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The route must have changed a bit lately as there are not as many coming along the coast. We used to hear and see them all day long when a ship was in port. Also, the months of November and December are busy months for cruise ships being in port. The ships are doing their repositioning cruises and squeezing in their Hawaii cruises before getting ready for the winter season in the Caribbean. And, this is Tuesday....and the regularly scheduled day for the Pride of America to be here in Hilo.
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let's see, we live on a island that does helicopter tours and has been doing them for awhile. they don't fly around at night, although the neighbors dog barked all night last night. would almost just as soon hear a copter every thirty minutes then nonstop barking for eight hours.
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I'll see your barking dog and raise you our new neighbors' nocturnal roosters!
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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nocturnal roosters win the bet. Add the couqui frogs and you have a full house.
hawaiideborah
hawaiideborah
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The couqui frogs are my wild cards!
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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Say, I recently heard from a pilot friend that on Maui and some parts of Kaua'i, I think he said, people complained to the FCC and got them to make the tour copters fly at 1,000 feet (or maybe even more) instead of the regular 500 feet.
At least over our homes this seems like a really good idea. Of course we'll still hear them, but at least if you're on the phone you might get to finish your conversation without waiting for the noisy things to pass.
Its not a total fix, but probably worth trying for since there's a already a precedent.
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It is the FAA, not the FCC...
Most of the ones I see are flying well above 1000 feet anyway. Most people don't know what 500 or 1000 feet is. However, if weather patterns are bad, they fly under the clouds, not in them, and don't fly out over the coastline, for safety reasons.
I do see the monthly line checks when they get done. They advertise it in the paper for a week in advance. They utilize various tour helicopter companies for the line checks.
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Actually they do fly out over the coastline.
Because they fly VFR, when it get really nasty inland(weather)they fly back and forth all day just off the coast in Kapoho.They actually fly a lot lower than 500 ft at times but since no one lives out there,no one complains !!
You may not want them to fly higher over your neighborhood, the noise will just cover a larger area.Normally they will fly low over unpopulated areas or follow roads to cut down on the noise.
The notice has been in the paper for several days that Helco is doing line inspections this week and next.
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Agreed about the higher flights, they aren't as loud when directly overhead, but you sure hear them farther away. You're listening to it either way.
Every time people talk about experiencing helicopter noise, HELCO comes up, it seems like they are always doing line checks somewhere on the island, they have miles and miles of line to check. Believe me, any of us who have experienced any combination of HELCO line checks, tour helicopters, green harvest, and emergency flights can tell the difference between them. They each have distinctive patterns of flight. But if you look at a map of Puna and draw lines from the Hilo airport to the lower lava flow field and ocean entry, and to Kilauea/Pu'u O'o, you can see exactly which rural areas experience overflights from tourist flights to look at the volcano activity. When taking people to look at an active ocean entry they take a coastal route, when going up the mountain, they take the mauka route. If you pay for the longer tour you go out one way, and back to Hilo the other way.
My husband found a PDF file someone posted online somewhere with pictures and diagrams of all the different helicopters being used here on the island. It explains whose helicopters are which, and which activities they are involved in. Those who feel their privacy and peace of mind are being violated might want to dig for it, it can help you figure out who is overhead.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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Having experienced all of the helicopter types mentioned above, I am least upset about the tour helicopters (every single one of which must fly directly over my house). They fly fairly high, they don't hover or circle, and they do represent tourist dollars flowing back into the local economy. And as for spending their money in the air not on the ground, I don't think I buy that argument. A married couple on a one-day cruise ship stop in Hilo spends about $400 for their helicopter tour. Would they spend that much on the ground on the same day? And those who are staying on the island longer still need to eat, pay hotel bills, etc, so they're still dropping lots of cash in local pockets in addition to their helicopter tour. And that $400 helicopter fare pays the salaries of Hilo-based workers, so much of the money stays local in any event. Helicopter tours are a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some folks, and if its one of the highlights of their trip to the Island, I can live with that. Besides, it keeps traffic off the congested road to Puna.
On the other hand, it would be nice if the helicopter tours would vary their flight paths a bit so that they don't fly over the same houses all the time!
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