Flying in New York

[CRAN]

Fellow American Rotorheads,

A plea for help!

Both wifey and I turn 40 this year and are heading to NYC between 2nd-9th Dec, for a week of indulgence without the kids!

Once we've had our fill of the sights and Christmas shopping I'm keen to spend one of the days flying, but don't want to do one of the standard tourist tours (although I'm sure they are excellent). I'm looking for a local operator with R44/R66 that can suggest and facilitate a bit of a tour and then off somewhere nice for a posh meal, perhaps somewhere in the countryside? Thinking 2-3hrs flying plus the stop off (might even feed the pilot as well).

I'm not overly familiar with the NYC weather in December, but assume it's pretty poor, so would need suggestions to be realistic with this in mind.

I have both EASA and FAA licenses and would
like to do some of the flying, but probably not back after lunch! 😉

Idea's suggestions and recommendations all
welcome.

Thanks in advance.

CRAN
👍

[gulliBell]

I suggest somewhere warmer. Florida. Cruise ship. Bahamas. etc. New York in December and Robinson helicopters are for brave Eskimos...and for people without kids.

[krypton_john]

Gotta agree with gulliBell. A robbie in NYC winter doesn't sound too enjoyable to me, and for the price of a few hours flying you could have a week on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Your ass in an R44 seat or on a sun lounger with a pool in front and a cocktail bar behind...Know which I'd prefer!

BTW Have a great week in NYC.

[Jarvy]

The weather in NYC can be beautiful in December. I lived in Manhattan for 2 years so know it can vary a lot but generally it doesn't get really bad till January.
Don't know any NYC operators but you could drop an email to Andrew at Air Ocean Aviation. He is out in Connecticut but regularly flies into NYC. I have flown
with them and can recommend them.
Have fun in NYC.

[MikeNYC]

Reach out to Anthony at Wings Air in HPN / Westchester. As Jarvy says, NYC winter weather can be varied, so you'll have to be flexible, but you might end up with a crisp CAVU day. The closest places to NYC with Robinsons available are Linden NJ (LDJ) and Westchester NY (HPN), both a fairly quick flight to NYC proper. I personally flew with Anthony at Wings yesterday (but in a Squirrel), on a filming job, and can attest to his competence. At Linden NJ, reach out to Jeff Vincent at Heliflights / [phone] . Tell either of them Mike at Gotham sent you.

[gg17]

To give you yet another option I flew with Flying Helicopters Made Easy out of Republic Airport (Farmingdale, NY) a few weeks ago, and they were very professional. Their website also suggests that they do self-fly-hire, which is rare in the US (although I did not ask about this). Sadly I cannot post a link.

Run by a guy called Ilan Nahoom; I think they operate two R44s and a R22.

[CRAN]

Thanks for the replies chaps, I'll reach out to those that have been recommended or made contact.

Thanks,
CRAN

[nigelh]

Why not just call them first .....!