I have just come back from Vegas and I did the helo trip into the canyon whilst there. What a lucky bastard!
I researched it and went with Maverick. I met Dynamically Unstable by chance in the office and it turned out that I was distantly related to an Aussie girl that was married to a Maverick pilot (lucky I had chosen Maverick really!
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Miguel flew my trip and it was outstanding. Everything about it was set up well - even the trip to/from the hotel, the briefing, the offices, the aircraft - everything. They gave me a tour of the hangar - spotless as you would assume. With so many B4s, (18 i think), they are the B4 fleet leaders and have regular visitis from Eurocopter on improvements, etc. They regularly turn over the machines, but rarely the pilots.
Though Miguel was not aware I was a pilot until after, he did absolutely nothing to raise even an eyebrow: professional altitudes and manouevres and great approaches. I felt entirely comfortable despite not having my own set of controls!!
I actually thought the Canyon was great but not fantastic - an experience I will long remember. I think I have been spoiled by other sites such as the karst in PNG (and in fact most other places in PNG too - hole in the wall, Gusap, and the valley on the western border whose name escapes me), the Blue Mountain cliff lines at sunset in Oz, the Barrier Reef at low level, Ayres rock, Queenstown and Fjiordland in NZ. Strong competition in other ways, but the other pax on board consistently rated the Canyon flight as the trip of their lifetime!
I loved the Canyon flight and would strongly recommend it once as an experience up there with the best in the world, and I have nothing but good things to say about Maverick. Thanks Miguel!
