My first duty station was Kodiak Airstation Alaska. I was a 'Blackshoe' vs. 'Brownshoe' or rated aircrewman. The Coast Guard being what it always was, and is ( small) I wound up flying many routine and even some SAR missions. We had the venerable C-130 and the HH3 and HH52 amphibian helicopters. By their very design fixed wing aircraft are more rugged as a rule. I flew with a Senior Chief Aviation Machinist Mate. he was in a helicopter that suffered a catastrophic rotor assembly failure. He simply flung himself out in the TUC ( time of usefull consciousness, aviation term for the seconds before blacking out) before the entire ship and remaining crew plummeted in . He told me point blank after I completed all the ops. manuals " If you can bail out ,bail out and feed my dogs." Helicopters are like all designs, there are some good ones and some that seem plagued with trouble. I f I had to utilize a helicopter again, Id check out the model, carrier's safety record and immediate conditions for flying. Only the military HAS to fly. There has never been a civilian flight that HAD to take off.Of course, you could hire Doug and boost his confidence by rubbing your altoid tin like a worry stone LOL<br><br>