The OTHER Kevin said

I initially I thought I was ok, but as the day went on, my neck began
to stiffen up and started to ache.

Better get used to a stiff neck. The longer you fly helicopters, the worse it
is for your back and neck. Ergonomics is a foreign word for most helicopter
seat designers. Add to that a job that requires a helmet and flying looking
out a side door for several hours a day (long line work), and your body will
feel like it's been beaten with a stick!

Anyway, slopes are some of the hardest maneuvers for a student to get. I
always tried to get my students to do it in a two-step process. Skids level
and then the landing, VERY slowly.

One of the better machines I have flown for slopes was the MBB (now Eurocopter)
BO-105. It did some kickin tail down slopes. You would never think it would do
well looking at the mast moment indicator in the cockpit. It operates off of a
strain-gauge in the mast that measures the bending of the mast. You would
think that it would have very lousy slope performance, but if you did it
smoothly and slowly it had really good performance.

Anyway, keep up the stories. Good inspiration for the beginners and good
memories for us of the older generation!

Jim

Keep up the good