Definition
A helicopter movement conducted at airspeeds at or below approximately 20 knots, typically less than 25 feet above the ground or other surface, used to move the helicopter between points on an airport or heliport. The pilot remains in ground effect while maneuvering at slow speed, usually in response to ATC instructions to taxi.
Plain English
A way helicopters move around an airport by hovering low and slowly to a new spot, instead of rolling on wheels like an airplane.
Context Anchor
Used in helicopter and vertical-takeoff aircraft operations on ramps, taxiways, helipads, and controlled airport surfaces when a slow movement near the ground is needed.
Derivation
‘Hover’ describes staying nearly still in the air; ‘taxi’ comes from airport language meaning to move along the surface. Together it means moving short distances while hovering rather than rolling.
Why Pilots Care
Allows safe, precise repositioning without applying takeoff power, reducing fuel burn, noise, and rotor wash effects on nearby people or aircraft.
Grounding Statement
Picture a helicopter lifting just off the ramp, staying low, and easing forward slowly to another spot without climbing away.
Intuition Check
Do not assume taxi always means wheels rolling on the pavement. In Hover TAXI, the aircraft is airborne and moving slowly near the surface.
Example Sentence 1
Tower instructed the helicopter to hover taxi to the parking pad east of the terminal.
Example Sentence 2
During the hover taxi the pilot kept altitude at three feet and ground speed under ten knots.