Hilo air tour; helicopter vs small airplane

[Cavegirl]

When we get to Hilo port, we would like to tour the Volcano, first by air, then driving down.

 

There are many companies running helicopter (5 or 7-seater, including pilot) tours and some by 4-seater airplane. It is a fair bit cheaper (by around 30%) with the airplane tours.

 

I called up one airplane and a helicopter company and got the following:

 

1. All have to fly above 1000'

2. All have similar flight path

3. All are enclosed, except some helicopters offer the "doors off" option

4. All cannot fly too close to volcanos due to the heat

5. Helicopters have A/C

6. Helicopters can go up/down, or speed up/slow down, turn around, much easier; and can even stop

7. Helicopters are very noisy; don't know if it's similar in airplane

8. Airplanes flies higher than helicopters, and there can be lots of helicopters hovering below

9. Each of the 3 airplane seats are window seats, whereas some seats in the helicopter are middle seats.

 

It sounds like helicopter tours should offer a better tour (if not in the middle seats), by being able to slow down or turn around at the good places. There were several posts where people all liked the helicopter tours, but have not heard comments about airplane tours.

 

Would someone be able to comment? Thanks a lot.

[daWoods]

The view from the middle seat on the big coptors is almost as good as the window seat, especially in the front. The pilot will usually hover and turn so everyone gets a good view. The hovering ability of a helicoptor is the real advantage, since they can stop over a particular area for a good view while a fixed wing would have to turn and come back. When it comes to valleys and waterfalls, there is no comparison.