07-23-2011, 08:53 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:What company do you own?
Originally posted by terry.way
Disclosure: I occasionally fly tours over the volcano myself. In an airplane
Wayforward Aviation. It's just me and my plane. I do flight instruction and occasional tours.
I recently started flying for Big Island Air, they fly tours with a big single-engine Caravan. They (I should start saying "we") have a pretty strong commitment to safety and noise avoidance.
The tour helicopter companies have this commitment as well. I know Hawaiian Acres/Helicopter Acres gets upset because the helicopters and airplanes are relentlessly going overhead on their way from the Hilo airport to the Pu'u O'o vent.
But the tours create noise that is nothing compared to the disturbance created by the DEA helicopters.
Look: I"m on a drug-testing program. I'm a pilot! I don't smoke. Pilots and brain surgeons should be sober. But I fully support legalization. Somehow alcohol is legal, and that definitely kills tens of thousands a year, but pot is illegal. Huh.
It's the safety aspect which bothers me the most. Hovering helicopters have a "coffin corner" - an altitude range that they CANNOT recover from if their engine quits. Single-engine helicopters have absolutely no business hovering over people's houses. It is illegal.
Aloha, and hope you are well,
T.