ASHLAND— It’s a lot like flying in a plane.
Well, except you take off vertically, you’re open to the air, you can see the pilots, and there are no in-flight meals.
Oh, and Ed’s there.
Edwin Duprey was the crew chief for my recent helicopter flight over Ashland provided by the Yankee Air Museum for Ashland County’s Veteran Appreciation Day.
Ed was responsible for making sure all the passengers were feeling OK — and distributing doggy bags if needed. He sat facing us as we waited to take off and offered one prediction for the flight.
“We’re gonna have fun!” he said.
And he was right. As we took off and got up to speed, the thrill of the ride caught up to us. A few of us shouted variations of “yahoo!” and “yeehaw!” The ground flew by before disappearing beneath us entirely.
Then we were up in the sky. About 1,500 feet up, to be precise. It was then that I realized cruising in a helicopter felt remarkably similar to flying in a plane. Surprisingly, even though the helicopter was open to the air, it even felt smoother than flying in a plane.
That was, until, our pilots decided to start having some fun of their own. We dove, banked and twisted in the air. At times it felt like we were flying completely horizontally. I had to struggle against the g-forces to raise my camera up to snap some pictures.
After a few minutes, we turned around and returned to the Ashland County Airfield. I was under the impression that we would be coming in for a landing immediately.
Our pilots had something else in mind.
We soared over the airfield, going much too quickly to land. Instead, the pilots had one last trick in store. They banked hard to the left at a very high speed. It felt like a rollercoaster.
“Imagine doing this while being shot at!” Ed shouted.
Edwin served in the Army from 1977 to 1991 as a mechanic. He says he’s clocked over 5,000 hours in the air.
“I’ve worked on every helicopter the Army owns,” Ed said.
He was in Iraq for Operation Desert Storm and was on the way back to the neutral zone when the helicopter he was in got shot down. One of his friends on the flight died, the pilot broke his leg, and Ed broke his femur, his collarbone, and got a concussion.
It didn’t stop him from helping the survivors.
“I was out there treating the people and getting people off the aircraft and I woke up in a hospital ship, didn’t know where I was at. I thought I was at Walter Reed,” he said.
The UH-1 Iroquois, referred to as a “Huey” helicopter, has stories of its own.
It can carry up to 8,300 pounds of guns, rockets, missiles, grenades, grenade launchers and machine guns back during its active duty days.
On Friday, it flew a fraction of the weight when it took up 10 of us. Instead of weapons, we were armed with cameras, phones and wide smiles. The flight provided a panoramic view of the area — even backyard pools and football practices.
This particular Huey was one of 7,013 that served in Vietnam’s “Helicopter War” from 1967 to 1971. It was part of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company known as The Greyhounds, Mad Dogs, and Kennel Keepers.
The Greyhound Bus Company was honored by the name and gave the company permission to use its logo. A versatile helicopter, the UH-1 was used as a gun ship, for medical evacuations and utility purposes.
Though most of the Hueys flew in the Vietnam War, the world’s most iconic helicopter served active duty in the military from 1960 to 2016, according to Yankee Air Museum, this helicopter’s home.
Eric Esckelson, an aircraft mechanic with Yankee Air Museum, pointed out four bullet holes that have since been patched. The Yankee Air Museum acquired the chopper in 2019 for about $450,000 and has been using it for “experimental” flights at events ever since.
The Yankee Air Museum staff all have stories to tell. Chief Pilot Jim Wise flew Little Bird helicopters in Vietnam, and is 73 years young.
“We would fly as low and as slow as we dared and try and draw fire so we knew where the bad guys were,” he said.
At one point, he started pointing out his colleagues and their service history. There was an ex-Marine, a Lieutenant Colonel, a former Navy serviceman, and plenty of pilots.
“As you see, I can go around the table. We got plenty of veterans here,” he said.
The Yankee Air Museum will have helicopter rides available Saturday Aug. 6 at the Ashland County Airfield. Tickets cost $125. Rides start at 10 a.m.
Oh, and Edwin recommends you take a flight.
“It’s fun you can have with your clothes on,” he said.
