Mercenary at heart - страница 22

Instructor: ‘It's okay. Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel. That's it. Now level the helicopter so that the bottom is exactly parallel to the circle. And slowly start to descend.’

Michael listened attentively to his instructor. He was confident that he was not alone in the cockpit and that his teacher could back him up at any moment. The helicopter hovered from side to side as it neared the roof and began its descent. The cabin was tense: every now and then the instruments beeped, signalling a loss of altitude, the machine shook and wobbled from side to side. Michael's seat vibrated as if he were in a racing game simulator with a lot of special effects. The examiner slid to the edge of his seat and hunched over, trying to concentrate as much as possible. Finally, the task was completed and the helicopter sat down, landing precisely in its circle. Michael leaned back in his seat and breathed a sigh of relief. All that remained was to take off from here, fly to the range, land the machine, and the exam would be passed.

Instructor: ‘Take a little breather and return to base. You're doing great.’

A couple of minutes later, Michael began to slowly lift the helicopter into the air. The wind continued to rock the machine in different directions. Drops of the beginning rain began to appear on the glass, which was getting heavier by the second. The examiner switched on the windscreen wipers. As the helicopter rose to a height of several dozen metres, a strong gust of wind blew, which broke the perfect balance of the vehicle and the helicopter tilted slightly to the right side.