Billy's Helicopter Ride

[Music] most of us enjoy watching helicopters do you know that helicopters are used to do many different kinds of work this helicopter is being used to spray trees with chemicals the chemicals protect the trees from harmful insects here is a helicopter flying over the ocean it's bringing supplies to a big barge men on the barge are drilling for oil beneath the sea this one's being used to lift a telephone pole in this way telephone lines may be put up quickly in places that might be difficult to reach without the aid of a helicopter wouldn't it be fun to find out more about helicopters let's watch billy and his father as they visit billy's uncle joe today billy's going to learn a lot about helicopters for uncle joe is a helicopter pilot uncle joe has arranged for billy and his father to get a close look at a helicopter the front part of the helicopter is made of plastic billy thinks it looks like a bubble and that's what it's called a bubble through the bubble billy can get a good view of the inside of the cabin the helicopter rests on a big runner called a skid uncle joe is explaining to billy how skids support the weight of a helicopter as it lands but what billy wants to know is how does a helicopter fly a helicopter doesn't have a wing does it yes it does says uncle joe look at that helicopter over there this is its wing it rotates so it's called a rotary wing or rotor the rotor moves through the air even when the helicopter is not moving forward to take off the pilot doesn't need a runway the rotor raises the helicopter straight up into the sky [Music] on uncle joe's helicopter we can see another rotor at the tail it's called the tail rotor the tail rotor holds the helicopter steady in the air it also helps control the direction of flight now billy's going to get a chance to see how the rotors are controlled from inside the cabin the pilot must use his feet and hands to fly the helicopter at the same time he must watch the many instruments on the control panel of course the best way to learn about a helicopter is to go for a ride a ride now yes uncle joe planted as a surprise for billy and billy's father said it was okay so let's get ready for takeoff first billy's safety belt must be fastened uncle joe uses a safety belt too now to start the engine [Music] the engine makes the rotors turn they're ready to fly [Music] billy's flying [Music] this is a new experience for billy but he'll soon get used to the helicopter there are so many things to see down below there's a farm and there's a whole herd of cattle right now the helicopter is flying slowly so billy can get a good look at the countryside below but uncle joe can also make the helicopter fly very fast on the highway a car is going toward the city where billy lives on many highways traffic is watched and controlled by policemen who ride in helicopters we can see what a wonderful view they get of the whole highway system from so high up in the air billy can get a clear view of almost the entire city the many buildings and streets the automobiles and buses all parts of the city uncle joe has something special he wants billy to see on that tall building is something that looks like a saucer it's a place to land a place to land on the roof it looks so small yes the helicopter is coming down on the landing place which is called a heliport it's easy to find a place to park in the city when you're riding in a helicopter now to turn off the engine let's have a look around milly's never been on the roof of a tall building before it would be fun to spend the whole day just looking but they have to get back to billy's father who's waiting they'll fly back a different way so there'll be other things to see [Music] here is a part of the city billy has seen many times before from the ground billy lives in one of the houses down there they look much different from up here [Music] there's billy's school and some of billy's friends playing in the park do you suppose they know it's billy flying in the helicopter above them up ahead we can see people swimming in the lake and down there are two people in a motorboat they're trying to race the helicopter [Music] there's some other people on the beach they see billy too now they're over the open countryside again soon they'll be back with billy's father but what's that all that smoke it looks like a forest fire uncle joe will report it to the forest rangers by radio the rangers will get to the fire quickly and put it out billy will have many things to tell his father when they land [Music] well it seems that billy's father is glad to have billy back he seems more excited than billy he'll want to know what billy has seen you'll be surprised to know that billy and uncle joe reported a forest fire [Music] if you were billy how do you think you would tell about your first ride in a helicopter you