How do I get a helicopter to our poker run?
 

We are trying to see what costs are to get a helicopter to our event this year. Or a photographer on a boat. Anyone know of any people that would be good to contact for this?

That should not be too difficult. We pay $600 an hour for an R - 44 which is adequate to cover some of our Ft Myers Offshore events. Generally 1.5 to 2hrs max will do the job. Nothing better than having Jayboat train his lens on us from 100 ft above !
How far is the nearest sizeable airport? Pay them a visit, check the yellow pages, ask for references. You might be surprised to find that someone with this type of experience is not that far away.
Bob

Owensboro, KY. We do have a regional airport here. Flies small jets to nashville and other majors. The poker run is set for July 10. We do the poker run as a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club of America. They donate us some grab bags filled with items so we are not used to having to pay for much :( But I would like top make our poker run a postmark here on the river. We run alot of poker runs but this is what I try to do to help out our town which only has the river. We have averaged about 30 boats or so and the party acquires 300+ people.

Funding... and a few phone calls...

if you want to do it on the cheap, you can use a airplane but you wont have the vercitility of a helo

Otherwise GLH hit it on the head
Money and a few phone calls gets the job done

Good luck

Thanks guys for the input. I am going to talk to the regional airport today to see what they can do for us.

Thats actually a good alternative. We had a plane on one of the LEOPA runs several years ago and it worked pretty good.

Generally, they fly there however I'm sure there are other options available :drink::drink:

Aircraft rental in the telephone book will generally have someone that does helo rental. Then it's a matter of making the calls.

:lolhit:

Make sure to find a chopper service that will take the doors off the helo and be willing to fly 20 feet off the water. Helos are supposed to have floats if they fly low over water and some pilots won't streatch the rules or have the nerve to fly so low.

http://www.boatpix.com/events/

send them the info on your run and if they think
they can make enough money off the pics they will come out
no charge to you.

Now your talking my kind of language!

Kyboy,

Shoot me an email. I know of a service, that runs R-44's, that might be able to help you. eatonphotos at gmail dot com

What the other have said. We pay $450-$500 an hour for a R-44. Make sure you are VERY clear about what you want from them. As mentioned, not all pilots are the same. That's a lot of money to gamble with a pilot thats affraid to fly low and fast.

If you can't see the whites of their eye's... they aren't low enough....:lolhit::lolhit:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcdbart...7622088530442/

do a google search on these guys before you decide to do this

I'd pass on boat pix - prints are expensive & the quality is generally less than what you would expect.

x2

Thanks for the feeback on the companies. Also looking at trying to find a local photographer with a boat

Find the biggest and most stable boat you can and put the photographer in that boat. We've used a 50 scarab, 46 Black Thunder and a 42 Fountain in the past.

I can tell you that James Eaton likes to go for boat rides. If you talk to him ask him about Harmon Creek last year on my boat.:drink:

ditto on boat pix, they no showed and didn't even call for our last event

do a search here for boatpix. I am sure there are several people that would not come if they were there, they have ripped MANY members here off.. inviting them is inviting a nightmare

I have a friend with an R44, he flew st claire last year, definitly buzzes the wave tops.. KY may be a bit far for him though.

Was eaton the guy on Fight Club last year at cumberland?

Frrezeframes deleted his post from this thread???

Yes Eaton was on Flight Club for part of the Cumberland run then on my boat for the rest of the day.

Yes, I'm James Eaton, and yes, I was the guy on Flight Club @ the LC PR in Sept. After FC pulled out of run, I caught a ride with bobkatz briefly, then rode the rest of the day with Mike (boatfreak). As I posted earlier, I know of a company, that has several R44's & R22's. They are based out of Ohio, north of Cincy. Let me know if I can be of any help.

James

Randy Nuzzo...that's who does most of the Virginia runs. Awesome pics taken from helicopters during the runs. Has a website as well. Just google his name! May/may not come to your area???

Helicopter at poker run
 

Mike Payne of Castle Helicopters, Inc in Louisville Ky was the guy we used at the Lake Cumberland poker run. He is very experienced and very reasonable. His # is 502 797-8598. that is what it used to be anyway. Give him a call, he's a great guy. Tell him Roger recommended him.