

I had to wait a couple of extra days until the deal expired before I was allowed to book it, even though I already had the Groupon receipt. You guessed it. Even though I had checked availability before I paid for the flights, now there was none.

Putting it mildly, I was pretty upset, especially when Groupon refused to refund the money. I wasn’t going to be able to use those vouchers, so Groupon was making a tidy sum for doing nothing. I could use the €594 for other Groupon goods or services, they said. I wound up buying a Robovac, which I carried back to Australia in my suitcase and died three months later.

That’s another whole drama with a sad ending. Suffice to say, I spent more money posting the motor back to Germany to no avail. No new motor. No refund. There’s nothing I hate worse than being ripped off. I had already spent more money purchasing an electrical socket changer. European electrical points are different to Australia’s and even though buying a travel converter to be able to use our Aussie appliances in Europe is easy — you can even pick one up at the airport when you’re leaving — finding one to convert a European appliance to an Australian socket was like finding hen’s teeth.

I should have bought one at Heathrow before I came home! So that €594 was a complete waste of money- MY money! None of my five travel companions wanted to pay for something they weren’t getting. So that’s $AU1,000 gone before I even left home and I still had to survive almost 5 months in Europe- — my trip was not off to a good start. I’m completely off track here.

The point is,is, I told my partner this story as part of a longer dissertation of how I hate being ripped off and how I hate purchasing vouchers on the internet. But he went ahead and bought a voucher for a helicopter flight—not over Paris, but over Brisbane. But I knew none of this.

I was to meet him after work on Friday at a local shopping centre for my birthday surprise. I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be. I parked my car and hopped into his. He still wouldn’t tell where he was taking me or what the surprise was.

He drove me to Archerfield Aerodrome, where light plane enthusiasts park their Cessnas. I still wasn’t sure what my birthday surprise was going to be until we walked into the helicopter office. He handed over his Groupon voucher — a flight for two passengers.

What wasn’t mentioned when purchasing said voucher was this deal had a minimum of three passengers. Is there anyone else who we’d like to take who could get to the airport in less than 10 minutes? No? Well, you just have to pay for the extra (full amount, not discounted) person, even if it’s an empty seat.

So, not another good start to this adventure. By this stage, I’m quietly panicking. I wasn’t mentally prepared for this — this was not a good thing to be kept as a surprise. My panic hit an all-time high when we met the pilot — he must have been all of 17 years old. How old do you have to be to fly a helicopter?

I sat in the front passenger seat, apparently for a bird's eye view, and the young pilot fitted us with huge headphones/ear muffs. We took off. Even through the headphones, the noise was hurting my ears.

I closed my eyes and prayed I wasn’t going to die on my birthday. When we reached cruising altitude, (I do know the lingo) I dared to open my eyes. I tried to identify landmarks. It’s harder than you think. I tried to enjoy the ride. I didn’t. I was just so terrified the whole time that this contraption was going to crash.

I tried to think logically, but a logical thought didn’t come to me. I looked down at my hands hanging on for dear life. My knuckles were white. After what seemed longer than the flight to Europe, we landed and I breathed again. I survived! Not the same as a helicopter flight over Paris, but I can tick this experience off the list. I won’t be repeating it. The hot-air balloon flight is next!

And here is Jennifer Dunne’s story of a flight more terrifying than mine.

Thanks Ellie Jacobson for the great writing prompts you provide. I had forgotten about my birthday surprise in 2014!