Flew helicopters for a living so understand weather and navigation and know how to swim so what else is there to it. Yea right. Any suggestions please.
I don't know what kind of air beaters you flew, but if they were anything like the Hughes 269 that I used to fly, then sailing a C-22 should be a relaxing experience for you. Handling a tiller & a main sheet is a lot simpler than keeping a cyclic, rudder & collective balanced.
The easiest way to learn is by going out with someone who already knows how to sail, but a guy with your experience should be able to figure it out for himself if that is not a viable option. I would start by picking a day with winds in the 5-10 knot range, motor out to an open area with no other traffic, turn the boat to have the bow pointing into the oncoming wind, put up just one sail at first & then get the feel of the boat in a reach, a run & close hauled. I would practice coming about several times & once you feel fully comfortable with that, try a gibe. Don't be in a rush. If it takes you several days of practice before trying the gibe, then that's what it takes. The gibe is the dangerous move, if not done correctly or if done in high winds, so don't push yourself on that one, especially single handed. When you are good with all that, put up the second sail & get the feel of the boat in that configuration. One guy handling two sails & a rudder will leave you wanting to have your lines running to a central location. If the boat is not already set up that way, then you might need to add a little hardware to reroute a few things. If at any time, you feel the boat heeling more than you want it to, either let out your sails or turn the boat up towards the oncoming wind a little, until your sails start to luff a bit.
I'll assume that your reading included the COLREGS, which are the rules of the road for boating. You do want to know about who has right of way when boats meet & things like that. I'll also assume that your reading has told you to have the centerboard down before you put a sail up. The other super basic thing to know is that your rudder will have no effect until you have a little bit of boat speed. Please forgive me if I am stating the obvious. I don't know what books you read.
Edit:
I wrote this before reading the other responses. I now see that I duplicated a lot of advice that was already given. Sorry about that.