Mystery Helicopter's Airport Base Revealed

By Fresh Catteneo


I am standing on a helicopter landing doc at the Apolon Airport control tower in Kalua Island.
Our investigation led us here, to the apparent origins of the helicopter which crashed at the St. Benedict Monastery (See recent post). Below me are dozens of helicopters of many different shapes, sizes and colors, ranging from military crafts to police and civilian. Although no landings or take offs
are in progress during this early morning hour, a busy flight controller can be heard on the speakers coordinating flights and communicating with pilots.


We decided to inspect some of the helicopters. This $L 1200 AirWolf has 4 seats, a turbo reactor, smoke effects, an altimeter, a variometer, and a compass. It is armed with guns, missiles and bombs. As with all the other helicopters in the airport, it is manufactured by Air Apolon@ Compagnie.
We didn't have to wait too long before the action began. From a distance we could hear the roar of an approaching helicopter. His light beacon was on as if he was searching for something.



The pilot, NewChief Congrejo, was in a flying frenzy. Dressed in what looked like a scuba diving suit, he landed the helicopter and jumped precariously for a wild ride on a glider. He was moving so swiftly it was virtually impossible to take his picture. He was finally caught on camera on a rare split second of non action.



Another pilot was present at the airport during our visit. He too, experimented flying just about any aircraft in the proximity. Getting ready to fly an armed UH-1 10 seated military helicopter, he was inspecting the winch as if he was planning on setting out on a rescue exhibition.


We wanted to ask him about it but he spoke German and we spoke English, so it was a bit hard for us to communicate. Nevertheless, he rewarded us with a few exciting moments of a presentation of high class flying maneuvers.


To be continued....