EVER WANTED TO FLY A CHOPPER?
Now you can in our flight simulator. It’s a virtual replica of the Sikorsky S–76 helicopters our pilots fly in real life rescue situations.
Built using the wreck of a Japanese Coastguard aircraft that was damaged during Japan’s 2011 tsunami, it is Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) certified and even if you’ve flown before, our team is ready to teach you how to fly this state of the art machine.
For pilots we also have our flight simulator available for certified training sessions.
CASUAL FLIGHTS
$200 per hour
Learn how to fly a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter on your own, or share your simulator experience with family and friends. When booking your session, for an optimal experience we recommend a maximum of four people per hour, especially if everyone would like a turn at flying. Ten hour concession cards are also available.
CERTIFIED TRAINING
$500 per hour
Simulator training is significantly cheaper than pilot training in an actual helicopter and enables all-weather flight training. We can create scenarios that incorporate environmental or mechanical challenges that may carry significant risk, or more extreme scenarios that cannot be simulated in the actual helicopter.
CORPORATE EVENTS
From $450
Is your office ready for the ultimate challenge? Could you take off and land on an oil rig or frigate with one of your colleagues sitting next to you and the instructor in the back seat? Or can you navigate your way around Queenstown during a blizzard? A great team building event for businesses with capacity for up to 15 people.
GIFT VOUCHERS
$200 per voucher
The perfect gift for family, friends or work colleagues. Vouchers give the recipient the flexibility to choose their preferred date. Vouchers are valid for 12 months and can be redeemed by phone or email.
The recipient must present their voucher on the day to the pilot.
WHERE TO FIND US
Located at Whangarei Airport the simulator, or Flight Training Device (FTD), is surrounded by a curved 270-degree screen which produces high-grade city and landscape visuals for the ultimate authentic flying experience. While the helicopter remains static, it’s feels as if you are flying, accelerating and hovering in the air – but without leaving the ground.
Make sure you’ve booked your session first before popping down to the hangar!
PILOT TRAINING
The simulator, or Flight Training Device (FTD) was designed and built by our pilot John Keller and engineer Grant Robinson in 2013 and it received its New Zealand Civil Aviation Certification in 2014. The certification allows pilots, under the authority and supervision of one of our qualified instructors, to carry out various components of “instrument flying” whereby the helicopter is controlled solely by using the aircraft’s on-board instruments rather than any outside reference points.
This heightened capability, combined with a comprehensive framework of Civil Aviation approved “pathways” or routes, means we are able to offer a more advanced, “all weather” pilot training service than any other rescue helicopter operation in New Zealand. The FTD also allows new pilots to learn skills necessary to fly on instruments, pilots to maintain their skills by flying a set number of hours per mont and pilots to demonstrate their competency to a CAA flight examiner twice a year. It’s meant considerable savings by not having to use its helicopters for many of these services. The FTD is available to all pilots wanting to achieve any Instrument Flying qualifications, and we are happy to design and oversee a course to cater for pilots at any level.
IT’S NO EASY RIDE!
And it’s no easy ride, with pilots and passengers potentially suffering air sickness, and crashing a real possibility.
The surprise bonus of the FTD has been the realism of the visual effects which brings almost any location around the world to life – from Auckland and the Bay of Islands through to New York and London.
A favourite flight path for many pilots has been to fly under the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and happily not one has hit either the water or the bridge.