Just another day at the office....

5-18-11

At 8:50 this morning I was in the modular training building at the Columbia Helicopters, Inc. headquarters in Aurora OR. There was a presentation going on with the topic projected up on the big screen in front of us. It was a required course on Federal Aviation Regulations. The first hint of something different was the image on the screen began to shake, followed instantly by the low drone of huge Chinook turboshaft engines as they cranked up to idle speed. The entire building was vibrating as the Columbia Helicopter model 234 sat on the tarmac about 40 yards from our classroom.

The instructor must have seen the look in my eyes, because he looked up at the clock and said it was time to take a 10 minute break! Most of the other 22 employees in the class had seen the behemoth helicopters taking off and landing many times before, but not this green horn.

I made my way quickly outside and down the ramp, the helicopter was around the corner and just out of sight on the west side of the building. As I rounded the corner and the big bird came into view I was immediately blasted by the heat and turbulence of the huge rotors and exhaust and the smell of spent jet fuel filled the air.

For several minutes the craft sat there at idle while pilot and co-pilot went through their checklist. Finally with seemingly little effort the two 3,000 hp engines were throttled up just a bit and 10 tons of aircraft gracefully left the ground. The rotor wash threw dust and other small particles everywhere (including into my eyes) but I squinted and kept my eyes on the huge #46 that the guys in the shop had spent so much time on. Nearby trees and bushes were bent over in the turbulence as the helicopter rose to about a hundred feet and slowly pivoted to point east.

Finally at about 150 feet the nose of the 234 dipped downward and the craft began moving off to the east. On it’s way to it’s next assignment.

Glynn Jr.