These guys are flying around the world in a Robinson R66 helicopter. Such a trip probably requires a substantial amount of money, so I assume they are not exactly short on cash.
I have watched all of their videos and I have never heard them complaining about any costs along the trip, and they have passed through Greece and Egypt etc…
However, this time they couldn’t hold it in. Watch this clip after 23:14, or watch the whole thing if you want.
Anyone here that has any idea what they might have paid for handling in Taiwan?
PS: I’m not a big fan of their woo-woo-girl-like screaming all the time but their videos are interesting to watch nevertheless.
Terrible video with IMO racist undertones copying the controller’s accent.
In my experience typical ripoff is $2k. Smaller, less visited airports may charge less and you meet normal people. The problem is that one needs to depart and arrive at international airports whenever crossing borders. Instead of going to scenic small fields one flies from capital to capital, with all the traffic, noise, and so on.
Another problem is overfly permits. They are arranged by handlers, who will later take care that you pay the right amount, no matter where you land and what real fees are there.
They’re flying a helicopter, so less range means more stops. I see 107 stops planned on their website. Must be tons fun :))
What I notice is that they are using the Iridium Go! sat device as I see it sitting there in the video. Overland and landing permits are not arranged or paid at the handling agency on arrival or departure. They are arranged through clearance agencies or you could even arrange them yourselves if you have time (like one guy did flying an experimental through parts of Russia and Japan, etc.). The landing fees and fuel prices depend a lot on where you land and on trips like this you have to assume that you will have some wins (relative cheap prices) and some looses (high prices for fuel and/or landing/handling fees) and take that for granted.
AeroPlus wrote:
Overland and landing permits are not arranged or paid at the handling agency
In my experience (having actually done a round the world trip ) it is often handlers that arrange permits. One can try to get it done oneself through official channels, but without connections it may just not get processed in time.
not a big fan of their woo-woo-girl-like screaming all the time
You enjoy the art of understatement 
This is a turbine heli, so this is not a budget trip. They must be spending 100k+. I know this guy, EGKA based
and he spent something like that on a RTW trip, 10 years ago. A large chunk was spent on bribery in Russia.
I know or have known some busy ferry pilots and the reports of overflight agents are rather variable. Some are good and some are crap. Plus you need different ones for different places.
@loco: it is often one “handler” or agency that arranges all your permits and not the local handlers at the specific destinations. At least that is my experience as we arrange permits for pilots flying through Africa and Middle-East and do so before they depart for the whole trip and ad-hoc if plans change. I agree that if you want to arrange them yourselves, you might not end up with the permit(s) at all or not in time due to the lack of connections. GASE in Egypt is such a party that arranges permits as well, but there are many more.
This is how I experienced the chain. The global agent will get the permit himself if he can. If he can’t, he will use a local contact, often a handler. The handler gets the permit from CAA. Then, if you go to an airport where the handler doesn’t have presence, they may organize a representative, who makes sure you get the “proper treatment”.
This is not a general rule. It all varies country to country. In some countries, like Brazil, one has to get the permit directly. No agents.
Peter_Mundy wrote:
Terrible video with IMO racist undertones copying the controller’s accent.
I’m not a big fan of those undertones either. However, let me be the devils advocate here 
In a previous video they explain why they do that (here at 06:00), although I think it is just an excuse.
I don’t think they are racists, they are going around the world and enjoy the places they visit after all. I think the real reason they do this is probably frustration. Frustration with permits, visas, fees, etc, that eventually lead to that you don’t give much of a f**k. In the beginning of the trip they used to be much more professional. All of this started around Pakistan – India where they had to wait for weeks for overflight permits. I think in the end they ended up bribing someone but they don’t want admit it in their videos.
EDIT: Links
FYI, there is a permit book published by the Flight Service Bureau, which includes more direct local contacts and describes which CAAs would deal with one directly as well:
http://shop.fsbureau.org/online/thepermitbook
Based on my experience of flying around in Asia, the problem with dealing with the CAAs directly is that one needs a lot of patience and persistence. In two cases with respect to the same CAA, I ended up calling 2-3 times/day to check on progress, which resulted in the person on the phone sending me the permit via WhatsApp as their internal process to get the permit out via e-mail was apparently overly bureaucratic (I let the reader decide whether on purpose or not…).
