Fortunately OceanFront and their owners seem to have fixed the customer service issues. The aircraft was clean, the headsets were comfortable, and the pilot was a delight to ride with both times. The sales team was nice to the kids, answered questions from all of us, and weighed us as well as explaining why they had to do that.
We had a delightful flight with a skilled pilot who had some good knowledge of the area and pointed out things that the kids would be interested in, like the bulldozer shaping part of the beach. He also pointed out some of the more popular places. While the pilot's primary job should be to fly the aircraft, it certainly makes it a pleasant flight to exchange knowledge and learn about the area and look at the aircraft and beach below us once the takeoff workload is over. Most pilots can make more delivering pizzas than they can flying aircraft; it's been that way for years. So, we did tip him on the 2nd ride.
We had 3 kids who wanted to ride plus me, so I did 2 flights. The first was a little short of the Apache pier due to strong winds and possibly separation for an airplane going into Grand Strand. As a pilot, I understood that. On the second trip the same pilot took us just beyond the pier to make up for the shorter trip earlier, which was appreciated. We also talked about some places that he likes to eat in the area and he pointed those out from the air.
Costs
Flying on an any aircraft certainly is sticker shock as compared to operating our car.
The cost to operate the R-44 helicopter commercially, to the standards the FAA requires, is about $400-$450 per hour dependent upon fuel costs. A car engine with the same horsepower as the aircraft is about $3000-$6000 and usually lasts about 4,000 - 8,000 hours dependent upon the manufacturer and how it is operated and maintained. The engine in the helicopter is about $72,000 and has to be overhauled about every 1,500 - 2,000 hours, dependent upon how it is operated, and it can cost up to $24,000 per overhaul. ....and that doesn't include accessories. Oil changes are about $300 for that engine, have to be done every 50 hours, and have to be done by a licensed Powerplant mechanic, usually an A&P.
These tour operators have the prices down to a place where they can make a few dollars profit during the summer for the operation, overhead, helicopter "mortgage", land rental/lease/mortgage, and taxes. It is nice to be able to borrow their aircraft and pilot for 20-30 minutes. read more