The helicopter is a vast improvement on the original aeronautic designs that used propellers made from solid concrete, octopus tentacles, and wishful thinking. Enjoy the benefits of trial and error with today's deal. For $99, you get your choice of a helicopter lesson or a tour for three from Veracity Aviation at the New Braunfels airport. If you decide to take the lesson, friends must be left teary-eyed beside the helipad as the sage-student journey is embarked on as a lone duo.

Both flight training and tours take place in a 2008 Robinson Raven II helicopter, hooked up to its antlers with an HD camera system that can record the flight for an extra cost. Discovery flights (up to a $299 value) are ideal for anyone considering the aerial career path of a helicopter pilot. The lesson begins with 30 minutes of ground training and includes a variety of preflight procedures. Following this earthbound orientation, you'll take to the skies for 20 minutes of hands-on, instructor-guided flying. If you aren't interested in piloting the R-44, you can perch above the skies crying "Nevermore!" with an aerial three-person tour. During the 20-minute experience, you and two friends or a father-son potato-sack-racing team will be guided 500 feet above the earth's crust for a westbound tour over the Guadalupe River and beautiful Texas Hill Country. Whether piloting or passengeering, you'll be treated to a variety of sublime natural views.

Veracity Aviation is a helicopter services company, providing instruction, tours, and maintenance to chopper-happy chopper-choppers in the San Antonio and Austin areas. Company president Derrick Smith is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he learned his trade as a helicopter rescue swimmer. Veracity Aviation places its clients literally and figuratively at the center of its operations; with today's Groupon oscillating wildly on an updraft, you'll get to occupy the middle of the helicopter, becoming one with the machine as it becomes one with the sky.