In 1995 we took a helicopter trip on the Big Island and really enjoyed it. The helicopter was a Bell Ranger and we really wanted to take another helicopter trip on Kauai using a Bell Ranger because everyone has a window seat. Most touring helicopters are French AStar's and some passengers have to watch the video, they don't have a window. We found a tour company that uses Bell Rangers and arranged a tour but there was a twist, they don't put doors on the helicopter so you have a very clear view. A bit scary, but we went for it.
Here is our first view of the helicopter:
We started by flying the Na Pali Coast, so these are shots from the air of the Na Pali Coast with the edge of the open door visible in some shots:
Here is the north coast and Princeville from the air (that is Diane in the jacket):
We landed and had lunch near this remote waterfall:
Once in the air we saw more waterfalls:
Here are some pictures of the top of the mountains, normally in clouds but we had a clear day:
Then more waterfalls:
And more waterfalls, the second one is the one from the movie Jurassic Park:
We came back across the south coastline and landed:
Here is the helicopter on the ground and our pilot giving the thumbs up:
It was a great trip and the wind pushed us into the helicopter so the doors were not needed. During the trip my camera battery went low so I changed it in the air, with Diane watching in horror since she was worried I would drop the camera. We did spend extra for the lunch stop, if we did it over again we would not have bothered since the time in the air was what we remembered.