I contemplated his comment for a while, wondering what I might like. To be honest, there was nothing that sprang to mind and not because I was being polite or anything. We were thousands of kilometres from home in our caravan which had everything we needed by necessity and choices. There has been few, if any, occasions where we have thought that we should have brought something or left something behind. That's pretty good choosing I'd say. Either that or we've just accustomed ourselves to living with what we have.
Anyway I said that I couldn't think of anything which resulted in much whining from Steve about what he was going to do. My comment to that was 'just give me an experience', after all we are out here to experience all sorts of things.
Mmmm........well on Wednesday of this week, I got my experience. A TIF in one of the Becker helicopters. No, this was not a joy flight but a real opportunity for me to fly a helicopter myself (under instruction, of course). TIF stands for trial instructional flight. Steve had me viewing an introductory dvd a week and a half ago which would save time on the day because everyone has to view this video about all the workings of a helicopter, what the controls are and how they work.
Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous about the flight and was actually looking forward to it. Originally, my flight was organised for mid morning but I have quickly discovered that this industry into which Steve is embarking is similar to truck driving, in that plans change at a moment's notice. After too-ing and fro-ing over several days, I flew mid afternoon. The day had turned out beautifully after being overcast in the morning. Weather changes had the potential to make or break my Christmas present.
Several key decisions had to be made. Correct clothing had to be considered. Long pants and shoes which were not thongs (essential and regular footwear on the Sunshine Coast). I was using foot pedals and did not want to jam a thong under one. When I arrived, I was asked whether I wanted to fly with the door on or off the helicopter. That then begged the question, do I want to be hot in the little plastic bubble or do I want to be shit scared of the height and falling potential in mid flight. Again, I surprised myself and decided to fly with the door off. Holy shit, what was I thinking!! Everyone told me that you can't fall out because of air pressure holding you in so I was taking their word for it.
Into the briefing room I went with my instructor Jimmy who is Steve's instructor as well. All that dvd viewing was then put to the test as he asked me what this and that did so that he was sure I had an understanding of what I was doing. He was really going to give me the controls!! Out to the helicopter we went. I sat in the seat and all the gauges and controls were explained to me again as well as radio frequencies, fuel etc etc. Surprise, surprise......my feet didn't touch the pedals properly so out from under my seat came a cute little satin pillow with lovely embroidered detail. It was for the girls of course because only those of short stature such as myself do these crazy things. 
After photographs and goodbyes to Steve and the girls, who had come out onto the tarmac to see me off, Jimmy and I were ready to go. We took off across the main tarmac towards the beach. We then banked and started flying along the coast up towards Noosa. What a view. The ocean was deep blue and green in the shallows and we could see all the mega mansions perched in the rainforest along the coast. Although I was looking out, I had councilled myself not to look directly down as I was sure the height fear would kick in. Jimmy gave me the controls individually so I could see how they made the helicopter react. The foot pedals (which keeps the tail behind you) and the collective (looks like a handbrake in cars and controls height or altitude) were relatively straight forward to use but the cyclic (the stick between your legs which is like the steering wheel) was very difficult. Only tiny movements were needed with this control and here was me looking like I was mixing a cake in a bowl. Coupled with that was an annoying wind which created a self-made turbulence that my tummy was not happy about. Here I was trying to hold this machine on a straight flight path and all I was doing was causing it to buck around. Almost immediately, the motion sickness kicked in. My mouth went dry, my bum puckered up and I couldn't speak as an overwhelming need to throw up came over me. Jimmy knew something was wrong because I had not shut up the whole time before that. He took over the controls and headed to an abandoned quarry where the students regularly do circuits of take offs and landings.I knew I wasn't going to make it to the ground and so asked what would happen if I threw up out the door. All I could see was the Sunshine Motorway passing beneath us and I had to hold on so that people on the motorway weren't going to need to put their wipers on. I then threw up out the door. Jimmy, being the gentleman that he is, actually turned the helicopter out of balance so that I could throw up out the door without wearing my lunch. That air pressure that keeps you in the cabin is very difficult to break through at 140 kph. Luckily I managed to get the headset microphone out of the way and didn't lose the headset, my sunnies and Steve's hat altogether. After landing for a few minutes, I felt much better and was ready to continue which surprised Jimmy because he thought I would want to go back to the airport. We took off again and went over to the training area to have a go at hovering. On the way, he described how flooded the Noosa River had been in January during the floods and how they had plucked people off roofs in the Lockyear Valley rescue effort.
At the training area, I had a go at pedal turns which were fun. I just wizzed the helicopter round in circles (controlled ones of course) and pointed it where-ever I was asked to. Hovering involved that nasty cyclic again and although we were closer to the ground now, it was even more difficult to achieve. I did, for a second or two, achieve a steady hover which I was very proud of but most of the time I was rocking it around all over the place. Before I knew it, the hour was over and we headed back to the airport. As we taxied down to Beckers landing area, Jimmy flew the helicopter backwards and sideways down the runway just to show me what it can do. That was fun! Once we touched down and everything had stopped spinning, Steve and Erin came rushing out. You should have seen Steve's face when he saw me and the helicopter. He felt really bad that I had gotten sick. After much praise from Jimmy and reassurance that it happens all the time, we headed back to the opps room. Actually one of the instructors said his passenger had covered the entire inside of the bubble during one TIF. Luckily I had decided to have the door off. As we walked across the tarmac, Steve trotted towards me with a bucket and cloths to clean up his wifes' mess because another student was about to go out in that helicopter.
After sitting down for a while, I was presented with a certificate from Jimmy for completing my TIF and was also presented with my very own Beckers cap which was a good thing because Steve's was now a bit messy. Everyone was asking how I went and I didn't go into too much detail but said that I had enjoyed it, which I had, apart from that little mishap in the middle of the flight. Most of the instructors had warned Steve that I would catch 'the bug' after doing my TIF and I must admit, I would really like to master that hovering, but costs prevent it. When Steve told his senior instructor that I had indeed, caught the bug, he said "Steve, what have you done!" It was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed my Christmas present this year although I was still cleaning my sunglasses, and Steve his hat, the following day. Oh well, one must experience a little discomfort to have an adventure.
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