Bigfork helicopter tours go sky high

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

As far as jobs go, Jesse Norton can't complain. The vast majority of his customers are completely impressed by the service he provides and he gets to spend his days doing something he'd like to do anyway.

Norton, who operates Sky Fly'n Helicopter Tours, parks his bird in a field at the corner of Highways 82 and 35 for a few months each summer and waits for folks to stop by.

"Ninety-eight percent of the people you take on a ride have never done it before," Norton said. "So everybody is in a good mood."

Norton had flown small planes for years, he said, until he realized he was "not getting any younger" and decided to get his helicopter license. And as he suspected, flying a chopper can be addictive.

"One day I didn't know how to spell it, the next day I had one," he said.

Now Norton supports his flying habit by doing everything from taking people on tours or photo flights to drying cherry orchards in Central Washington, the latter of which kept him from Bigfork until later than usual this year.

Norton said he's had two or three flights a day this summer and he gives customers the option of a short flight over Bigfork, a longer one that takes them over Echo Lake, down to Ferndale and over Crane Mountain and back via Eagle Bend and the Flathead River, or a third option, that's simply to fly by the hour "until their checkbook starts to burn."

At 1,000 feet, he said, people get a much better idea how the Swan and Mission mountains wind south and an appreciation for the meanders of the river. Not to mention a great view of the huge homes along the lake shore.

And though high gas prices might be affecting the number of people who are coming to Bigfork and might be up for a flight, Norton said fuel isn't a huge concern for him.

"Aviation fuel is close to $6 a gallon," he said. "Unfortunately, that's the cheapest part of the operation."

Norton explained that because helicopters have so many moving parts, the maintenance is immense, with the "time life" of parts being much shorter than it is on airplanes.

"A lot of the parts you take off and throw away, there's really nothing wrong with," he said.

But that short replacement schedule keeps things extra safe, one of the reasons Norton gravitated to helicopters in the first place.

"I used to fly planes, but I just don't care for them anymore," he said. "The visibility and versatility are all better. To get a view, you can't beat a helicopter."

For more information, contact Sky Fly'n at 837-2161.