Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours? Read This Review.

Papillon Helicopters is famous for it's Grand Canyon South Rim tours. I was in charge of the family's canyon trip this holiday season. Obviously, I booked with Papillon. Here is a fast analysis of my trip:

There was six among us. We stayed at El Tovar in Grand Canyon Village, which is located in the boundaries of the National Park. I highly recommend this hotel. It can be pricey, however it's worth it as you are mere seconds from the rim's edge.

I believe you can make plans with Papillon Helicopters to get picked up. Otherwise, you are able to set up a pick up at the transportation desk inside the Bright Angel Lodge. I rented a Chevy Tahoe for the trip. I packed the gang inside and made the 10-minute drive to Grand Canyon Airport.

Grand Canyon Airport is situated just outside Tusayan. It's hard to miss it. There's a lot of activity. Helicopters and planes arrive and depart from it often. The Papillon terminal is the largest. I parked the SUV and got us checked in (by the way, the coffee there is terrific!).

The atmosphere is quite friendly. I met plenty of passengers from the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. The main receiving area is comfortable. We were up late yesterday evening so I slipped in a power nap. I woke up to my sister tugging on my coat and telling me the time had come to fly.

Choppers hold up to six people (should you weigh more than 275 pounds you may be asked to buy what they call a "comfort seat."). Since this was family, I upgraded everyone to the EcoStar 130, which has 25% more cabin room, theater-style seating, and a 180-degree wraparound windshield for better views.

Furthermore, I reserved us on the extended flight. Papillon Helicopter's standard South Rim heli trip is 30 minutes. That's plenty for lots of people. I calculate that what you see 30 minutes would take a few days on the ground. But I wanted more (it isn't every day you fly the Grand Canyon), so I went with package that gave us between 45-50 minutes of airtime.

Take off was amazing. Our helicopter, nose pointed forward, blasted off the runway making a low-altitude flight over Kaibab National Forest, which hosts the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine on earth. In 10 mins, we said good-bye to the edge and found ourselves front and center in the Dragoon Corridor, the broadest ,deepest part of the canyon.

It was an amazing sight. The Colorado River was below us. So was the Temple of Ra. The buttes and spires were surreal. There were no clouds on the horizon. Our pilot explained that the visibility was about 140 miles as opposed to 30 for people on the ground! The chopper powered on to the stately North Rim. Here we turned back, taking in Hopi Point and Grand Canyon Village while we made our descent.

Papillon Helicopters records all flights using video cameras on the exterior and interior of the helicopter. I suggest you obtain a copy of your trip on DVD. I did. The quality was great. I made duplicates for all of us. They loved it. Definitely an excellent keepsake of our chopper tour.

Papillon Helicopters Grand Canyon South Rim tour gets two thumbs up from us. This was a tour of the South Rim. I'm glad we did the prolonged flight. The extra airtime was worth every penny. Our pilot was great and amused us with facts and anecdotes of the area. He made the destination come alive for us. This was definitely a trip highlight for my clan and me. We'll definitely be doing this air tour again.