Helicopter rides and lessons departing from a whole host of locations! These brilliant nationwide 30 minute helicopter rides are totally flexible as it\'s up to you where you decide to take your ride. The airfields may vary but each experience starts in the same way - with a pre-flight safety briefing. Listen carefully as you may well hear your pilot instructor say the words \"And this is the T-bar shaped stick that controls which way the chopper goes\" - pretty essential stuff when it comes to riding in a helicopter! Once you are comfortably strapped in the instructor will perform the last run of checks. If you\'ve never been in a heli before you might be struck how noisy it is and your first take off is sure to be an eye opener. You slowly rise up vertically for a few metres then as you feel the chopper lean forward you accelerate off into forward flight. After gaining cruising height and speed your pilot will introduce you to each of the three basic helicopter controls (including that all important cyclic we mentioned earlier!) demonstrating their use and effect. Your time in the helicopter isn\'t just for enjoying the ride you will actually be at the controls too so listen carefully to those instructions! You will learn about pitching the nose of the helicopter up or down or rolling from left or right. You\'ll grip what is known as the collective which you move up and down to make the helicopter do likewise. Your feet will be on the rudder pedals controlling the direction in which the helicopter is pointing. There\'s a lot to think about when it comes to handling a helicopter! If there\'s one thing you\'ll be certain of after your ride it\'ll be that helicopters are not easy to handle but great fun to try especially with the reassuring presence of an experienced qualified instructor next to you. Of course they all have full dual controls and with patient instruction most people are able to achieve a degree of control within the period of a 30 minute ride. If you\'d like a more in-depth lesson than offered on these helicopter rides then try our Nationwide 60 Minute Helicopter Flights where the rides are longer and you\'ll be able to gain more experience.