The Return of "The Chopper"

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scotty73 · #76 Post by **scotty73** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:11 am

Cheers JJ - my pleasure sharing!

Well I'm a west coast struttin'
One bad mother
Got a rattlesnake suitcase
Under my arm
Said I'm a mean machine
Been drinkin' gasoline
An honey you can make my motor hum

golfmobile · #77 Post by **golfmobile** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:41 am

scotty73,

Thanks for such good pictures and for so much detail about your flight. Now we know to ask for Josh as our pilot for our flight. One more question though: Is someone seated in the middle in the front??? There's not a seat there, is there? Or do they just put a little jump seat of some kind there if there are two couples who want to take the flight? Seems as though it would make more sense to put three people in the back, but then "everyone" wouldn't have a "window seat." I just know I want to be in the front and at the side, and hopefully the "weights and balances" they have to deal with will allow that for me for our flight.

Steve, I'm looking for bullet-hole-in-glass stickers, but the only decent ones I can find are decals and not just stickers I could put on and take off. May get those anyway and see how well I can adapt them to turn them into stickers I can put on the windshield at least for a photo op. In support of my request to do so, I need to know which episodes had a bullet hole in the windshield occur. Can someone please tell me the episodes where Island Hoppers got shot? That way when I make the request, I may sound a little more educated on MPI and therefore support my request to put a sticker on temporarily, so I can take a picture.

If Paradise were really up to speed on this, they'd apply one to entertain the fans taking the flight, wouldn't they?

We're still working on getting our flight planned. Larry says flying stand-by inter-island is too risky -- what if we don't get on a flight? So he's saying we'll just buy tickets. Bless his heart!! This is going to be a rather expensive indulgence he is "allowing" me to enjoy, but I think secretly he wants to do it too!! Otherwise, I really think he would put the kabosh on spending an extra $1,000 (flights back and forth to Maui, rental car, heli flight for two, doors off, which I was told costs an extra $25 on top of the $269.61/pp cost) on this trip to Hawaii.

Thank goodness for Magnum Mania, or I wouldn't have known about this!!

golf

Danno · #78 Post by **Danno** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:53 am

Hey Scotty- I saw a guy at Bunnings Artarmon that looked like you, dude.
Wearing an Anthrax T-Shirt, Tigers cap...

scotty73 · #79 Post by **scotty73** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:22 am

Ha! Danno that WAS me! Picking up stuff from PetStock for our cat. That, and having a sausage-sizzle!

scotty73 · #80 Post by **scotty73** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:45 am

G'day golfmobile,

My pleasure mate. Yes, someone is seated in the middle front seat. You'd have to be pretty small though, I reckon. On my flight I had a father & his two kids - a 10 year old boy in the back with me, Dad up front with his 8 year old daughter in between Josh & Dad. Looked pretty tight up front! So you're right - 3 up front including the pilot, only 2 in the back...

They're pretty organised with weighing you when you turn up. From memory you had to be under 220lbs (around 100kg's) - I scraped in at 218lbs. I think they charge a little extra if you're over...

Hope that helps mate.

Cheers, Scotty

Danno · #81 Post by **Danno** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:58 am

Small world! We were just dropping in to get some gardening stuff- my wife has me working today.
Hope you have a good arvo.

scotty73 · #82 Post by **scotty73** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:23 am

Was just saying that to the missus too - have a great arvo mate

308GUY · #83 Post by **308GUY** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:26 pm

scotty73 wrote:On my flight I had a father & his two kids - a 10 year old boy in the back with me, Dad up front with his 8 year old daughter in between Josh & Dad.

HA! You mean to tell me that you're lovely signifacant other, did NOT get to expereince this very memorable jaunt with you?! Can hardly believe it! I'm sure there were your own personal reasons, but it just doesn't seem right...somehow

Maybe she doesn't like helo's?

Just yanking yer chain dude, really just wanted to say thanks again for posting those great pictures. You just don't appreciate the size of those ships unless you're right up next to them or see them in relation to something you already know the size of....man they're huge!

Hoping you'll get to post the pics you were talking about of the estate. Looking forward to seeing them as well.

HAGO!

golfmobile · #84 Post by **golfmobile** » Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:25 pm

Oops!!!! Good thing we aren't taking a MD500 out of Hilo.

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/section ... -hilo.html

Picture appears to be a MD500 -- note the round nose and T-tail.

golf

P.S. From what else I can find on the internet, Paradise Copters has had six crashes since 2001, only 4 fatalities, all aircraft were the MD369C flying out of Hilo. Difference between 369 and 500:

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng ... el-500.php

basically, differences of number of propellers, tail design (V vs. T) and fuel capacity.

scotty73 · #85 Post by **scotty73** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:36 am

G'day 308GUY,

Yup, correct! There was no way I could convince her to come! We did Makani Kai last year (with the doors on) and she was pretty much sick the whole flight. The avgas fumes get to her - so she says.

My pleasure with the pics - posted some of the estate (from the tidal pool) a little earlier, check 'em out.

Cheers, Scotty

308GUY · #86 Post by **308GUY** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:13 am

golfmobile wrote:I need to know which episodes had a bullet hole in the windshield occur. Can someone please tell me the episodes where Island Hoppers got shot? That way when I make the request, I may sound a little more educated on MPI and therefore support my request to put a sticker on temporarily, so I can take a picture.

The first one I noticed is The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii

I know there are plenty of others, this is just the first one I remember seeing where they showed the chopper "wound".

golfmobile · #87 Post by **golfmobile** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:57 am

As it turns out -- and I'm very disappointed to report -- we aren't going to be doing this. When the reservations lady at Paradise told me they couldn't guarantee that we would be in the Magnum chopper and couldn't promise that I wouldn't be stuck in that middle front seat if I happen to be the smallest person on the flight (5' 3", 110 lbs. -- so if all the other passengers are guys . . . . . ), well, that certainly makes paying $400 inter-island airfare for two (on short notice because we wouldn't know if they were actually flying when we were scheduled to go, due to weather conditions, until 24 hours before the flight) and the $269 per person for the flight with Paradise, plus rental car, plus $25 each for "doors off" -- not worth the total cost. It's not as though we are already on the island and can come back the next day. I can fly in Alex Air's MD500, doors off, on Maui for $216 (and Larry was going only if we went to Oahu and flew in TC's Island Hoppers heli, with doors off for picture-taking). Of course, on Maui, I won't be in the "Magnum chopper" and I can't fly over Robin's Nest and the Makai Research Pier, but at least I can be in the "right" equipment and can be in the front (not MIDDLE) seat with Alex Air.

Oh, well, I get to see everyone else's pictures, which are GREAT . . . . (and there are several people who posted pictures of the IH heli on reviews for Paradise on tripadvisor.com and they didn't even MENTION they knew they were on the IH heli!!!! can you IMAGINE???? made me want to slap 'em up-side-da-haid)

golf

308GUY · #88 Post by **308GUY** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 2:38 am

What................A..............BUMMER!

Well.........I'm sure you'll still have a good time.

Sorry to hear that though. Guess you'll have to enjoy the pics posted by those that get to do it...........like the rest of us!

Change is the only constant in the universe......don't loose all hope....things could change?

Brian · #89 Post by **Brian** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:39 pm

A full flight in the MD-500D, 40 minutes of footage.

http://youtu.be/FbcZx5syfXE

golfmobile · #90 Post by **golfmobile** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:39 pm

Well, that just saved $600 . . . . . but, dang!! After 25 minutes, I realized they weren't going to go back and over Robin's Nest. Wind turbines are cool and all . . . . but Robin's Nest is better. IMO

Interesting that so much of this looks like it does when I'm doing it in flight sim -- but my scenery isn't nearly as good!!!

golf

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