Lectric Combo, unknown, uncharted lands, full of magic and unexpected things. Of course Cpt. Jackal needs a Defender to explore the outback. It's not easy to get your hands on a good working model these days, and the shipment of such a vehicle isn't really simple too. But... we have Coop and the AeroPedro facilities and services at hand, don't we? Cpt. Brick arranged a training session for a Belvedere and a white coated Defender...

The plan was easy... yet the insurance asked me bazillions of questions about all sorts of things. This was when I started to get nervous. Do they known something about that training, I didn't know??? Anyway, yesterady, Brick and I met in the old nomad coffee corner at Sixtus B. and sicussed the mission to deliver the Defender for Cpt. Jackal to Lectric Combo, somewhere way off the shore, difficult to reac with other means than a helicotper. It made sense to give the helo based delivery of a Defender a try. And that's what we planned in details. It was my part to sit in the Defender, preparing the car for being towed up by the helicopter. Straped all good for a expected, turbulent and shaky climb... and while in constant contact over skype-com with Cpt. Brick and the tower, as well as Coop on the ground, I felt this drag and tear and soon saw myself tumbling in the blue skies...

What a feeling... what a view!!!

As planned, Brick towed me up to a save altitude. Unfortunately, the Defender doesn't have an altitude meter... looks like it wasn't clear this vehicle is to be used at several thousand foot above ground? :-) Once, we reached the proper height, I got the signal for a release and deployed the parachute. After checking for a proper release, I dropped the tow and released myself from the cable.

Then... it was just me and the blue skies! You cannot really grasp what it means to sit in a Defender, floating hundreds of foot above ground, smoothly, silent, only the wind howling... it was incredible and a absolute must for anyone.

What a view... what a silence. I am still very impressed. I kept contact with Brick over radio, and he followed my descent with eager eyes on the whole party here. From the ground, I got some chuckling and cheers over radio. Looks like they enjoyed the view too.

The wind was pretty calm, the view clear, temperature acceptably warm. Hey, the defender isn't really built to deal with aeronautical conditions... but soon, I was back into the valley, covered by the mountain ridges and the descent really was almost a meditative thing. Calm, nice, endless...

Some shots from the helo, showing me in the final stage before touch down. I prepared the car, by trying toi balance with my body weight, so we could land on all four tires.