Flynyon NYC Helicopter Review
Ok, I realize I might be more of a thrill-seeker than the average person, but LOOK at that photo! That’s a perspective you have to experience at least once.
If you’ve never heard of Flynyon, they are a helicopter company that boasts itself as “The Ultimate Helicopter Photo Experience”. They offer flights above New York City, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. You can choose to take a typical helicopter ride, as you would imagine it to be. However, if you want to take it to the next level, which is what I chose obviously, they also offer doors-off rides. Here is my honest review of my Flynyon doors-off helicopter ride above New York City.
We actually arrived at their HQ in New Jersey, a short ride from Manhattan. The pre-flight routine includes a weigh-in (be honest, it matters haha), thorough safety training, paperwork, and optional equipment rental (ex: GoPro, DSLR camera, etc.). The photo fanatic that I am, I chose to bring my own Nikon DSLR, plus a GoPro, plus using my iPhone. I recommend going with the GoPro; the wide view is exactly what I was going for. After getting into our harnesses and securing every camera, we took another short drive to the heliport. Our group was small, roughly five people plus the pilot.
This is the list of everything we were going to see on our flight:
- Statue of Liberty
- Empire State Building
- Chrysler Building
- Central Park
- Times Square
- Lower Manhattan
One aspect that I didn’t expect was that we were each given headphones, and the pilot narrated the flight with music and telling us where to look for each landmark. It made it so much more enjoyable and easy to snap photos. I felt very safe and comfortable the whole flight, even in the jump seat. Having the doors off made the experience feel so immersible and unique. The pilot told us when we were allowed to stick our feet out and when to bring them back in. Overall, the flight was about half an hour. As it was my first time in a helicopter, the biggest thing I was nervous about was how flying would feel. I’m not a fan of rollercoasters or anything like that, so I hoped it wouldn’t feel too unstable. I was so happy to find that it felt even more secure and stable than even an airplane.
And that’s it! We landed back at the heliport, got back to HQ, and went on with our day. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I would recommend it to anyone. There’s truly no better way to see New York, and I hope to fly with them again at one of their other destinations.
