Ardmore Helicopters Ltd

The Ardmore Helicopters website displays Heliflite Charter and Training, a helicopter charter and flight training operation based at Ardmore Airport in Auckland, New Zealand. Its facilities, including a lecture room, operations area, briefing room, administration office, reception and hangar, have been assessed by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand as suitable for an air transport and training operation.

Charter and scenic flights

Heliflite is certified by the CAA as a Part 135 air operator. It offers Auckland city scenic flights from $175 per person, plus Waiheke wonder, Clevedon Valley views, heli-dining flights to vineyards and restaurants such as Stonyridge, Mudbrick, Poderi Crisci and Cable Bay on Waiheke, a Coromandel picnic and Bombay dining. It also flies proposals and wedding transfers, and says its team can plan fully customised charters.

Training

• Trial flights, priced from $395
• Private pilot and commercial pilot courses, and instructor rating training
• International students
• Specialty courses: Robinson Safety Awareness Training, night training, sling rating, mountain flying, type ratings and foreign licence conversion

Students can learn about maintenance as well as flying, and the Part 135 charter operation gives them a chance to see commercial work.

Fleet

• Robinson R22 Beta (ZK-HFB), two seats
• Robinson R22 Beta II (ZK-IFB), two seats
• Schweizer/Hughes 300 (ZK-HVK), three seats
• Robinson R44 Raven II (ZK-HPA), four seats

Maintenance sister company

Heliflite Ltd, the sister company next door, is a long-standing CAA approved Part 145 maintenance facility. It is the Australasian distributor for Robinson, Kopter and XTI Aircraft and the Australasian service centre for Leonardo, and it maintains the charter and training fleet. The charter and training base is at 57 Victa Lane and sales and service is at 168 Kitty Hawk Lane, both at Ardmore Airport. The senior team includes Brett Sanders as chief executive and operations manager, and Ryan Trounce as chief flying instructor.