A day for love to reach new heights
It was Valentine's Day and his 35th birthday, and Justin Martin awaited his girlfriend's gift to him, a helicopter ride, with clear apprehension.
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It was Valentine's Day and his 35th birthday, and Justin Martin awaited his girlfriend's gift to him, a helicopter ride, with clear apprehension.
"He doesn't really like heights," Tracey Dukert, 32, said, laughing. "I didn't really think it through."
They sat in line at the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, facing the museum's collection of historic whirlybirds. From outside, the distinctive thwap of a helicopter's rotors signaled an aircraft taking off or landing.
"I just have a slight knot in my stomach right now," Martin said.
Martin and Dukert met at West Chester University at the beginning of the last decade, but started dating only three months ago. Dukert put down $250 to get high on Cupid's holiday, specifically about 500 to 600 feet above the ground in a Robinson R44 helicopter.
It's the first time the museum offered a Valentine's Day package. Along with the 10-minute flight, passengers got champagne and roses.
"You can actually see Philadelphia clear as day," said Chris Velas, one of the co-pilots.
The city is about 20 miles from the museum.
The offer attracted a diverse crowd on a frigid Sunday afternoon.
Another flyer, Nirav Kamdar, brought his 8-year-old son, Jay, and his wife Namrata.
"I started thinking about it in December," said an excited Nirav Kamdar, of Philadelphia.
Peter Alonzo, 72, a Kennett Square mushroom farmer, didn't know about his Valentine's Day helicopter ride until Sunday morning. It was a perfect gift from Sheila Blair, 71.
"I love to fly," he said.
The West Chester couple met through an online dating service three years ago. Beaming after their flight, they hugged and showed off their bottle of champagne for a TV news camera. Blair retired from her work as project manager at a medical communications company last month, something she said she probably wouldn't have done if she hadn't met her more laid-back partner.
"He taught me how to mosey," she said, smiling.
Finally, after watching other couples take flight, Martin and Dukert had their turn in the chopper. Ten minutes later, she stepped onto solid ground, smiling ear to ear.
"I was saying, 'Yay, yay,' " she said.
The pilot even flew over her nearby home.
Martin stepped out of the helicopter and gave two thumbs up. He grinned and said, "I was just holding on."
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@jasmlaughlin