Papillon Helicopters is famous for it's Grand Canyon South Rim tours. I was responsible for the family's canyon trip this year. Obviously, I booked with Papillon. Here's a fast analysis of my trip:

There were six among us. We stayed at El Tovar in Grand Canyon Village, which is located in the boundaries of the National Park. I strongly recommend this hotel. It can be pricey, but it's worth every penny since you are mere seconds from the rim's edge.

I do believe you can make plans with Papillon to get picked up. Otherwise, you are able to set up a pick up at the transportation desk inside the Bright Angel Lodge. I rented a Chevy Tahoe for our trip. I loaded the gang inside and made the 10-minute trip to Grand Canyon Airport.

The airport is located just outside Tusayan. It's hard to miss it. There's a lot of activity. Helicopters and airplanes arrive and depart from it often. The Papillon air terminal is the biggest. I parked the SUV and got us checked in (incidentally, the coffee there is terrific!).

The atmosphere is quite friendly. I met plenty of passengers from Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The lobby is comfortable. We had been up late yesterday evening so I slipped in a power nap. I woke up to my sister tugging on my jacket and telling me the time had come to fly.

Helis hold up to six people (should you weigh more than 275 pounds you could be asked to buy what they call a "comfort seat."). Since this was family, I upgraded all of us to the EcoStar 130, which has 25% more cabin room, theater-style seating, and a 180-degree wraparound windshield for better views.

Furthermore, I booked us on the longer flight. Papillon Helicopter's standard Grand Canyon National Park chopper trip is half an hour. That's plenty for most people. I estimate that what you see in half an hour would take a few days on the ground. But I wanted more (it isn't every day you fly the canyon), so I went with a tour that gave us between 45-50 minutes of airtime.

Take off was outstanding. Our chopper, nose forward, blasted off the runway and made a low-altitude flight over Kaibab National Forest, which hosts the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine on the planet. In ten minutes, we said good-bye to the edge and discovered ourselves front and center in the Dragoon Corridor, the widest ,deepest section of the Grand Canyon.

It was an amazing sight. The Colorado River was below us. So was the Temple of Ra. The spires and buttes were unreal. There was no clouds on the horizon. Our pilot explained that our visibility was about 140 miles compared to 30 for people on the ground! The chopper powered towards the stately North Rim. Here we turned back, enjoying Hopi Point and Grand Canyon Village while we made our descent.

Papillon records all flights using cameras on the exterior and interior of the helicopter. Make sure you purchase a copy of your trip on DVD. I did. The quality was great. I made copies for everyone. They loved it. Undoubtedly a great memento of our heli tour.

Papillon Helicopters Grand Canyon National Park tour gets two thumbs up from us. It was a tour of the South Rim. I'm happy we did the prolonged flight. The extra airtime was worth it. Our pilot was fantastic and entertained us with facts and anecdotes of the area. He made the destination stand out for us. This was definitely a trip highlight for my clan and me. We'll undoubtedly do this air tour again.