Learning to drive upside down…

Saturday, February 10th 2007 was an awesome day…

Julie, (friend and fellow photographer) was going up to Nashville to take some aerial Real Estate photos in a helicopter. She called and invited me to come along for the ride. She didn’t have to ask twice. A few minutes later we were headed up to Nashville where we met Trevor. I’ve always wanted to fly in a helicopter and today was going to be my day. This was going to be awesome. Julie told me Trevor was easygoing, but I was still a little surprised by how friendly and personable he was. We started talking right away about his profession and his machine and didn’t stop for the rest of the trip.

Julie was going to be hanging out the back with her camera so she graciously let me sit in the front of the shiny white Robinson R-44. Again, no complaints from me.

I sat down, put on my headset and took a good look around the inside of the machine. Seats, Plexiglas and the controls about sums it up. I know a couple of things about aircraft, but I was still impressed by how light and delicate this machine was. He fired up the piston engine, let it warm up and went through the various flight checks. I brought along my GPS with the waypoint of the (huge) house we were going to shoot, and I turned it on and set it down in my lap along with my camera. And then we were off. The sensation of effortlessly leaving terra firma was nothing like flying in an airplane. It was wonderful.

It’s amazing how quickly one can get somewhere if one doesn’t have to deal with traffic. In just a couple of minutes we were in Brentwood where the GPS and our eyeballs confirmed we’d found the right place. We hovered over our target location for about 10 minutes trying all kinds of different vantage points. I checked my seatbelt and handholds and opened up my door wide to get better shots. Nothing but clear air between my camera and the ground, 300 feet below.

Then we headed home, talking helicopters and the business of flying them the whole way. What a guy. This smart and affable 24 year old had seized his lifelong dream to be a professional helicopter pilot and instructor. He was already in the process of buying a second helicopter to expand his business. I was very impressed indeed. When we landed, Trevor asked me if I’d like to try my hand at the controls. “Sure, OK.” I said, trying very hard to contain my glee and to appear blasé and professional. Trevor disappeared for a second to get an extra control handle. When he returned, Julie hopped out to take pictures of us from the ground. Trevor gave me a quick rundown of the controls and got us off the ground. Then he let me take control of the cyclic.

Whoa, this was too cool for school! We circled the airfield a few times as I tried not to weave and wobble too embarrassingly. After a couple of minutes I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it. Trevor took control of the stick back and brought us within 10 feet of the ground. “Now try holding it steady,” he said. I held it for a few seconds, then began to feel somewhat like the proverbial one-armed paper hanger in a gale as I over-corrected half a dozen times in a row, the bird verging on going out of control. Trevor took his side of the stick and made a couple of minute and precisely timed corrections. Then he smiled at me and said “That’s a little harder, isn’t it?” I nodded. “Imagine controlling that plus the collective and the tail rotor. It takes quite a few hours of practice.” Indeed. I suddenly felt very much like putting in those hours.

When we landed I offered to take some pictures of him and his machine from the ground. He was only too happy to oblige and pulled some nice turns for us over the field. I began running imaginative scenarios in my mind of bartering web design work for seat time, but ultimately realized I didn’t have the time or spare cash to indulge my piloting dreams at the moment. As we left I shook Trevor’s hand and thanked him again for his kindness. I offered him the use of any of my photos that he wanted. He eventually ended up using a few on his site, and I found out that he was again expanding the business by hiring two more pilots.

Yesterday we heard on the evening news about a fatal helicopter crash near Jamestown Tennessee, up by the Kentucky border. Two oil workers and a pilot had died. My thoughts instantly jumped to Trevor, but I dismissed the idea just as quickly. There’s a lot of helicopters in the skies above Tennessee these days, after all. About an hour later the phone rang. It was Julie, in a panic. She knew that Trevor was supposed to be flying for an oil company that day. My heart sank.

Today, we found out for sure. Trevor Noble was killed, along with the two oil company employees he was taking from the remote site.

I am gutted at the loss of this bright and talented young man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trevor’s family and the families of the others who lost their lives. It was truly a pleasure to have met you Trevor. You will be missed.