Pilot tells why he loves job in the sky

JAMIE Bush is flying high and loving every moment of it.

The 28-year-old’s zeal to fly started at a young age when choppers were used on his family’s cattle station, Maytoe, near Alpha.

“Flying helicopters is something I’d wanted to do... and I’ve been flying them for the past nine years,” he said.

“We used to use them for cattle mustering on the family property and it all sort of started from there.

“It took me about six months to get my licence.”

He said he enjoyed the variety of work his business, Bush Heli-Services in Alpha, provided.

“I can go from mustering to lighting fires and then doing feral animal control,” he said.

“I’ve gotten to meet some really great people by doing jobs for them too.”

Mr Bush’s first flying job was for GB Helicopters.

“I worked there for a couple of years and then I purchased my first chopper (in February 2013) and started my own chopper business,” he said.

“I do mustering, feral animal control, dog baiting and I’ve just started doing joyrides and charters.

“I’ve found more and more people are starting to use helicopters for mustering because property owners can’t find the staff to work.”

Branching into charter flights was a way to help the business diversify.

“It was just something we thought of as a way of further expanding the business. We’re slowly expanding and for us chartering was the next step in doing that,” he said.

“It gives people the opportunity to look at how things look from a different perspective, being in the air.

“We’ve only just started it but people really seem to enjoy it.”

A passion for aviation has recently taken Mr Bush overseas to attend a helicopter exhibition in Las Vegas.

“The expo was really good, it gave me the opportunity to go over and meet different people who are involved with helicopters,” he said.

“Every kind of helicopter you could possibly imagine was there and there was also the different kinds of technology people use when flying.

“The expo was just a great opportunity to learn about the different kinds of technology you can use in a helicopter.”

Mr Bush is also a new dad and he said it would be a while before his little girl Harriet started flying.

“If her mum has it her way, I don’t think she’ll be allowed to fly a helicopter of her own,” he said.