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Lift your spirits with a bird's eye view of county
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The helicopter over Leeds Castle
Canterbury Cathedral
Close-up shot of helicopter
In these darkened days of almost apocalyptic credit crunch misery, there’s precious little to put a smile on our frown-filled faces.

The housing market is in freefall, the banks have posted record billion pound losses and thousands of workers are being made redundant nationwide each day.

Gillingham FC will probably miss out on promotion too.

In these desperate times it’s important to seek out moments of positivity – things which will hopefully help turn that frown upside down.

My pick-me-up came by way of an hour-long helicopter tour of Kent.

The county boasts a plethora of historic landmarks and seeing them in all their glory from 1,500ft was simply breathtaking.

During the county-wide tour we cruised over sites such as Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle, taking in the picturesque sights from the comfort of our £1 million chopper – previously owned by ‘80s electro legends Depeche Mode no less.

There is something strangely relaxing in looking down at the world from on high – with the unfamiliar view of familiar towns, motorways, castles, harbours and so forth rendering myself and my fellow passengers speechless.

The Kent tour took us in a giant circle, starting at Rochester Airport before heading east to Whitstable, then on to Canterbury, Dover, Cranbrook, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Maidstone before returning to base.

At each location we slowly circled popular tourist attractions.

Dover was a particular high-point of the flight, with the clear blue skies giving a spectacular view of the Channel as ferries made their way to the Continent.

Dover Castle and the White Cliffs also shimmered in the sunshine.

The sights between each town were just as impressive. Acres of green fields stretched out into the distance, dissected by snaking motorways and major roads.

Luxury mansions and manor houses – seemingly inaccessible by road - also peppered the rolling countryside. 

Intermittent cloud cover plunged swathes of the county into darkness, while dozens of rays of sunlight fought their way through the darkness, shining dots of light on the ground below.

Such overpowering sights block out the constant whirr of the helicopter blades.

The tour was operated by AV8 Helicopters, based at Rochester Airport, and cost £150 per person.

Describing its Hellfire Tour, an AV8 spokesman said: “We invite you to experience the sights that gave Hellfire Corner it’s name. Take off from Rochester Airport and fly along the famous White Cliffs of Dover.

“You can see the gun emplacements, shell holes and fly over historic Dover Castle.

"We progress along the coast to Folkestone where the Battle of Britain Memorial stands out at Capel-Le-Ferne and you get an idea what RAF and Luftwaffe
Pilots must have felt in their Spitfires and ME109’s as they battled for supremacy during the Battle of Britain.

“We take in Hawkinge, a World War II fighter airfield, before turning in-land passing over many other historical sites on the way to view the home of Winston Churchill at Chartwell, then return along the North Kent coast passing the majestic Canterbury Cathederal and return to Rochester.”

For more information visit www.av8helicopters.co.uk or call 01634 672288.
POSTED: 09/03/2009 08:00:00

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