I wonder if I was around 8 years ago when this thread was started? But I never posted in this thread.
I've been a few times, for pleasure though, not a military purpose (thank you to all of our service people for your sacrifice!) My most memorable was when I took my daughter, who was almost 7 years old at that time, on her first heli ride. We got on up the Niagara River in NY. As we approached the copter with all the noise and whirring I was carrying her and he tightly clutched me around the neck, obviously a bit scared. We sat down next to the pilot since it was a small glass dome front helicopter like one of those Bell copters. As soon as we lifted off the ground, her eyes lit up and a giant smile came across her face
We hovered over the river heading downstream and you could see how the rapids started to develop, getting more and more formented, and then suddenly it was like the earth dropped out from under us and we were over Niagara Falls...very dramatic view and approach to the Falls.
Not my pics, but to give you the flavor:
