Bill Heilman fell for helicopters at a young age. Literally.

Standing on his family’s porch at his home in Indiana, the young boy got his first glimpse of the motorized bird and it left quite an impression on him.

“The porch was about 4 feet off the ground, I guess, and (there were) pine trees off the corner, or fir trees, and I heard this noise and I looked up ... I’d never seen a helicopter before. We were close to the airport so I said, ‘ah, an airplane,’” Heilman said.

But it was not an airplane, and the boy decided to back up a bit to see it fly over th...

Log-In to view full story or view our Registration Guide.