Helicopter Through Grand Canyon

At 2:30 in the afternoon we were picked up at our hotel and taken to the private airport just off off the strip.  We checked in and then watched a short safety video about getting in and out of a helipoter.  Daph and I were then paired up with a two other people, a couple of automotive plant buiders that were in town for the long weekend.  The four of us then headed out to our Chopper :)

It had enough room for 6 passengers so we all got our own windows.  Daph and I sat up front beside the pilot and the two guys sat in the back.  Our pilot was a nice guy from California who worked in Vegas for several days straight and then went back to california where I assume his wife was.

He started the engines and we gently lifted off the tarmac.  We hovered about 10 feet of the ground did a 90 degree turn and then slowly moved forward along a marked path towards a clear section of the runway.  It was amazing how much control the pilot had over the helicopter.  He could turn it in any direction and move as fast or as slow as he wanted.  Once we were on the clear section we started to rise and speed up.  We quickly rose up above Vegas.

------ to be continued .........