The ideal private jet owner is someone looking for an alternative to commercial airline travel for mid- or long-range trips. The ideal helicopter owner, by contrast, is someone who likes to stay close to home. A helicopter can fly only relatively short distances at a fairly slow pace by aviation standards—"low and slow" as they say in the industry—which means it does not shine as an alternative to jet travel. In large metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles, however, helicopter travel has become an easier way to negotiate short distances. In the highly developed Northeast corridor, helicopter shuttles routinely take corporate executives between Boston and New York. "It’s easier to board at the East 34th Street Heliport, and then fly to the Boston City Heliport, than to drive to LaGuardia Airport, catch a shuttle or even a private plane, land at Logan and then drive into the city of Boston," says aviation consultant William Quinn of Cerretani Aviation, a Boulder, Colo.–based aircraft brokerage.

TOP VIEW On a per-mile or per-minute basis, helicopters represent one of the most expensive forms of travel. High maintenance costs, limited range and frequent complaints about noise make these aircraft the first choice for only a select breed of business travelers. For those who crave convenience and do not mind taking it low and slow, a private helicopter offers unprecedented flexibility and control.

Private jet owners who also use these shuttle services may find private helicopter ownership tempting. But they should first consider that it is expensive—and comes with a set of complications that even seasoned jet owners may not anticipate. "If you live near a small airport, and the places you like to go to have small airports, then you’re going to find that the price of entry is much lower with a fixed-wing jet or turboprop," Quinn says. Of course, for those who do not live or work near an airport, helicopter travel might be the fastest and most efficient way to go. Still, Quinn advises buyers to consider where they will land well in advance of the purchase. "One thing you have to be mindful of is that not all communities, even rural ones, are helicopter-friendly," he says. "I’ve seen people trying to use a helicopter in places where they end up creating so much noise that the regulatory folks get involved. By the time you try to get official permission to land or build a heliport, people are already angry."

According to Palmer, the same issues apply in densely populated urban areas, perhaps even more so. "I don’t land anywhere if there’s the slightest possibility of making someone uncomfortable," he says. That includes flying over highways where people might be tempted to look up rather than at the road. "You can cause accidents if you’re not careful."

The fact that helicopters are not rated for flight in inclement weather is another drawback. Some have no deicing or anti-icing equipment, which makes it necessary to cancel flights during freezing rain or any wet weather that might cause icy conditions or reduced visibility. What’s more, high heat tends to change landing conditions and flight conditions, particularly at higher altitudes, dramatically reducing the range of the aircraft.

Expenses Go Vertical
With these limitations in mind, potential buyers should first decide on the size of the helicopter they require, knowing that this bears most directly on cost. As with jets, the larger birds are more expensive—sometimes five times more than slightly smaller models. The most popular large twin-engine jet helicopter, the Sikorsky S-76C++, seats up to 12 and runs about $10 million. Few private owners will find many uses for such a large, expensive aircraft, unless they have a frequent, specific flight pattern, such as shuttling between two cities with several people or mountains of luggage in tow.

These costs may not seem high in relation to jet ownership, but buyers should keep in mind that a helicopter’s maximum range—even with a large Sikorsky—is less than 400 nautical miles, or 460 statute miles. Add fuel, several passengers and luggage, and that range decreases markedly. In high heat, when the air is thinner, range drops even more. In wet or inclement weather, when the helicopter needs to take on extra fuel in case of an emergency landing, the range shrinks further. On a per-mile or per-minute basis, helicopter travel is one of the most expensive forms of transportation. Travelers who know they will make trips of less than 300 nautical miles can reduce their purchase price by buying a much smaller aircraft, such as the Bell 407, which seats up to seven passengers and costs between $1 million and $2 million. Palmer’s Robinson R-44 is one of the least-expensive models and costs $400,000 new.

When he bought his first Robinson in 2005, Palmer had never piloted a helicopter, so he took private lessons from a flight instructor. "I didn’t want to spend time trying to hire someone and making sure they were available when I wanted to fly," he says.

Helicopter broker Stephen Johnson of Hillsboro Aviation in Hillsboro, Ore., says that many first-time owners, like Johnson, buy a helicopter even before they know how to fly it, and then sign up for flying lessons. "It’s a more emotional purchase than a fixed-wing aircraft. People buy them because they love the idea of flying in a helicopter," he says.

Palmer argues that flying one’s own aircraft justifies the added insurance expense. While most owner-pilots pay $20,000 or more a year to insure their aircraft, Palmer spends roughly half that on a policy offered by Pathfinder, a firm in the Bahamas that insures the current market value of Robinson helicopters at a steep discount. As his helicopter ages and loses its value, Palmer’s coverage shrinks. But for now, with a new R-44, his insurance savings prove formidable.

Purchase price, fuel costs and insurance premiums represent just the basic expenses for owners. Maintaining a helicopter is fabulously expensive, far more so than maintaining a jet. This disparity is partly due to the way a helicopter functions. An old adage posits that a helicopter is really just 10,000 different parts that happen to be flying in close formation. On a helicopter, one engine powers both the overhead rotor, which spins on a horizontal plane, and the tail rotor, which spins on a vertical plane. "In a helicopter, everything is working even when you’re on the ground," says Don Maciejewski, a helicopter pilot and a Jacksonville, Fla.–based aviation lawyer. "And routine maintenance is frequent and rigorous: 25-hour oil changes, 100-hour inspections, frequent main rotor and tail rotor inspections. Even if you have a new Sikorsky S-76, you can still get scheduled maintenance bills above $3,000."

Having more moving parts correlates with a higher likelihood that one of them will break down at any given time. As a result, the FAA requires rigorous inspections. A 100-hour inspection on a fixed-wing airplane is a small matter; on a helicopter, it’s a daylong event that can cost several thousand dollars. "It could be as much as 11 hours of maintenance per flight hour on a helicopter," Quinn says, "so you’d better have a strong checkbook."

Again, the size of the helicopter changes everything. Palmer’s Robinson is a turboprop and, like fixed-wing turboprop airplanes, less demanding to maintain, but it still requires meticulous 100-hour inspections. Palmer says that these run about $1,800 each, which means his scheduled maintenance costs run roughly $18 per hour of flight. He also combines his annual inspection with his 100-hour inspection. "Every time I take it in for a 100-hour, I tell them to go ahead and make it an annual inspection. It costs a few hundred dollars more, but I don’t have to worry about an annual inspection creeping up on me. I’m good for another 12 months," Palmer says. This helps keep his aircraft ready and waiting whenever he wants it. He also minimizes time in the shop by dropping the helicopter off at night. This enables the mechanics to work on it all the next day and have it finished that night.

Aging helicopters are considerably more expensive to maintain. Palmer’s Robinson R-44 can fly for 2,200 hours before undergoing a mandatory overhaul. This limit is known as TBO, or time before overhaul. An overhaul for his bird will likely cost at least $200,000 and take the helicopter out of operation for several months. Many helicopter components have a much shorter life than 2,200 hours; some must be replaced at 1,200 hours. All this implies that a helicopter with as little as 1,000 hours of flight time will become very expensive to maintain sooner rather than later.

The expense and rigorous inspection schedule required for helicopter owners has not dampened Palmer’s love of flying to work in the morning. "Flying in a helicopter is addictive," he says. Sometimes Palmer flies deliberately over the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and hovers so that he can watch the whales. Still, as much as he loves his Robinson, he doesn’t anticipate that he’ll keep it. "I trade cars almost every year, so I won’t hang onto this helicopter long," Palmer says. "When it gets up to 700 or 800 hours, I’ll probably trade it in. Rumor has it that Robinson will be coming out with a jet model. If it’s not crazy to maintain it, I’ll probably step up to that."

Fractional Helicopter Ownership
Because of the high acquisition and maintenance costs associated with helicopters, fractional ownership is becoming more popular for travelers, particularly those who want to own larger jet helicopters. Although none of the leading fractional jet companies offers helicopter ownership, many would-be owners seek out each other through brokers to mutually buy a single large helicopter. "If four or five guys go in on one of these, they can split the cost of the purchase and the cost of scheduled maintenance," says helicopter pilot and aviation lawyer Don Maciejewski. To make such a partnership work effectively, Maciejewski cautions that all would-be owners should have similar travel patterns. This type of ownership contract is easier to broker than those for fractional jet ownership, because only one mission profile exists for the helicopter.

Michelle Seaton is a private pilot and a senior correspondent for Worth.
 
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