Ride of the Helicopter

On our way to Eric's wedding in Las Vegas, we crossed the Hoover dam. I was going to stop and maybe go on a tour but the place was a zoo, traffic was slow, etc. As we got to the other side I saw a sign that said "Helicopter rides $29", So I pulled over.

The $29 ride was only 2 minutes long, but they had a 5 minute ride for $59 that takes you over the lake and the dam, as well as the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge being constructed. The third option was a $99 dollar 10 minute ride. We chose the middle one, I grabbed my Sony bloggie, and my Sony HDR-XR150 handycam and started filming with both as soon as I could. You will note that towards the end Kathi and I are wearing what look like fanny packs, but they are not, they are flotation devices. We surmised their purpose was to make the recovery of our mangled bodies easier in the event of a horrific crash in the lake (I digress).

Kathi sat up front as I was too fat for the weight and balance. I did my best to film whatever was interesting with 2 cameras, and try to see the sites.

Kathi later said "Everyone should get to ride in a limousine that isn't taking you to a funeral, and a helicopter that isn't air-evacing you to a hospital." Well I haven't rode in a limousine yet.

To make the video, I synced up the 2 video streams in Sony Vegas Pro 7. and then chose the more interesting parts of the 2 streams. I chose the music for obvious reasons (we're in a helicopter what else would we use).

The helicopter is a Bell 206 Jetranger (thank you Flyfrontier259). If you think the ride is expensive, understand that they cost around $500 per hour to operate. The company is Dam helicopter, inc. http://www.damhelicopterco.com/. The helicopter was very small inside. There were 4 passenger seats and it was about as roomy as my wife's Ford Focus. There were no other passengers.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• helicopter
• ride
• hoover
• dam
• jet
• ranger
• flight
• fly
• flying
• bloggie
• bell
• 206
• lake
• mead
• handycam
• HDR-XR150
• Mike
• O'Callaghan
• Pat
• Tillman
• Memorial
• Bridge
• hd
• high
• definition
• widescreen

[paulgrem]

You might try making a 2nd copy of this video in the YouTube Editor. It has a new feature that will stabilize shaky video. It works pretty well and there is very little quality loss. You can try a level above the default 4 and see if you like it. (The original is not touched.)

[scotydo1]

Great Video and awesome music selection! Thanks! I can't wait to see it. I'm going next week.

[tccitian]

Great chopper fly by of bridge and dam. Note whitish band that is just above water line on Lake Mead. Band top - high water mark. What it means is that potable water supply for millions is in serious jeopardy - see either NY Times article online dated 08/13/2010 & titled Lake Meads Water Level Plunges As 11-year Drought Lingers or Time magazine online dated 10/18/2010 & titled Water: Lake Mead is at Record Low Levels. Is the Southwest Drying Up? for details.

[deezynar]

It's strange, the dam is huge but the new bridge makes it look small.

[7hillsperson]

Saves me the $ of buying a ticket. Actually this is a good video :)

[sideslide23]

I sort of got Motion sickness from watching this otherwise this video was great thank for the ride.

[bigdogcadena]

The video is great quality

[FlyFrontier259]

wow much better video!