10-29-2016, 08:00 AM
254 helicopters that flew over my house on 12-26-15
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You got bogus data from someone. It just isn't possible.
With about 8-9 hours of daylight flight time (the tours don't fly at night) you are trying to claim that a minimum of 126 flights happened? (assuming every single one flew directly over your house to and from the destination)
126 flights (minimum) divided by 8 flights per helicopter, would mean that 16+ individual helicopters had to be available to make all those fights! Knowing that the Waikoloa flights average over 1 hour each, makes this even more unbelievable. That kind of number would mean not a single fight could have even gone up the coast towards Hamakua and the waterfalls either. There simply are not that many tour helicopters on the island.
Each tour from Hilo is about 45 minutes long. It takes a few minutes to load/unload passengers and then there is refueling times every 3 to 5 flights (need a pilot here to verify this). So realistically, each helicopter can make under optimal conditions, about 8 flights a day.
The Kona and Waikoloa flights average around 1hr 45 mins. At best, each of those helicopters could make 5-6 flights to the volcano each day.
Blue Hawaiian - 6 usually on island with some tours 1 hr 45 mins long
Paradise Helicopters - 3 (they list 3 pilots as well)
Sunshine Helicopters - 2 or 3? Most flights from Kona and listed as 1hr 45 mins long to the volcano.
Anyone know of any other companies offering flights and how many helicopters they have? I am guessing that there are one or two small companies with one helicopter each.
--
You got bogus data from someone. It just isn't possible.
With about 8-9 hours of daylight flight time (the tours don't fly at night) you are trying to claim that a minimum of 126 flights happened? (assuming every single one flew directly over your house to and from the destination)
126 flights (minimum) divided by 8 flights per helicopter, would mean that 16+ individual helicopters had to be available to make all those fights! Knowing that the Waikoloa flights average over 1 hour each, makes this even more unbelievable. That kind of number would mean not a single fight could have even gone up the coast towards Hamakua and the waterfalls either. There simply are not that many tour helicopters on the island.
Each tour from Hilo is about 45 minutes long. It takes a few minutes to load/unload passengers and then there is refueling times every 3 to 5 flights (need a pilot here to verify this). So realistically, each helicopter can make under optimal conditions, about 8 flights a day.
The Kona and Waikoloa flights average around 1hr 45 mins. At best, each of those helicopters could make 5-6 flights to the volcano each day.
Blue Hawaiian - 6 usually on island with some tours 1 hr 45 mins long
Paradise Helicopters - 3 (they list 3 pilots as well)
Sunshine Helicopters - 2 or 3? Most flights from Kona and listed as 1hr 45 mins long to the volcano.
Anyone know of any other companies offering flights and how many helicopters they have? I am guessing that there are one or two small companies with one helicopter each.