Specialized Helicopters

As photographers we sometimes get jobs that require some creative circumstances...today we chartered a helicopter with Specialized Helicopters and we have absolutely zero regrets! The entire staff was amazing, from our first call with Andi, the payment process with Sierra and especially amazing with our pilot Andrew! The job required some areas that might have interfered with another airport, so permission needed to be given. Andrew made that happen for us!! He was well spoken, ahead of the game by pre preparing our flight plan and making contact with the flight tower before takeoff to let them know we were going to be in their air space!! If you ever need to charter a helicopter, Specialize Helicopters is a must!! Thank you for the awesome experience, we can't wait to go up again!!

I booked the 60 minute Golden Gate Tour around the Bay Area and it was beautiful! You really get to see the Bay from a different perspective. Tickets were $265 per person. There was parking out front and the check in process was a breeze. We were led right to our helicopter where the pilot (I totally forgot his name ) gave us all the information we needed to know in case of an emergency. And then we took off!

I would definitely book again! I would love to see everything again during golden hour!

We had the BEST experience with Andrew and Specialized Aviation! They were extremely communicative and accommodating with scheduling and logistics. Andrew was an AMAZING pilot. He walked us through every steps and calmed any of our nerves. Once we got in the air, we had zero nerves - we had a blast. Andrew is a great SF tour guide even for people who live here, you can tell he really enjoys what he does. We had an unbelievable evening and will definitely be back! Thank you Andrew and Specialized Aviation!

Fantastic! Took our Seattle-based grandkids on a helicopter tour of SF today. They rated it an "11 out of 10!" Trevor and Chris (our two pilots) were awesome. We could not have had a better time. Thank you! We will definitely return! PS: Sierra was great on the phone... so sweet and detailed. Chris called and communicated with us about the fog, etc. We got lots of pictures and videos to last a lifetime and captured memories to go along with them. Helicopters were in great shape, we never felt anything but in awe the entire trip. Parking was super easy and right out front of the Meridian Building.

I was told I had to book two seats ( I weigh 103 lbs.) for a solo Golden Gate Tour helicopter flight based on hrly. rate and gas used. The day of my flight Aug. 31, 2023, just prior to my flight (while at the Hayward Airport), I was texted by the pilot Andrew Atwell asking if it would be OK if another employee could come along for the ride since I bought two tickets and I'm the only passenger. There was no mention of reimbursement for my extra seat. I found the request quite rude. Andrew is mild mannered and there was no concern about his abilities as a pilot. Although based on the numerous restrictions for the flight made for a bad experience. The restrictions included birds over a portion of the SF, some haze/fog over the upper portion of the GG Bridge and the Oakland Airport Tower not allowing us to go many places. The pilot said he was aware of the restrictions which drastically reduced the flight area. With this knowledge, I should have been informed prior to the flight and given the opportunity to reschedule. The route consisted of leaving the Hayward Airport, going north along the SF bay by the sports venues, looping around south into a small portions of SF (not even into the GG Park, back down the a portion of the bay we had already seen, back across the bay to the Oakland Ship yard and back to Hayward. we never ventured into the bay near Alcatraz and Angle Island. The experience was wrong in every sense of the word, not as advertised, beyond lackluster, awful and cannot be recommended.

Chris was awesome!!!! Communication was great from start to finish. And those views!! Cannot even be described in words, I was literally in awe above the infamous Golden Gate Bridge. Chris was great at letting us know what we were approaching in advance so we were camera ready at all times, and was even kind enough to snap a few for us before and after flight. I have lived in the Bay Area most of my life but seeing it from that view was a dream come true. If you are on the fence about booking do yourself a favor and just do it! And ask for Chris, you can thank me later...

Very nice equipment and friendly instructors! I would say it's a great place to get started on your rotor add on

I highly recommend the 60 minute San Francisco photo tour!! We rode with the windows off and were able to capture some insane shots. We had a fantastic pilot named Benjamin who made sure we got all the shots we wanted. He even tried to get to and from the city as quickly as possible so we could spend a majority of the 60 minute tour taking photos like the ones below. Can't wait to fly again @noahfrenchmustard

Had a great time my husband took a introductory flight. I got to go for the ride it was incredible. Paul was the instructor and was a great tour guide also.
I highly recommend specialized Helicopters.

I'm about a year and a half late in writing this review, but we had such an incredible experience with Specialized Helicopters that I felt compelled to write something still. Anthony and the whole team were an absolute pleasure to work with. They helped coordinate a flight to and from a winery for a very special occasion, and the day couldn't have gone better. We will absolutely use them again and very much look forward to it.