Wine tasting in a helicopter

The Oregon wine country is getting known worldwide for it’s great Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and other wines. Yamhill County, the heart of Oregon wine country where  wine growers started their first vineyards on the Dundee Hills, is home of more than 200 vineyards!

The region, with tasting rooms in Newberg, Dundee, Carlton and right in the middle, McMinnville has everything a wine connoisseur can imagine. Great restaurants, hotels, beautiful Bed & Breakfasts, lots of activities and of course wineries for every taste.

With the wine season starting on memorial day what better to do than get around a few vineyards, taste some of the wines, soak in the sun and views from the tasting rooms and enjoy life.

Getting around wine country can be time consuming. There is one way, though, to move it up a notch and not worry about traffic. Get picked up in either Portland downtown, Salem or McMinnville by a helicopter! Get in, relax, enjoy breath taking views of the Willamette Valley, the rolling hills and rivers while your helicopter pilot flies you from tasting room to tasting room.

He will explain some of the history of the area to you as well as pointing out interesting facts and scenic spots to you while you overfly the Willamette Valley wine regions.

There is no better way to explore vineyards like Stoller Family Estates, Sokol Blosser, Vista Hills, Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin, Winderlea, Alexana, Archery Summit, Hawks View, Methven Family Vineyards, The Dukes Family and a lot more, than in a helicopter. All those vineyards can be overflown in the helicopter in about 30 minutes. Trying to see all those driving on the roads will take you days.

 

Helicopter Proposal Flight

Propose on a Helicopter RideProposing to your future bride should be a special moment. We had quite a few customers that chose to propose to their girlfriend using our helicopter services.

There are a lot of options and there are always new ideas we can work on with you. A couple options we have done in the past were:

Propose during a flight in the helicopter

We will take you up on a helicopter scenic flight and show you the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. It could be just a short ride around the Willamette Valley and it’s wineries or something longer to Mt. St. Helens, over Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, or over the Pacific Coast.

Our aircrafts have the best active noise reduction technology headsets. You can talk to your fiancée to be just like you do on the phone. We’ll even play some music in the background.

Once we are over your favorite spot you can pull out the ring and propose. How could she not say “yes” at that point?

Proposing on a quiet, secluded ridge or island

We are able to land during a scenic tour to give you the time to propose in private to your girlfriend and future fiancée. Take the love of your life up on a helicopter scenic tour. We land on a river island, during the tour. You will get off the helicopter and propose. We will even throw in a bottle of sparkling wine for you to celebrate that she said “yes”.

Helicopter picnic or romantic lunch with a beautiful view

Another option is to have us stop for a picnic. Have a romantic picnic on a river beach, or at a romantic winery with a beautiful view over the Willamette Valley.

There are probably thousands more options and we are happy to include your ideas and make it even more special with your personal touch.

Look at some pictures of a couple helicopter proposal flights we did in the past.

Konect Aviation Wine Tasting Afternoon

Last week on Labor Day we decided to appreciate the help of our friends and colleagues by visiting our good friends and customers Vista Hills Vineyard and Winery and Stoller Vineyards for an afternoon of winetasting and snacks.

We all had worked hard and we certainly appreciate the help of our friends and colleagues. A 7-seater van and a designated driver made it possible for all of us to enjoy the afternoon tasting wine, chatting and chilling in the shade of two wonderful vineyards in the dundee hills.

First we visited Vista Hills Vineyard and Winery. Ryan – the Tasting Room Manager – welcomed us. After chatting for a little while he started serving us a flight of 6 wines. We had 2 white wines and 4 reds. We sat outside on the porch enjoying the great view in the shade of the trees surrounding the Treehouse. With the wines we enjoyed a tasty cheeseplate.

After about 2 hours we bought some bottles of our favourite wines and continued on to the next vineyard.

Arriving at Stoller Vineyards we were warmly welcomed as always. Sitting in the deckchairs in the shade, sipping on the Stoller Wines we enjoyed the afternoon. We tasted 5 wines and relaxed and chatted.

To complete our afternoon of non-flying helicopters and enjoying wines we headed to McMinnville Downtown to the Hotel Oregon and climbed the stairs up to the famous Rooftop Bar to get some dinner.

Usually we are unable to enjoy the wines at the wineries since we are working with the helicopter. So we really had fun just hanging out there sipping wine and chatting with our friends.

Our New Office

Welcome to our first entry in our new blog.

It took almost half a year to finish the new hangar at the McMinnville airport. After the last things were crossed off the todo list and the city checked the building we were allowed to move in.

After a year of having the computers set up in the living room it feels nice to have our own office space right at the airport. It also enables us to work even closer together with Cirrus Aviation.  We even have a new classroom.  If you would like to, you are more than welcome to stop by, say hello and get a tour.

The Cirrus Aviation FBO and Konect Aviation always welcome you.