Pre-Determined Path for Helicopter

I have searched about 10+ full pages of questions on this topic. I need to make a path on which a helicopter can loop about. For instance, the helicopter will spawn on the ground, lift off and travel in a loop around an area. The problem is that I can't figure out how to go about this. I have tried animation, but the distance is way to far up in z space in my 3d modeler. Can anyone either direct me in the right path, or introduce me to some scripts?

Thanks so much in advance!

-Cronixgames