Ann Maree from thebestof beaconsfield agrees - One life - live it!!!

Adventure 001 owner Neil McLaren has a motto - 'One life, live it!' Having taken to the skies with my friend Chris on Sunday on a pleasure flight over London I can thoroughly agree.

It all started with a Charity Event on Friday night at Hillmotts Luxury Spa and Retreat in Beaconsfield. Neil McLaren, the owner of Hillmotts and Adventure 001, had an Adventure 001 helicopter there to let the guests have a look at it.

 We saw the engine and Neil explained how it worked; then we had the chance to sit inside the helicopter and imagine flying in it. The cream leather seats took me by surprise! I thought all helicopters were like those ones you see in films with soldiers jumping out of them. I never imagined they would have luxurious leather upholstrey, I'm a bit of a doughnut I guess, but seriously - all the air shows I have attended around the UK have helicopters on show with what would 'at best' be described as 'uncomfortable seating'. Where Adventure 001 Helicopters are concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. They are amazingly comfortable and very swish inside!

In the course of chatting to Neil about the flights offered by Adventure 001 Helicopters he mentioned they were flying over London on Sunday, leaving from Elstree Aerodrome. There were two seats left and I was sorely tempted! I kept imagining what it would be like and felt that frission of almost fear that turns into excitement.

I didn't book the flights on the Friday night however, I waited until Saturday when Neil texted me and said the two seats were still available and did I want to book them. He probably knew I was a little nervous and that was just the encouragement I needed. Never having flown in a helicopter before but having thoroughly enjoying flying in aeroplanes over the years I decided it was time to just say 'yes' to that frission of excitement and so I phoned my friend Chris and said 'are you up for a helicopter flight over London tomorow?' The answer was a resounding 'yes' and so the deed was done and the flights were booked.

 Driving to the Elstree Aerodrome on Sunday I began to wonder if it would be scary being up in a helicopter. When we got there I had a nice glass of Sauvingon Blanc at the lovely cafeteria/restaurant to calm my butterflies! Getting into the helicopter after the safety drill talk, which needs to be done before any helicopter ride, I had butterflies the size of elephants inside me. However, I smiled and buckled up my seatbelt without a hitch and seriously was surprised to find how smoothly we just took off vertically and rose up into the air! 

The take off was so smooth I didn't actually notice at first that we had left the ground. That's when it really began to hit me how exciting this really was. The view was amazing! It was not at all scary and the window seat where I was sitting afforded a stunning panoramic view all around.

That was it, I was hooked! We flew over the Olympic Stadium and took lots of photos of everything we could see, it was truly exhilarating and I began to think I would love the helicopter to do some stunts in the air or something as I was absolutely loving it! Flying over London of course, the helicopters are not allowed to fly in anything but a sedate and very professional manner, our pilot was wonderful and spoke to us all through the headsets explaining where we were and what might be good to look at and take photos of.

All too soon it was over and we were back on the ground at the Aerodrome. Landing was a dawdle and not at all like an aeroplane, no feeling of popping ears or anything like that. I got out of that helicopter and knew for sure I would have to do it again soon! Chris asked Neil to take a photo of us with the helicopter in the background as a memory of our exciting day. We had a great chat with the pilot afterwards too as we munched bacon sandwiches and lemon cheesecake with the most delicious coffee from the cafe. All that excitement had made us hungry!

Now I am in the process of talking to Neil about an Adventure flight around Buckinghamshire so I will have to keep you posted as to when that is going to happen. All I can say is, if you have never experienced the pleasure and excitement of flying in a helicopter - do it now! Book a flight for yourself and a friend and have one of the best days of your life.

As Neil says, 'One life, live it!' and I can tell you, going up in that helicopter makes you feel so alive you are positively buzzing! I'm so glad we went on Sunday and I would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone.

It's really simple to book a flight and if you click the link here for Adventure 001 Helicopters you can have further information, testimonials from others who have experienced this and a link to the Adventure 001 website for booking details.

Do it now - you won't be disappointed I promise you! If you want to speak to someone about helicopter flights or even lessons on how to fly a helicopter just telephone 01753 643 646 and ask all the questions you want.

I'm off to speak to Neil about another flight for us, this time a real Adventure flight around Buckinghamshire!