Colorado > Boulder > Flying Experience Gifts Experiences

Learn to Fly a Helicopter

Broomfield, CO

From: $295

Item #: AIR-DEN-0017

(22 Reviews)

Discover the unparalleled thrill of flying a helicopter when you learn to fly near Denver!

Fly with an FAA Certified Flight Instructor
Start with 30 minutes of ground instruction followed by a pre-flight briefing
Take to the air for approximately 40 minutes and practice skills such as straight and level flying, climbing, descending and hovering
Enjoy incredible views of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder, Denver and more!

From: $295

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Overview

Discover the unparalleled thrill of flying a helicopter when you learn to fly near Denver!

Fly with an FAA Certified Flight Instructor
Start with 30 minutes of ground instruction followed by a pre-flight briefing
Take to the air for approximately 40 minutes and practice skills such as straight and level flying, climbing, descending and hovering
Enjoy incredible views of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder, Denver and more!

Full Description

Location

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport - Broomfield, CO

Availability

When Do I Choose A Date?

If giving as a gift, your recipient can choose a date at their convenience; otherwise, you can choose one after checkout.

Year-Round:
Daily - 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Important Details

Essential Information

To fly in the R-22 helicopter the student must weigh no more than 185 lbs
To fly in the R-44 helicopter the student cannot exceed 280 lbs
Valid government issued photo ID is required
Participants must be 16 years or older
Parental consent form must be signed for students under 18 years old
No experience necessary

Duration

Participants can expect to be at the airport for 1.5 hours with approximately 40 minutes of flight time.

Experience Provider Info

Complete information for your Experience Provider, including contact information, will be included on your booking confirmation email once you or your gift recipient have scheduled the experience. Our Product Management team handpicks top-rated experience providers, removing the guesswork for you and ensuring your peace of mind.

Maximum Participants

This experience is for 1 participant only.

Spectators

Spectators are welcome to observe take off and landing from a viewing area located at the heliport.

Weather Dependent

This experience is weather dependent. Always contact the experience provider with any questions regarding weather conditions. In the event of inclement weather, your pilot will work with you to reschedule your experience.

What To Wear

Wear comfortable clothing appropriate for weather conditions; closed toed shoes required. Loose clothing is not permitted.

COVID-19 Safety

For this experience, our partners are taking extra measures to ensure that they help prevent the potential spread of COVID-19. They are sanitizing all helicopters between flights. Additionally, hand sanitizer will be available for use. Our partners kindly ask that you do not attend if you are feeling unwell, or have a known exposure within the last 14 days. These Covid-19 safety measures are subject to change.

FAQs

What type of helicopter is used for the lesson?

Depending on the option selected, you will fly in a Robinson R-22 or a Robinson R-44 helicopter. Each of the helicopters are maintained to the highest standard, reliable and unique.

Are there any age, height or weight restrictions?

Participants must be at least 16 years of age. Anyone under the age of 18 must have parental consent. There are no height requirements. Participants that weigh more than 185 lbs pounds must choose the Robinson R-44 flight option. Students must not exceed 280 lbs for the R-44.

What if the weather is bad?

Safety is the top priority of your flight instructor. In the event of inclement weather, you will work directly with your flight instructor to reschedule. Always contact the experience provider on the day of your flight lesson with any questions regarding weather concerns.

Do I need any experience?

No experience is necessary! This is considered an introductory flight lesson.

Returns, Exchanges & Cancellations

Returns
Experience Vouchers that have not been redeemed can be returned hassle-free within 30 days. All refunds will be made to the original purchaser.
Exchanges
Experience Vouchers that have not been redeemed can be exchanged for anything else in our marketplace at any time. If you choose to exchange for an experience that costs more, you'll simply have to pay the difference. If you choose to exchange for an experience that costs less, you'll have a credit towards your next booking with Virgin Experience Gifts.

Cancellation Policy

Once you have scheduled a date and received a booking confirmation, no refunds will be given. Rescheduling is allowed up to 72 hours prior to your experience. Failure to appear on your booked date or to reschedule at least 72 hours prior to your booked date will result in the loss of the value of your experience. In the event your experience is canceled due to inclement weather you will reschedule your experience directly with your experience provider.

Other Boulder Experiences

Customer Reviews

This experience has a customer rating of 5
based on 22 reviews.

View More Reviews:

Pilot was incredibly patient. It was very mentally stimulating and I’m excited to do it again. Thank you! This was an awesome birthday present!

— Marlōn H | May 14, 2022

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hey Marlon! Thanks so much for the review, it sounds like you had a blast! I'll be sure to pass your praise along to our partners - they're so comforting and kind, aren't they? You flew a plane! That's awesome. Great work getting out there and giving it a go. Cheers, Jake.

Heli-ops at Rocky Mtn Metro Airport were excellent, professional, great pre-flight briefing, fantastic flight (hands-on!) and very well maintained facility. Great experience that really gives you a feel for what learning to fly a helicopter will be all about....now to save the money to actually follow-up!

— Tim B | Apr 29, 2022

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there, Tim! That is so wonderful to hear! I always love how accommodating our flight partners are and how they're able to really personalize the experience to whatever you're looking to get out of it. I'm sure you did an awesome job up in the air - hope hovering wasn't too bad, that's always real tough! We'd love to get you out again soon. Cheers, Jake.

It was a wonderful surprise and experience. The instructor and owner couldn’t have been any more professional and kind. Thank you!

— Todd R | Apr 09, 2022

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hello Todd, What an amazing birthday surprise to receive! You truly have an amazing gift giver in your life. I hope you were able to enjoy the scenic views of Colorado. We truly work with the best of the best and I will be sure to pass along your kind words to our partners. Glad you had a great experience and hope we have an opportunity to get you on another adventure! Thanks, Ryan

The Folks at the "Learn to fly a Helicopter" were over the top friendly and helpful. Really a great group of people. I do have time in a fixed wing aircraft as a private pilot, so I do have an idea of what is involved when it comes to flying. The only issue I had was the actual flight time. Most of the pre-flight inspection had already been done before the orientation. It still took about 20 minutes to finish the pre-flight and add oil, and warm up the aircraft. That is understandable. I would rather be thorough and never in a hurry when it comes to checking your aircraft on a pre-flight, but Actual flight time was only 32 minutes. Then another 10 minutes after landing for cool down. I really expected to be in the air for an hour. That simply was not the case. The instructor had the aircraft about half the time we were in the air. I realize you cant learn to fly a helicopter in a half hour or an hour, and I'm not a helicopter pilot... yet, but you cant learn to fly at all, by going hands off. Over all it was a good experience, but a little pricey for amount of time spent in the air.

— MIKE S | Nov 01, 2021

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Mike, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts on this experience, as your honest feedback is so appreciated! Wow, I think it's so admirable that you're expanding your pilot skillset to include flying a helicopter. I respect your ambition! It's really great to hear that the staff you encountered were so friendly and helpful as that truly makes an already exciting experience that much better. I completely understand your disappointment in feeling as if your flight time could have been longer; however, I truly hope your time in the sky was memorable nonetheless. I wish you the best of luck on your journey to becoming a helicopter pilot and hope we see you out on another adventure! Warmly, Courtney

Steve was a great instructor. It was definitely one of the highlights of my life. If you love helicopters, this is for you.

— Nadine M | Mar 03, 2021

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Nadine, This is the best thing that we've read all day! Cheers to both you & Steve for being a part of something so legendary. Cheers, Kasia

Instructor Jed was awesome! I really enjoyed the flight and getting to try various aspects of piloting was a lot of fun and gave me a really good introduction to how helicopters work! I also really enjoyed the pre-flight briefing as well even though I know that is a newer requirement.

— Josh D | Dec 06, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there Josh! Thank you so much for giving us all of these awesome details! We love that you had so much fun on your birthday surprise experience. Courtney must really know you well to get you such a cool and exciting gift, especially one where you got to learn a new skill! Jed is truly so great, and we are happy to pass along the kind words. I'm thrilled to hear that the entire experience, including the pre-flight briefing was well enjoyed! Best, Sophia

Great experience! If I was 50 years younger I'd sign up for lessons.

— David L | Nov 29, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there David, Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I love that you had so much fun. It means the world to hear that you got out to try something new and had a blast doing it! (It is never to late to take up a new hobby!) Best, Sophia

Overall great experience. The guys running the facility were nice and professional. My only critique was that it said that he would be in the air for about 40 min, however it seemed to be cut just a bit shorter than that.

— Michael L | Nov 24, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there Alyssa, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! We love that our partners made sure that the entire experience felt professional, and that they were friendly from start to finish. We will be sure to pass along the kind words! Time surely does fly when you're having fun, and I am sure Michael loved every minute of this incredible gift! Best, Sophia

This experience was great! The heli team was friendly, very safe, funny, and excited to have us there. I highly recommend this experience!

— Anna O | Oct 12, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there Ryan, I am so glad to know that your experience was so stellar! Our partners are truly top of the line and we love that you got to share in their expertise, humor, and passions for a day. In such unprecedented times, we love to hear that you felt safe all while having fun! A big thank you for the recommendation! Best, Sophia

Jed S. was awesome. From pre-flight to landing he left no detail uncovered, He let me start taking some of the control just after take off and throughout the flight showed me how it all came together. It was a great time and I highly recommend Jed and Cloud 9. David C.

— David B | Aug 12, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi David, Jed is really one stellar pilot! I love that he was thorough, fun, and really made sure every step was informative. It is such a cool and unique experience to be able to take the controls and fly an aircraft, and it sounds like you really enjoyed every minute of it! We will be sure to pass along the kind words to let Jed and our partners know how much you appreciated the experience. A big thank you for the recommendation! We love to hear that! Best, Sophia

Super easy booking experience. So much value for the experience we purchased. We had a great time and have already recommended to our friends. Thank you!

— Tim M | Jul 15, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi, Lauren! I am so happy to hear you were able to soak up every last bit of your experience! It sounds like your booking process went just about as smoothly as your flight did! In all seriousness, thanks for taking the time to write a great review and for recommending it to your friends - it means a lot! Best, Jake.

I was a complete novice going into this, learned a lot and had a blast. Jed was a great instructor. Thanks!

— Ryan K | Sep 04, 2019

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Brena, thanks for the awesome review! Jed is pretty great so we're glad you had such a blast. Have a great weekend! Kindly, Kelsey

Great instructor!

— Michael S | Sep 02, 2019

Had a great flight!

— Robert W | Jul 17, 2019

An excellent, informative, and instructional experience !

— David B | Jul 18, 2019

David was the instructor who worked with me. Very professional and easy to work with. Had a great time and got a good amount of stick time to try out a new flying skill.

— Craig B | Jul 07, 2019

It was great. I received very precise instruction and had a wonderful time. It was my first experience flying in a helicopter. I would definitely love to attempt it again sooner than later.

— Matthew F | Jun 02, 2019

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Matthew, we're so thrilled that your first experience flying in a helicopter was so wonderful. We'd love to see you back soon for another attempt! Have a great weekend! Cheers, Kelsey

Can I give more stars? The most amazing birthday present, Ever!

— Vicki G | Apr 08, 2019

Well if you’ve never flown a helicopter I don’t know what to say... “do it!” But seriously it was a fantastic experience, highly recommend.

— Garrett F | Jan 04, 2019

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Kayla, I think "do it!" definitely covers our feelings towards learning to fly a helicopter as well! Thanks for sharing your experience with us and Happy New Year! Best, Kelsey

The experience was incredible, and the instructor was wonderful. Helicopters have always fascinated me. There's just something about them which seems so much more incredible than airplanes. I can't explain it. Taking off vertically, slowly, just feels amazing, almost as if it shouldn't even be possible. What a rush it was to not only be able to experience that, but to be somewhat in control of it! And then, once we were in the air, to be able to take full control was unbelievable and fascinating. I cannot believe how delicate helicopter controls are. No amount of explaining it would've been enough; I needed to feel it for myself. Once back on the ground, my instructor continued to be fantastic, offering to take my picture with my wife (who hadn't flown) next to the helicopter, giving a tour of the hanger, chatting about other helicopters, the industry, and more. Really just such a wonderful afternoon. And special thanks to Cloud9 for existing. The idea of giving experiences as gifts is a great one. I'm glad my wife found you.

— Jeff J | Oct 23, 2018

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Jeff thanks so much for the amazing review and we are so glad your wife found us too!!! Being in a helicopter truly is an inexplicable experience so I can only imagine how you felt getting to LEARN how to fly one! You are so right though, taking off vertically shouldn't be possible but we're so happy it is and we're even happier to know that you were able to feel the rush of flying a helicopter. We would LOVE to get you and your wife out on more incredible experiences so just let us know when you're ready for the next adventure!!! Cheers, Kelsey

Had an outstanding experience with Colorado Heli-Ops. Grace was patient, encouraging and a great coach.

— MICHAEL W | Jul 09, 2018

This was an excellent tutorial and beginning flight. I enjoyed it immensely. And the photos were a bonus!

— Bob N | Jun 28, 2016

Learn to Fly a Helicopter