New chopper intensifies Strip tour industry

Tuesday, July 28, 1998 | 11:15 a.m.

A glass-bottomed Sikorsky S55QT is now the fourth player in the competitive Las Vegas Strip helicopter tour industry.

Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, operated by Kirkland, Wash.-based Papillon Airways Inc., offers 30-minute Strip tours with the nine-passenger Sikorsky helicopter.

Claiming to be the largest and quietest chopper on the Strip, the aircraft originally was designed to simulate a Soviet attack aircraft for U.S. Army exercises.

Papillon is challenging three established companies that have paved the way for Strip tours with night flights and midair weddings.

Rick Carrick, general manager of Papillon in Las Vegas, said his helicopter has evolved over time from an Army utility chopper developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s to a civilian passenger aircraft used by Los Angeles Airways and Sabina Airlines.

The military phased out the aircraft in 1962, but Orlando Helicopters adapted the Sikorsky design and in the mid-1980s was contracted to develop a Soviet attack helicopter look-alike for training. The rotor system was modified to increase speed and lift capability, but the company unexpectedly developed a new benefit -- a decrease in flight noise levels.

Orlando engineers set out to determine how quiet they could make the helicopter, which prompted Papillon to get interested in it. Noise is an extremely sensitive issue for tour operations in the Grand Canyon.

In 1996, Papillon contracted with Vertical Aviation technologies to build the S55QT (the QT stands for "quiet technology"), adding some other air tour features -- oversized windows and a 2-by-4-foot glass floor section. Company officials did not disclose the cost of adding the custom features or the helicopter.

Carrick said company officials repeatedly dropped a 600-pound weight on the glass floor as a safety test and it never cracked.

The quiet technology on the helicopter has a drawback. The aircraft flies 30 to 40 mph slower than most helicopters in service. But because it's a tour operation, Carrick looks at the slower speed as a plus.

Papillon and two other tour companies take off from the executive terminal at McCarran International Airport, at Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane, and head north along the Strip. Passengers go eye-to-eye with the Stratosphere Tower observation deck, passing over downtown before returning back along the Strip.

Papillon has packaging relationships with other tour companies and local resorts and offers the Strip flight for $65. Charters, in-flight weddings and special package deals involving Grand Canyon tours also are available through the company.

The new helicopter marks Papillon's arrival to the Las Vegas market. The company operates 24 helicopters capable of carrying four to six passengers from the company's Grand Canyon base at Tusayan, Ariz.

While the size of the helicopter is unmatched in Las Vegas, Papillon's competitors counter with on-Strip locations, lower fares, aircraft they say are more comfortable and door-to-door service for passengers.

Gerald Shlesinger, owner and president of Las Vegas Helicopters, said he has experience working in his favor, having executed more than 100,000 Strip flights in five years in his stars-and-stripes-emblazoned fleet.

"We're the king of the Strip rides," Shlesinger said, adding that he also operates two limousines that pick up passengers and deliver them to a helipad located on Las Vegas Boulevard near Harmon Avenue, the only Strip launching point.

Las Vegas Helicopters offers the Strip ride on its two helicopters for $45. The aircraft also have been the setting for more than 400 midair weddings. Shlesinger said 2 1/2 years ago, his company lined up nine consecutive weddings to get a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Two other companies operate from McCarran's executive terminal.

Heli USA Inc.'s five-helicopter fleet is dominated by A-Star craft, which marketing and sales manager Kim McCardle calls "the Rolls Royce of helicopters." The six passenger seats all face forward.

The company has offered flights for about four years and offers Strip flights for $65.

Sundance Helicopters, which has been in operation for more than 13 years, has a fleet of eight aircraft and offers the Strip flight for $69 per person. The company has Bell Jet Rangers, Long Rangers and A-Stars.