The OTHER Kevin in San Diego wrote:

Doing some vertical reference work in one of those would be sweet too.

Well you will be breathing rarified air if you ever get to do any work
in one of those babies.

Many, many, many years ago a guy used to come into where I worked and
chatted.

He told me he had been a fighter pilot in the post war luftwaffe and
had the pictures to prove it.

Don't know how he did it but he managed to go from flying fighters to
flying helicopters.

One day he talked about taking his visiting parents out to the airport
and renting a 206 for a couple of hours.

I thought riiiiiggggghhhhhhtttt.

Well a few days later the chief pilot from the local helicopter firm is
in the store and I asked him if this guy could just come up there and
without flying for a couple of years just rent a 206 and his reply was
yes he could.

He then went on to explain that this guy had flown Sikorsky Skycranes
for a number of years while in the military, and that when he retired
and moved to Canada, somoene had literally come to his door one night
and asked if he'd like to fly one of the first civivlian versions that
had been allowed into the open market.

Needles to say he said yes, and he had the pictures to prove it.

Follow your dreams Kevin, follow your dreams.