Every flight Ron Fournier takes for his new business, Flying 2C Helicopter Tours, begins with a safety demonstration – explaining the ins and outs of his Bell 206 LongRanger.
“It’s one of the safest helicopters in the world,” he said in an interview with The Courier. “It has isometric mounts on the transmission so when we have rough air it actually smooths it out.”
The helicopter, which glistens a bright red in the sunlight, holds six passengers plus Fournier as the pilot.
There are two tours available, one over Saint Andrews and one to Campobello’s Roosevelt Island. Private charters are also available with permission to land in various iconic landmarks.
“We enjoy flying here,” he said, adding it takes about 18 minutes for the Saint Andrews tour and about 30 minutes to Saint John. “I’ve been flying for over 25 years. I’ve got tons of hours.”
Fournier has flown in various parts of Canada – but said Charlotte County’s landscape could rival them all. Meeting people is a big part of the experience.
“I get to meet a lot of new people and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of others,” he said.
The helicopter is also capable of converting to an ambulance and used in fire suppression, if necessary, Fournier explained. A particularly valuable for the two islands in the region and given Charlotte County recent experience with an expansive wildfire in 2023.
Fournier believes this experience only adds to the already vibrant tourism landscape in Charlotte County, while making good use of the St. Stephen airport.
“The airport, the reason it is so special … is it is within one nautical mile of downtown (St. Stephen),” he said. “Most of the time you need to take a taxi, but here, if you get the urge you can just walk to a restaurant.”
Fournier recently presented to the Municipal District of St. Stephen about the business.
He explained there could be up to 5,000 passengers using his service, meaning tourism dollars being spent in St. Stephen, adding he’s invested about $2 million in Charlotte County so far.
The council is in the process of approving a new municipal plan that could see the airport sold off from the municipality’s control, among other options.
Fournier would like to see further investment in the airport, he explained to the council, including repairing the current hangars and upgrades to the runway.
Mayor Allan MacEachern said there would be a meeting with the Southwest Regional Service Commission to help Fournier reach some sort of agreement.
And even as Fournier begins his journey into flying the landscape of Charlotte County, he’s been pleasantly surprised by the interest in the service.
“I was expecting to be sitting a lot more,” he said. “We’re averaging right now two or three tours a day. So it’s actually been more than I expected.”
He said with school finally out for the summer, he only anticipates that increasing.
“I’m very happy so far with the success of helicopter’s been having,” he said.
