taken its toll on his body.
Davis had assumed that the pains which started in his back and then gravitated to his shoulder were routine. And he could be forgiven in thinking so. Being a helicopter pilot was not unlike a lot of other jobs. Sitting in one place for longs periods of time, using only certain parts of your body to operate controls, while most of the rest of the body sat idle.
All those things caused limbs to fall asleep, cramps to form, and muscles to ache.
He asked his co-pilot if he had any ibuprofen on him.
“No, buddy, I’m sorry. Want me to take the controls?”
But Davis was Army tough and one of the best. He’d ride it out.
“Nah, I’m okay. I’ll let you take the return trip.”
He never stopped to think that this might be something else, something more serious, than just a few aching muscles.
Colonel Travis Montgomery, chatting amiably in the main compartment with his guests, also had no clue that anything was amiss.
Montgomery was a top flight chopper pilot himself back in his day.
He was once called a “hot dog,” and many right-seaters refused to fly with him. They said he was too loose with the safety rules and took too many risks.
Major Davis was as fearless as Colonel Montgomery. When the colonel heard that Davis was still alive and back in the Army, he wasted no time in recruiting him.
Now he had a pilot who was gutsy, and who didn’t mind skimming the treetops with the helicopter skids at fifty knots.
As Montgomery told everyone who questioned the altitude, “Two hundred feet is for sissies and rookies. This is the only way to fly.
The only problem with flying so low is that there’s little time to react in the event of an emergency.
Especially in heavy woods, which can be very unforgiving.
There’s also too little time for the co-pilot to take over the controls if the pilot should suddenly become incapacitated.
The heart attack came with plenty of warning.
But Major Davis misread the signs.
By the time he realized what was really causing the pains across his lower back and shoulder, it was too late.
He couldn’t call out.
He couldn’t ask for help.
He couldn’t ask Captain Julian to take over.
All he could do was clench his left hand into a fist and clutch it close to his chest.
And suddenly slump forward against the stick, causing the chopper to nosedive into the ground.
At fifty knots an hour.
Military accident investigators never used the term “crashed.”
They preferred to use the words, impacted with ground.
It seemed to somehow sound a bit less… violent.
The Huey was lighter than some other choppers, but with fuel and bodies totaled more than nine thousand pounds of dead weight.
And that much weight impacting with ground could cause a lot of damage to those bodies.
Major Davis blacked out from pain before realizing his body was falling forward onto the stick, and taking the bird down with him.
It happened so quickly that Captain Julian had no time to react. The only response he had time for was saying, “Oh, Jesu…”
His last word was really only half of one.
As for the passengers in the back of the chopper, none of them had time to do even that much. One moment they were laughing and conversing.
The next moment everything was black.
And they were all changed forever.
It happened that fast.
Chapter 6
Frank was sitting alone whe n Glenna very timidly approached the control center.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of Frank, although others claimed he could be a grumpy old man when
Davis had assumed that the pains which started in his back and then gravitated to his shoulder were routine. And he could be forgiven in thinking so. Being a helicopter pilot was not unlike a lot of other jobs. Sitting in one place for longs periods of time, using only certain parts of your body to operate controls, while most of the rest of the body sat idle.
All those things caused limbs to fall asleep, cramps to form, and muscles to ache.
He asked his co-pilot if he had any ibuprofen on him.
“No, buddy, I’m sorry. Want me to take the controls?”
But Davis was Army tough and one of the best. He’d ride it out.
“Nah, I’m okay. I’ll let you take the return trip.”
He never stopped to think that this might be something else, something more serious, than just a few aching muscles.
Colonel Travis Montgomery, chatting amiably in the main compartment with his guests, also had no clue that anything was amiss.
Montgomery was a top flight chopper pilot himself back in his day.
He was once called a “hot dog,” and many right-seaters refused to fly with him. They said he was too loose with the safety rules and took too many risks.
Major Davis was as fearless as Colonel Montgomery. When the colonel heard that Davis was still alive and back in the Army, he wasted no time in recruiting him.
Now he had a pilot who was gutsy, and who didn’t mind skimming the treetops with the helicopter skids at fifty knots.
As Montgomery told everyone who questioned the altitude, “Two hundred feet is for sissies and rookies. This is the only way to fly.
The only problem with flying so low is that there’s little time to react in the event of an emergency.
Especially in heavy woods, which can be very unforgiving.
There’s also too little time for the co-pilot to take over the controls if the pilot should suddenly become incapacitated.
The heart attack came with plenty of warning.
But Major Davis misread the signs.
By the time he realized what was really causing the pains across his lower back and shoulder, it was too late.
He couldn’t call out.
He couldn’t ask for help.
He couldn’t ask Captain Julian to take over.
All he could do was clench his left hand into a fist and clutch it close to his chest.
And suddenly slump forward against the stick, causing the chopper to nosedive into the ground.
At fifty knots an hour.
Military accident investigators never used the term “crashed.”
They preferred to use the words, impacted with ground.
It seemed to somehow sound a bit less… violent.
The Huey was lighter than some other choppers, but with fuel and bodies totaled more than nine thousand pounds of dead weight.
And that much weight impacting with ground could cause a lot of damage to those bodies.
Major Davis blacked out from pain before realizing his body was falling forward onto the stick, and taking the bird down with him.
It happened so quickly that Captain Julian had no time to react. The only response he had time for was saying, “Oh, Jesu…”
His last word was really only half of one.
As for the passengers in the back of the chopper, none of them had time to do even that much. One moment they were laughing and conversing.
The next moment everything was black.
And they were all changed forever.
It happened that fast.
Chapter 6
Frank was sitting alone whe n Glenna very timidly approached the control center.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of Frank, although others claimed he could be a grumpy old man when
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