Hometown Tour: NAS Whiting Field

You’d be hard pressed to miss the thunderous roar of helicopter blades around NAS Whiting Field. Some call it noise, but around here, it's the sound of freedom.

“I mean not many people get to say ‘oh, I went and flew a helicopter around the beach at 500 feet,’” says Naval Aviation Student Emily Vaughn. Helicopter pilots in training at Whiting are trained on small Bell Ranger helicopters. When they make that transition from the small orange and white chopper to the actual helicopter they will be flying, it’s like going from a bicycle to a motorcycle.

“You have the basics, we live here with the basics and the mechanics of everything and how the helicopter flies and that kind of thing but getting in to your actual aircraft there's a lot more systems to learn, and everything's kind of just bigger,” says Vaughn. There are about 360 students like Vaughn at Whiting at any given time. They learn advanced helicopter pilot skills while trying to decide what chopper they'd like to fly later in their career. While the military has the final say, most make a pitch for whichever one they think is coolest.

“Usually big, noise, lots of firepower, things like that,” says Commander Mike Fisher. Every Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard helicopter pilot is trained on this airfield.

“So if you see on the TV a guy going in to do a rescue or a chopper in Afghanistan he was trained right here in Milton, Florida. With 13 airfields around the area and more than one million flight operations a year, Whiting couldn't fly without community support.

“We've got great people in the community and I know that they love the navy being a part of their community as well,” says Commanding Officer Rick Sadsad. A support staff of hundreds helps make sure the flight school runs properly throughout the year.

Whiting is the first stop on our Hometown Tours this season. We have a special theme this go around. We’re calling it “Salute the Troops.” We’ll be going to military bases throughout our area showing you what they do. Tune in at 6 tonight, 10/22/09, for our live broadcast.