# Helicopter airlines: what was the point? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945 "2025-08-11T22:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/21 "2025-08-12T08:14:31Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It is basically the dream of the ‘flying car’ except without the highly problematic elements of the volume of air traffic and constant overhead noise that would create. Plus, the simple fact that cars are poorly shaped for flight. The hard part of making flying cars has always been making them _look_ like cars; for everything else, we already have helicopters. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/22 "2025-08-12T08:21:33Z")
The bigger problem is that flying cars have to be flown safely by “normal” people. That excludes helicopters. In fact, that excludes aircraft of any kind that aren’t self-flying. Which has only recently become possible. The self-flying solves the air traffic problem–there’s plenty of space in the sky if you can use it efficiently. Noise might be a bigger issue but might be solvable. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/23 "2025-08-12T08:28:48Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The bigger problem is that flying cars have to be flown safely by “normal” people. That excludes helicopters. In fact, that excludes aircraft of any kind that aren’t self-flying. Which has only recently become possible. That was never a reason why they weren’t _possible;_ just why they were a bad idea. I mean we _could_ have allowed widespread use of helicopters by “normal people” , and in fact some old sci-fi assumed that was the future. It’s just that we collectively decided it wasn’t worth the inevitable death toll and falling debris from the sky. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/24 "2025-08-12T10:36:07Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Driving from NYC to the Hamptons, or Long Island to the Catskills is a long, tedious drive. But in a helicopter or drone would be short and sweet. Last ski season there was helicopter service from downtown to Windham Mountain club, the most northern ski resort in the Catskills , and I believe for a short time had regular service but moved to more on demand service. Flight was 45 minutes, instead of the about 2+ hour drive [https://www.powder.com/news/windham-helicopter-flights-new-york-city](https://www.powder.com/news/windham-helicopter-flights-new-york-city) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/25 "2025-08-12T10:40:37Z")
Well, I dispute the premise that the point of a flying car was to make it look like a car. Even Popular Mechanics, which covered every flying car ever conceived, didn’t demand that. Does this look like a car? [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/wZ4gqBt.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/wZ4gqBt) Aside from being vaguely rectangular in shape, no. It doesn’t even have wheels. Another favorite, the Moller SkyCar, also doesn’t look like a car: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/v4LueS6.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/v4LueS6) The “anyone can fly” and the “take off from your driveway/garage” are the important bits. Both were virtually impossible until recently–the first due to the lack of sophisticated computer control, and the second due to the lack of high-power, high-responsiveness electric motors that could VTOL without breaking a sweat. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/26 "2025-08-12T11:31:47Z")
A tiltrotor like the Osprey would, on the surface, seem workable as an alternative to having to drive to the airport, at least for relatively short flights (less than 500 miles), but of course they are tricky to fly, as the Osprey’s accident rate early on indicated. Likely to be noisy as fock too. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/27 "2025-08-12T11:38:39Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The self-flying solves the air traffic problem–there’s plenty of space in the sky if you can use it efficiently. The end of your sentence is the trouble. The backbone of airspace management in North America is from the 1950s, or is even uncontrolled in large areas and pretty much depends on pilots “seeing and avoiding”. Average people can’t even do that on roads. The computing tech to get this sort of operations may be possible today, but the infrastructure investment to get to the point of efficiency is a long way off. There’s been some token investment announcements for modernization but they are still focused on improving existing operations and not really making space for new modes of transportation. A lot of the eVtol companies claim to be targeting 2028 for type certification. I’m not following the regulatory space too closely, but superficially what I’ve noticed go by is still going to limit them to helicopter-like operations with trained pilots. It’ll be a long, long time before my neighbors fly out of their garage! Heck, even drone operations which are really accessible to anyone are being more tightly regulated, not opened up. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/28 "2025-08-12T11:39:37Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > $35 in today’s dollars. Which is still pretty cheap, but they probably had fairly low overhead at the time. For comparison, it looks like the cab fare today for the same route would be around $50. Yeah, at $35 for the helicopter, who wouldn’t? > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Does this look like a car? That was meant to be sarcastic, right? They just took a picture of a car and put vents on the hood and trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/29 "2025-08-12T13:15:50Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > We were at Republic Airport on Long Island and scheduled to fly empty to Teterboro (just outside NYC) to pick up passengers for a trip to Florida. …The same drive would have taken perhaps two hours in traffic. You, sir, are an optimist! Source: Veteran of almost that same drive for many years. I’d allocate three hours on a _Sunday_ afternoon. > [@mnemosyne](#): > > > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > > > The self-flying solves the air traffic problem–there’s plenty of space in the sky if you can use it efficiently. > > The end of your sentence is the trouble. The backbone of airspace management in North America is from the 1950s, or is even uncontrolled in large areas and pretty much depends on pilots “seeing and avoiding”. > > Average people can’t even do that on roads. > > The computing tech to get this sort of operations may be possible today, but the infrastructure investment to get to the point of efficiency is a long way off. There’s been some token investment announcements for modernization but they are still focused on improving existing operations and not really making space for new modes of transportation. > > A lot of the eVtol companies claim to be targeting 2028 for type certification. I’m not following the regulatory space too closely, but superficially what I’ve noticed go by is still going to limit them to helicopter-like operations with trained pilots. It’ll be a long, long time before my neighbors fly out of their garage! > > **Heck, even drone operations which are really accessible to anyone are being more tightly regulated, not opened up.** Waiting on the new proposed reg to come out (within days/weeks) but at first, Amazon & the other potential drone delivery services were lobbying for them to have right of way at low levels. Balloons can’t necessarily see a drone above them & can only control vertical in trying to avoid. The original proposal would have meant the end of the oldest, & prettiest, form of flight. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/30 "2025-08-12T13:48:39Z")
Yeah I listened in on part of the public consultation about that a couple of years ago and balloon operators were clearly overlooked in the drafting of that set of rules. Right now there’s also a wide web of Special Conditions and Exceptions being applied on different products that have different designs and operational profiles (the industry is moving towards performance based safety vs hard called design values) but some of those may not quite result in a level playing field. It’s a very fast moving industry, hard to keep up as it’s not my primary role at all. I mostly catch the “headlines” in the rulemaking emails. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/31 "2025-08-12T20:46:40Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > In NYC the Twin Towers had their own heliport: Own helipad, you mean, on top of WTC 2. Don’t recall how much lower it was than the surrounding promenade. Aside from trying it out, did helicopters ever land there? The $3.75 fare from the Ferry Bldg to SFO wouldn’t cover the cost of the flight, of course – probably the connecting airline had to contribute. Especially when the helicopter ride was free, as it could be if the passenger was connecting to an international flight. You’d think people would love to helicopter from Lafayette to SFO – passengers headed east would pay $4.75. But don’t think Lafayette lasted long. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/6230/6238334776_07ff5b3675_b.jpg "Sikorsky S-61N N307Y") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/34076827@N00/6238334776/) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/32 "2025-08-12T23:32:25Z")
For a period (in the 40s/50s, I believe) there was a helicopter shuttle from Alhambra California to LAX. Took me a minute to find an article. It’s pretty much forgotten local lore- [https://reallivingimages.fnistools.com/Uploads/Teams/413480/ContentFiles/alhambrasheliport.pdf#:\\\~:text=Alhambra%20did%20have%20some%20helicopter,construction%20in%20the%20late%201940’s](https://reallivingimages.fnistools.com/Uploads/Teams/413480/ContentFiles/alhambrasheliport.pdf#:%5C%5C%5C~:text=Alhambra%20did%20have%20some%20helicopter,construction%20in%20the%20late%201940%E2%80%99s). LA didn’t have the robust freeways at the time so if you were more inland–driving to Alhambra and then jumping on a helicopter for a quick trip to the airport might have seemed worth the effort rather than driving another 20 miles through the city. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/33 "2025-08-12T23:37:02Z")
One could argue that, given the amount of traffic they carry, LA still doesn’t have robust freeways. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/34 "2025-08-12T23:44:01Z")
It was worse back then. Mom and I would always take the helicopter from the Orange Show grounds in San Bernardino to LAX and vice versa whenever we went back to Texas to visit relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/35 "2025-08-12T23:44:46Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Took me a minute to find an article. It’s pretty much forgotten local lore- [https://reallivingimages.fnistools.com/Uploads/Teams/413480/ContentFiles/alhambrasheliport.pdf#:\~:text=Alhambra%20did%20have%20some%20helicopter,construction%20in%20the%20late%201940’s](https://reallivingimages.fnistools.com/Uploads/Teams/413480/ContentFiles/alhambrasheliport.pdf#:%5C%5C%5C~:text=Alhambra%20did%20have%20some%20helicopter,construction%20in%20the%20late%201940%E2%80%99s). A Sikorsky S-58! Starting one of those up was like turning over an old Chevy 3100; stand near the exhaust and get a faceful of soot. > [@Chronos](#): > > One could argue that, given the amount of traffic they carry, LA still doesn’t have robust freeways. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has plenty of freeways, which are wide and generally well-maintained; it just has terrible drivers and way too many people commuting from exburbs because the ‘local’ real estate is either too expensive to afford or too crime-ridden. It’s basically a case study in terrible urban planning and management. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945/36 "2025-08-13T00:25:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One could argue that, given the amount of traffic they carry, LA still doesn’t have robust freeways. Up until not that long ago there were regular scheduled passenger flights between Orange County Airport and LAX. Just estimating using Google Maps, that’s approximately a 35 mile flight, but apparently enough Orange County residents felt it was worth it to fly versus driving up the 405 to LAX. Those flights ended when SkyWest Airlines retired their last turboprops somewhere around 10-15 years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-airlines-what-was-the-point/1021945.md?page=1)