Charter Services
As a Part 135 operator, Flying M Air is available for all kinds of custom sightseeing and air-taxi work. Here's where you can learn more about our rates and services:
Payload vs. Flight Time 
In an effort to help charter clients understand the payload limitations of our aircraft, we’ve put together the following chart of payload (total passenger and baggage weight) vs. flight time.
To use this chart, follow find the Payload Weight value for the total weight you expect to have on board. If the exact weight amount is not shown, choose the next higher amount. Then follow that line across to the time column. This will tell you the maximum amount of time we can fly with your payload between refueling stops.
| Payload Weight | Flight Time |
| 510 lbs | 2-1/2 hours |
| 560 lbs | 2 hours |
| 620 lbs | 1-1/2 hours |
| 675 lbs | 1 hour |
| 700 lbs | 45 minutes |
| 720 lbs | 30 minutes |
These calculations assume reserve fuel as required by the FAA and operations in normal conditions. Lower flight times may apply if any of the following are true:
- the flight is to be conducted hot conditions
- the flight will depart from or land at a high elevation location
- the flight requires unusual flight maneuvers or out of ground effect hover operation
Contact us for details if you expect your flight’s total payload to exceed 600 lbs.
Charter Rates
Flying M Air bills clients for flight time based on its helicopter’s Hobbs meter, which records time related to the flight, measured in 1/10th hour. Flying M Air does not hide other charter costs. Our rates include fuel and a pilot. Some operators charge extra for either or both!
Our tour and charter rates do not include sales tax, which we are required by the State of Arizona to collect and pay. Wickenburg’s current sales tax rate is 8%; we may be required to collect tax at a different rate depending on where the flight originated. There is no sales tax on air-taxi flight services.
The following is a summary of our charter rates, which are applied to any custom services. All rates are per flight, not per person. We can take up to 3 passengers per flight. Weight limits apply. Contact us for details.
The following rates apply for our services:
Charters to or from Wickenburg
$495 per hour
Minimum billable time: 1/2 hour
This rate is charged for all time related to the flight, including aircraft repositioning time (if necessary).
Charters to or from Phoenix-area Airports
For flights originating at Glendale, Deer Valley (Phoenix), or Scottsdale, the following rates apply:
$795 for the first hour
$495 for each additional hour
Minimum billable time: 1 hour
For flights originating at Sky Harbor (Phoenix), Falcon Field (Mesa), Williams Gateway (Mesa), or Chandler, the following rates apply:
$995 for the first hour
$495 for each additional hour
Minimum billable time: 1 hour
These rates apply only to the time a passenger is on board except for one-way air-taxi flights, which will incur a charge for the time to return to either the starting point or Wickenburg, whichever is closer.
Charters to or from other Areas
$495 per hour
Minimum billable time: 2 hours
This rate is charged for all time related to the flight, including aircraft repositioning time.
Pilot Waiting Time
If our pilot is required to wait at your destination for a return flight and that waiting time exceeds 1 hour, the following fees are charged:
Pilot Waiting Fee: $30/hour
Meal/Lodging Fee (if an overnight stay is required): $200-300/night (depending on location)
Payment Methods
Flying M Air accepts the following methods of payment, in preferred order:
Cash- Discover
- MasterCard or Visa
We do not accept American Express. We do not accept third-party checks. We cannot invoice for services for new clients without a credit card number as a backup payment method.
Examples of Our Charter Services
Wondering what Flying M Air can do for you? Here’s how we’ve helped some of our clients in the past.
Boat Racing on Lake Havasu
Our client needed a helicopter to photograph his brand new, one-of-a-kind race boat in action on Lake Havasu. We provided a camera platform to shoot video and still photos of the boat as it raced up and down the lake.
Photo of Liquid Technologies race boat by Todd Taylor of Joker’s Wild Promotions.
Later, we worked with Extreme Boats magazine photographers as a platform for their photos of multiple race boats on the lake.
Photo of “Skater” race boat by Casey Kiernan of Extreme Boats magazine. You can buy enlargements of this and other photos taken at the event at H20 Nation.
Both jobs required a number of tricky aircraft maneuvers, including flying low and fast over the water (”in formation” with the boats) and making quick stops and sharp turns.
Promotional Video for a New Car
Our clients needed some aerial photography of a newly designed car for a promotional video under production in Europe. We were hired to fly alongside the car on a desert test track in central Arizona.
The job was challenging, primarily because the cameraman and director spoke little English. We performed many difficult maneuvers in a hot, high density altitude situation, making it possible for the cameraman to get some truly incredible shots.
Aerial Photography over Lake Powell
Our client, a professional photographer from Chicago, came to Lake Powell with four companions for an aerial photo shoot of the lake. They captured a number of stunning images in the late afternoon night, many of which are suitable for publication and sale.
The job required a lot of out-of-ground-effect (high) hovering, quick stops, and sideways flight to get the helicopter in the ideal positions for the photographer’s shots. On this particular job, we had multiple photographers on board for two separate flights.
Photo of Lake Powell by Mike Reyfman.
“Border Patrol”
Our client, a photojournalist, wanted to photograph the Arizona/Mexico border between Yuma and Nogales. This 200+ mile stretch of empty desert borders the Goldwater Test Range and passes over some of the most unforgiving terrain Arizona has to offer.
Our client got lots of photos, including many shots of suspicious vehicles, a border patrol helicopter speeding beneath us in the opposite direction, and illegal alien pickup locations in a heavily trafficked area north of the border.
The job required coordination with U.S. Customs, the Goldwater Range Control, and FAA Flight Service, as well as careful fuel and weight management in hot (100+°F!) weather.
A Unique Proposal
They were planning a camping trip in his small airplane. But he wanted to propose to her in a place he couldn’t fly to. He hired us to be on hand for a custom charter when his plane had “mechanical difficulties” on startup. We flew them to a predetermined destination (see the photo he supplied with GPS coordinates) and we set them down for their overnight camping trip.
In the morning, a newly engaged couple awaited us for pickup. And you should have seen her lovely ring!
Mine Search
Our clients were looking for an abandoned mine that one of them had found more than 30 years ago just below a ridgeline on Harquahala Mountain in west-central Arizona. The mine entrance was barely large enough for a man to slip in and, over the years, it had been covered by the growth of vegetation. We found what may be the site about 1/3 up the mountain.
This job required us to fly slowly 100-200 feet off a ridgeline at high density altitude in windy conditions.
