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About Robinson Helicopters
“I think for us the saving grace that made the Robinson our first choice was the overhaul kits. Otherwise, I guess we would have gone for the Schweitzer. The Robinson kit made it viable for us to do our own overhauls in the field and minimize aircraft down time. I don’t think any other machine comes close in terms of reliability and cost effectiveness than the Robinson.
"We are still very excited about using the R-44 as a tour helicopter here for its cost effectiveness as other operators can’t match the lower cost level. What will be more exciting is the new R-66. That’s going to change things."
~ Ben Fouts |
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Not Always Smooth
“Quite often we are asked to do flower drops, typical for weddings and other celebrations, where the helicopter drops plumeria flowers from several hundred feet and it just rains flowers. It’s pretty neat as they are so light and they smell great. We got a call from a five-story Kona resort asking for a flower drop at their Christmas party. I had a lap full of flowers in a huge bag in the R-22. I was the “expert” because I had done this before. So I was giving instructions to my friend on how to fly in to prepare for the drop. He came in just over the palm trees abreast the fourth floor of the resort, we got over the party and I tossed all the flowers out and watched them fall, but they were not spreading out and falling gracefully. Instead the people were scattering rather than racing to catch them. The flowers just fell like flower bombs and did not float. Something was wrong…it was not working well.
“Then I noticed that we were too low: down wash from the rotor was overturning the plastic tables and chairs, tablecloths were whipping up all over the place, skirts were being whipped up, cups and food spilling. People were scattering everywhere and I had this sick feeling in my stomach. So we flew back with our tails between our legs. I learned that you really need to start at 300 feet, drop a few flowers and see where they go, then adjust your height and drop point accordingly. The flowers should fan out and float down gently. That was the last flower drop I ever did. I now allow the other guys to do it right."
~ Ben Fouts |
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Mauna Loa Helicopters’ roots began with a company called Rainbow Pacific Helicopters, a small business that began operating from the Honolulu International Airport in 1992. The owners, Marc Senn and Florian Leibermeister, believed that the Robinson R-22 was the best training helicopter available and, in fact, were the Robinson Helicopter dealers for the State of Hawaii. Rainbow Pacific also did tours and charters in the company’s R-44s.
It became evident to both gentlemen that helicopter flight training and conducting aerial tours were separate and distinct businesses, so they looked around and eventually chose Kona airport on the Big Island as a base for their training operations and established Mauna Loa Helicopters in 1995. Rainbow Pacific Helicopters remained in Honolulu as a tour and charter company. |
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In 1996, Illinois native and current University of Hawaii student Ben Fouts, took an intro flight with Rainbow Pacific Helicopters and was sold on the idea of becoming a professional pilot. In 1997, Fouts withdrew from UH and finished his professional helicopter flight training at Sierra Academy of Aeronautics in Oakland, California. He subsequently became an instructor for Sierra and, in 1999, Marc and Florian invited their former student back to manage Mauna Loa Helicopters in Kona.
Marc and Florian sold the company to a Colorado businessman who kept Fouts on as manager and sold the business to Fouts less than a year later. |
Here’s more history in Ben’s own words:
| “I grew up on a farm in Illinois where we had ag-spraying helicopters operating and the pilot was a friend of my dad’s. After he was done spraying he would take me and my brothers for a little flight. For some reason I never knew that you could fly a helo outside of the military. After high school I was going to go to West Point but I ended up going to the Coast Guard Academy instead because of the smaller school setting and the chance to be involved in search and rescue. So I went off to New London and was all set to start a career flying for the Coast Guard but they found out that I had a pre-existing medical condition, one that they should have caught. I had an unstable vertebra in my back. So after a month there I had to pack my bags and go home. That was it, my career was over before it started. What a bummer. |
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“Then I found out that the University of Hawaii tuition was about the same as tuition at Northern Illinois University, so that’s what brought me to Hawaii. It was while I was studying at UH that an ad in the Yellow Pages caught my eye. It said, “Learn to Fly a Helicopter.” I thought, “You gotta be kidding.” I didn’t know that helicopter schools existed in the civilian world.
“After an introductory flight over Waikiki my life changed and I spent all my college money on flight lessons, but that ran out pretty quick. I then followed this girl --- who is now my wife --- to Oakland, California where there was a flight school that had financing available. I ended up finishing my training there and getting all the qualifications I needed to start my career as a pilot. |
“After getting my ratings, the people who owned the flight school in Hawaii asked me if I was interested in coming back and managing the school. So I took the job and two weeks later I was back in the Bay Area to marry Adrianna. She then joined me in Hawaii and I began to manage the school where I’d first started my training in February, 1999.
“There were some pretty lean times in the beginning, waiting for the phone to ring. I ended up bringing my Sony Playstation to work to pass the time between giving lessons to my two students.
“In 2000, the owners sold the school to a man from Colorado who six months later decided to sell the business to me. There were some lean times in those early days, a lot of days with macaroni and cheese, and an incredible woman who supported this reckless decision. But I have been blessed from the outset by a lot of higher paying jobs like photo shoots. These helped me pay the bills and over time we slowly grew and kept expanding. In 2003 we opened an office on Kauai and started offering training there, and in 2004 we opened in Honolulu." |
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“We often do night training over the Big Island and always during a full moon. When you come across a lava flow glowing at night it is simply gobsmacking. The glow is visible from miles away, an eerie orange glow in the distance, the gets more and more intense as you close in on it. Sure you can see the glow in the day but to see it at night is overwhelming. |
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Helicopter Flight Training had Come Full Circle Back to Honolulu.
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“Now we are moving into scenic tours and charter tours, offering more than flight training. Our biggest advantage here is the terrain as it’s so varied. We have 9 out of 11 climate zones in Hawaii. From a training point of view, we get to expose our students early on to all the variables they are going to see. Right next to the airport in Kona we have an 8,000-foot mountain to train on, plus its 360 days a year of VFR flying. We are pretty lucky. |
“The more you fly here the more you appreciate the wonders of nature. You never tire of seeing an active volcano pumping lava into the ocean, or the 2,000-foot high waterfalls. It’s diverse and extreme and eye-popping. The only two climates we don’t have here are the Arctic and the rolling sand desert dunes and who wants that anyway? In Honolulu we have Class B airspace so the students can learn about flying in congested airspace right here.
“Each island has a unique personality. I love the Big Island for its open spaces and the volcano, but my favorite without a doubt is Kauai. It’s just breathtaking, plus it’s a fantastic laid back lifestyle." |
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