Prince William enjoyed showing off his military helicopter training with his first-ever water landing yesterday to the delight of crowds in Canada, where he and his wife, Kate, have been on their first official overseas trip since their wedding. The Duke of Cambridge climbed into the cockpit of a Sea King helicopter for the military training exercise at Dalvay by-the-Sea, a scenic resort along Prince Edward Island’s north shore. Prince William, a Royal Air Force rescue helicopter pilot, requested the simulated emergency landing procedure. Colonel Sam Michaud, 42, who trained William, said he is now fully trained. He said William remarked that the “boys back at his squadron would be absolutely jealous.’’ Canada is the only country that trains its Sea King helicopter pilots to do a controlled landing on water if there’s an emergency. Major Pat MacNamara called William a star pilot. “I would suggest he was having quite a bit of fun,’’ MacNamara said. “He said it was one of the highlights of his trip.’’ The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on the fifth of a nine-day trip to Canada and were welcomed to their third Canadian province by crowds excited to catch a glimpse of royalty. For the third time during the trip, William spoke in French and English to address the crowds. The royal pair delighted the several thousand people at the site by walking over to shake hands and stop for a chat. They left Canada’s smallest province late yesterday afternoon for Yellowknife, the capital of the sparsely populated Northwest Territories. They leave for a three-day trip to California on Friday. (AP)
‘Transformers’ on top
The “Transformers’’ robots have put their 3-D ticket-price advantage to good use. Distributor Paramount Pictures estimated yesterday that “Transformers: Dark of the Moon’’ pulled in $116.4 million domestically over the four-day Fourth of July weekend and $181.1 million since opening. The sci-fi sequel has added $217 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to nearly $400 million. The studio says 60 percent of domestic business came from premium-priced 3-D admissions. Overseas, 3-D admissions accounted for 70 percent of sales. That’s a good sign for Hollywood’s 3-D business, which had waned as 3-D revenues dipped to 50 percent or less of the total for some recent releases. “Cars 2’’ slipped in its second weekend with $32.1 million domestically. (AP)
Hot dog chow-down Sonya Thomas has chowed her way to victory, eating 40 hot dogs to win the first-ever women’s July Fourth hot dog competition on New York’s Coney Island. Thomas easily swept eight other competitors yesterday to win the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Second-place finisher Juliet Lee consumed 29 hot dogs in the 10-minute race. Thomas is known as the Black Widow of competitive eating. She downed a record-setting 41 wieners and buns in 10 minutes in 2009. The same year, world champion Joey Chestnut put away 68. Chestnut won the men’s title again yesterday; he scarfed down 62 wieners. It wasn’t his best, but it was enough to beat second-place winner Pat Bertoletti by nine dogs. (AP)
