Helicopter tours

While planning our Alaska cruise, my mom balked at the idea of taking a copter to Victoria after the cruise. She thought it would be horrible, not fun at all, even though she has never flown in one before. But that was just for transportation -going from Canada Place to another city on an island with our luggage.

So my question is, would it be different to ride a helicopter on a tour than if we just used it to go from Point A to Point B? Is it noisy? Can going straight up and down be scary to a newbie? I would hate to miss out on a good tour because of an irrational fear, especially in Hawaii where there seem to be no floatplanes on the islands.

While planning our Alaska cruise, my mom balked at the idea of taking a copter to Victoria after the cruise. She thought it would be horrible, not fun at all, even though she has never flown in one before. But that was just for transportation -going from Canada Place to another city on an island with our luggage.

 

So my question is, would it be different to ride a helicopter on a tour than if we just used it to go from Point A to Point B? Is it noisy? Can going straight up and down be scary to a newbie? I would hate to miss out on a good tour because of an irrational fear, especially in Hawaii where there seem to be no floatplanes on the islands.

Helicopter don't climb strait up. They lift up about 20 ft and then drop the nose fly forward and up. Helicopter normally aren't noisy .

While planning our Alaska cruise, my mom balked at the idea of taking a copter to Victoria after the cruise. She thought it would be horrible, not fun at all, even though she has never flown in one before. But that was just for transportation -going from Canada Place to another city on an island with our luggage.

 

So my question is, would it be different to ride a helicopter on a tour than if we just used it to go from Point A to Point B? Is it noisy? Can going straight up and down be scary to a newbie? I would hate to miss out on a good tour because of an irrational fear, especially in Hawaii where there seem to be no floatplanes on the islands.

Having flown a helicopter they are very safe & it's like a magic carpet ride. ;)

I've never taken a sightseeing helicopter tour but they have pop out floats if an emergency water landing is necessary. Helicopters are very maneuverable & generally are safer than an airplane in an emergency. With over 17,000 hours in helicopters the only emergencies were during training to be prepared if necessary which never happened.

I had a relative who was worried about flying a Kauai helicopter tour & for weight distribution had to sit next to the pilot. She loved the experience so reassure mom that helicopters are very safe & even exciting for 1st time passengers. :D

Having flown a helicopter they are very safe & it's like a magic carpet ride. ;)

 

I've never taken a sightseeing helicopter tour but they have pop out floats if an emergency water landing is necessary. Helicopters are very maneuverable & generally are safer than an airplane in an emergency. With over 17,000 hours in helicopters the only emergencies were during training to be prepared if necessary which never happened.

 

I had a relative who was worried about flying a Kauai helicopter tour & for weight distribution had to sit next to the pilot. She loved the experience so reassure mom that helicopters are very safe & even exciting for 1st time passengers.

Mom never said she would be scared on a helicopter. She just thinks it would not be fun at all because of the noise. But we were discussing how to go to Victoria. She is just afraid it would not be fun for her.

Mom never said she would be scared on a helicopter. She just thinks it would not be fun at all because of the noise. But we were discussing how to go to Victoria. She is just afraid it would not be fun for her.

They provide headsets so noise isn't bad. I also flew smaller piston engine private airplanes which were noisier than the turbine powered helicopters I've flown in.

You're probably too young to remember the days of piston powered airliners which are much noisier than today's turbine (jet) powered airliners.

They provide headsets so noise isn't bad. I also flew smaller piston engine private airplanes which were noisier than the turbine powered helicopters I've flown in.

 

You're probably too young to remember the days of piston powered airliners which are much noisier than today's turbine (jet) powered airliners.

I don't know any helicopter terminology, but at age 38 I probably am too young to remember pistons. :confused:

I don't know any helicopter terminology, but at age 38 I probably am too young to remember pistons. :confused:

That's what I figured...your car engine is a piston engine and jet airliners use turbine engines,

I'm not trying to convince your mom and you to do anything however my relative who was very hesitant to fly in a helicopter loved her Kauai a helicopter sightseeing tour.

They provide headsets so noise isn't bad. I also flew smaller piston engine private airplanes which were noisier than the turbine powered helicopters I've flown in.

 

You're probably too young to remember the days of piston powered airliners which are much noisier than today's turbine (jet) powered airliners.

When I started work 40 plus years ago. All helicopters had piston engines and wooden blades.

When I started work 40 plus years ago. All helicopters had piston engines and wooden blades.

My primary trainer was a Bell 47 with metal blades but it didn't look much different than the helicopters used on the MASH TV series. ;)

We are planning to do a helicopter tour in Kauai this October. We did the helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon a few years ago. The visibility from a helicopter is amazing. It is much more open and wide angle than planes. As posted, you wear headphones, so noise is not an issue. At the canyon they played music through some of the tour. It was very majestic.

It can be very warm depending on time of day and sun location. Although that was a closed door tour.

Our granddaughter fell asleep! The pilot told us it happens a lot with children due to the warmth and the drone of the helicopter.

I would not describe it as noisy and it was definitely not boring.

We are looking forward to doing it in Kauai. I am sure it will be a highlight of the trip.

While planning our Alaska cruise, my mom balked at the idea of taking a copter to Victoria after the cruise. She thought it would be horrible, not fun at all, even though she has never flown in one before. But that was just for transportation -going from Canada Place to another city on an island with our luggage.

 

So my question is, would it be different to ride a helicopter on a tour than if we just used it to go from Point A to Point B? Is it noisy? Can going straight up and down be scary to a newbie? I would hate to miss out on a good tour because of an irrational fear, especially in Hawaii where there seem to be no floatplanes on the islands.

You missed out, helicopter tours are great!

I'd not think they are special as transportation, but great for tour ( Hawaii and Alaska ) highly recommended if you can afford!

You missed out, helicopter tours are great!

 

I'd not think they are special as transportation, but great for tour (Hawaii and Alaska) highly recommended if you can afford!

Missing out on what? We are taking a floatplane tour in Ketchikan (no, we won't cancel because of the Promech Air crash). I think that is good enough for a tour of Misty Fjords.

What I don't understand is why aren't there any floatplanes in Hawaii, the state that is 100% islands. It would be a great option for island hopper flights if small planes can fly from Maui to Big Island or Molokai and back.

What I don't understand is why aren't there any floatplanes in Hawaii, the state that is 100% islands. It would be a great option for island hopper flights if small planes can fly from Maui to Big Island or Molokai and back.

Here is my speculation about why there are no floatplanes in Hawaii. The Pacific Ocean is rougher than Alaska's inside passage or lakes & often has small boat advisories due to rough seas. I don't think there is enough port space to build the infrastructure necessary to accommodate a successful floatplane industry. And flying airliners interisland is more reliable, faster, cheaper and safer. I saw a video of Hawaiian Airlines' history & they stopped using floatplanes back in the 1940s.

Alaska is wilderness & the only way to get to many of those remote areas is by floatplanes. In the Hawaiian islands there are airports & roads to everywhere. Juneau the capital is not even accessible by road & only by air or by sea.

There are some propeller driven smaller aircraft that fly interisland but it's a small percentage of interisland travel. Sightseeing helicopters tours are much better in Hawaii because they're more maneuverable.

You'd think they'd have high-speed interisland ferries like all other island nations around the world. A few years ago Hawaii got a high-speed ferry but there was so much uproar that it failed & is gone. And I don't even know if there was enough of a demand when it was available. Many people prefer a quick interisland hop on an airliner than several hours on what could be a rough ride traveling on the water. Recently even the ferry between Lahaina Maui & Molokai went from a daily schedule to "as needed". It would take a big government subsidy to have it economically feasible as a daily scheduled service.

That's just some of my thoughts about Hawaii's interisland travel options.

Small planes do fly between the islands, but no float plane inter-island flights that I'm aware of. Mokulele Airlines has a fleet of Cessna's and it is a great way to travel between the islands if you want an alternative to the larger planes - e.g. those used by Hawaiian Airlines. (We flew with Mokulele between Maui and Molokai.)

With all of the airports being next to the ocean, a limited number of sheltered harbors and no lakes to land on, it probably doesn't make sense to have float plane inter-island flights.

Helicopter tours are awesome in Hawaii - we've done them on Kauai and Maui. On a mother-daughter trip to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday, we took her on a heli tour - she loved it & had a smile on her face the whole time.:)

You'd think they'd have high-speed interisland ferries like all other island nations around the world. A few years ago Hawaii got a high-speed ferry but there was so much uproar that it failed & is gone.

In addition to the uproar, if I remember correctly, I think the ferry had issues with ocean conditions, and therefore wasn't reliable because crossings would be cancelled if it was too rough. The reliability of flights made them a safer bet for most travelling between Oahu and Maui (which were the only two islands that it travelled between.)