American Helicopters

Whether it be an awesome date or a way to invest an hour or two on something a little different, spending an hour with American Helicopters is the way to go. You can read some of the other reviews as to how things flow, but I can tell you that having spent some time with other flight training schools, AH was great. From a flexible booking for our 20+ minute helicopter ride to our pilot (Ryan) instilling huge amounts of confidence and comfort in our adventure through his safety orientation and attention to detail, I would definitely recommend American Helicopters for a cool outing or for some more comprehensive flight training.

Similar experience to Jane’s review, except that they gave us the SD video card. as well as the t-​shirts and certs before we left – perhaps they figured out trying to email such large videos is more trouble than it’s worth.
Andrew was an excellent, friendly pilot, who helped talk me through my anxiety at being in such an exposed bubble, since I’m pretty deathly afraid of heights. I was determined to conquer this and cross off a bucket list item, and I’m still standing – yay! I was pretty anxious throughout, but not due to anything Andrew did. We had a beautiful ride over some gorgeous landscape, and I may even be persuaded to come back for their 1-​hour ride over Shenandoah come Fall, though I’ll probably sit in back for that long of a ride.
Really great experience overall, with friendly, professional service from top to bottom. The young woman who works the phones was great, too – sorry I didn’t catch her name!

For Valentine’s Day, my girlfriend got me tickets for a helicopter ride at Manassas Airport. We waited for a while until the weather got warmer and decided that it would be a great way to celebrate my 30^th birthday in June. When my girlfriend called to make an appointment, they were already booked for the day. But when she mentioned that it was for my 30^th, they kindly opened up some time for us to do the ride in the morning.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the pilot (Kim) and she led us to the helicopter where she explained the safety rules and the meaning of the main instruments. Just before we started the ride, Kim offered to take several pictures of us and let us know that there was a video camera in the cabin that would take HD video of us and the scenery. This was a pleasant surprise — we didn’t think this was apart of the package.
When we started our journey we were a little nervous because of how the wind was pulling the helicopter back and forth — but as we got further up into the sky, it wasn’t as noticeable. During the ride, Kim was very informative and pointed out several landmarks around the town. She even showed us where Blue Heron nests were located near a local river, which was very cool to see.
When we finished the ride, we were also given certificates and T-​shirts — this was another surprise to us and were great souvenirs to remember the day. We had an awesome experience here and highly recommend anyone to try this.
The only negative that we have to mention is that we were promised to have our video emailed to us a week after the ride, but to this day we have yet to receive it. Even so, this was a 5 star experience.

Today, I decided to see what it takes to become a helicopter pilot. I signed up for an 30 minute adventure flight and as soon as I walked into the door, both a customer service representative (I believe her name was Joelle) and a manager (Mrs. Rychlik) greeted me. After MAYBE 2 minutes of waiting after, my flight instructor (Adam) walked into the room and told me that the R22 was ready to go. Being a very polite, professional individual, we discussed our different experiences in aviation (fixed wing v. rotorcraft) as we walked to the helicopter. A quick preflight inspection later, and we were up in the air. Being a fixed wing pilot, the view being that close to the ground was a bit unsettling but Adam explained and demonstrated the maneuverability and safety associated with a Robinson Helicopter. Once we were cleared for pattern work, he had us ascend to about 800 ft AGL where he passed the controls over to me. Definitely thought I did okay being my first time in a helicopter! after about 30 exciting minutes in the air, we landed back down on the ramp and I couldn’t believe how quickly time flew by! I had an absolute blast and cannot wait to train for a helicopter add-​on once I complete my fixed wing training. The Staff and Instructors at American Helicopters are 110% top notch. Everyone was incredibly friendly and accommodating to any questions I asked. I highly recommend an adventure flight with this particular flight school! There is absolutely no way you could ever regret it!
Thanks again American Helicopters!!!