Lauren Sanchez loves to fly. On Sunday, the Black Ops Aviation founder shared a photo from her helicopter training where she landed a different helicopter for the first time. The pic was of her thumb with a circular imprint from the throttle. “First time landing in a different helicopter #training,” she wrote over the pic along with “IYKUK.”
The imprint on Sanchez’s finger shows just how hard the pilot was holding onto the throttle to land the new helicopter. According to Southern Utah University, helicopters are touchy and require pilots to be more hands-on over airplanes. If a plane is stable and there are no strong winds, then all a pilot has to do is make a few adjustments here and there and, a large airplane can basically fly itself.
Helicopters, on the other hand, require more vigilance. A helicopter pilot must almost constantly use both hands and feet to control the aircraft and the smallest movement of the controls has large repercussions so pilots are constantly making tiny adjustments. Per, US Medicine, helicopter pilots have an increased risk of carpal tunnel and they are especially exposed to vibration.
Sanchez and her billionaire boyfriend Jeff Bezos both share the same interest in flight. Except Bezos prefers rockets. The couple has been going strong and Sanchez is a big supporter of all of Bezo’s ventures. On Monday she reposted news from Bezo’s Academy announcing that they are working to open 14 new tuition-free preschools to serve close to 1000 students across Florida, Texas, and Washington state.
Preschools aside, the couple also showed their support to Tom Brady last week amid news that he was retiring. They shared the same post wearing maching “Brady” sweaters with the caption, “Congrats @tombrady, we will be cheering for you just as hard in your next chapters!”