We're celebrating a big day in WRAL history!  Sky 5 debuted 30 years ago today -- July 31, 1979.  Shelly Leslie, our creative services director, found this great picture of the original aircraft in our archives.  It was North Carolina's first TV news helicopter.

Of course, the new Sky 5 is bigger, faster and fancier than the original helicopter.  I've had the pleasure of flying in it a few times, and there's no other way to travel!

Sky 5 lives at RDU International.  When our assignment desk dispatches it, Capt. Steve Wiley flies over to our studios on Western Blvd. and picks up a photographer. 

If you've ever been by the station when Sky 5 arrives or departs, you know it's a sight.   Most of us here at the station stop in our tracks and gawk whenever Sky 5 is taking off or landing. 

So, happy birthday and, to quote Bill Leslie, "Look up for Sky 5!"