“I flew with a guy that had “Kill” painted on the back of his helmet and he had a big burn scar on the lower part of his face. He’d go right down on the tree tops and stay there for 15 minutes at probably 160mph. I found it fascinating. I really like choppers. The only problem is they don’t glide into a landing too well. At real low altitude and higher speed, critical engine failure only gives a second or two to react. Not good.”
I’m sitting here laughing because I know your situation:
I used to fly to and from the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the helo pilots were ex-Vietnam helo pilots. One was particularly adventurous. He wore the regulation sunglasses, never spoke and never smiled or looked at anyone else. He always had a mischievous look on his face. When we would take off from a rig he would swoop down toward the water and come within a few feet then swoop up. We could hear the gasps in the helo from the people who had never flown with him before or had never flown in a helo before. Thanks for the memory! ;-)