About Us...

HISTORY

Stewart Island Helicopters was formed in May 2004 under the original name of Mount Anglem Helicopters. Jason Wright, Brian Winsloe and Karl Ryan built the operation and business based on a brand new heli-port premises at Ocean Beach near Bluff. By October 2005 the company ownership changed hands to Phil & Sharan Caskey of Stewart Island Adventures Group which was a tourist venture based on Stewart Island. The company operated a small fleet based from the Bluff heliport and continued operations across Stewart Island with its focus mainly on heli-tourism.

In November 2007 the business and its operations were taken over by Jason Wright a former employee and chief pilot of the company. With a fresh start on the cards it was time for Stewart Island Helicopters to explore new avenues with a focus on Commercial work, Hunting parties and Overseas operations while still supplying an excellent heli-tourism service. During 2008/2009 SIH operated a service level agreement with Wildlife Alliance (Cambodia) to manage all flight operations and supply experienced pilots to fly on wildlife rescue operations and forest protection work in some of Cambodia’s protected forests.

SIH TODAY...

With the addition of a new helicopter and full time pilot to the fleet last season, Stewart Island Helicopters has expanded into what it is today. The company now operates a fleet of AS350 Squirrel and Robinson R44 helicopters conducting flight services of all types from Scenic flying and Precision Lifting to Fire-fighting and SAR. With three full time pilots based locally and three additional contract pilots on demand, the team at Stewart Island Helicopters are on call 24 hours a day to meet your demands at the highest level. At SIH, all staff take pride in the work they carry out and ensure that safety is paramount.

Meet the Crew...

JASON WRIGHT (CEO/Operations Manager)

Jason began his flying career at the age of 14 in fixed-wing. After completing a Diploma in Aviation at Quantum Aviation Jason switched to fly helicopters commercially. His first flying job was at Foveaux Helicopters, Invercargill as a pilot and by the age of 21 he was a C-Cat instructor pilot for the company. During this period, Jason also worked as an instructor at other company bases - Auckland Helicopters and Christchurch Helicopters. In May 2004 Jason left Foveaux Helicopters to build his own helicopter operation based out of Bluff - Mount Anglem Helicopters.

After the sale of Mount Anglem Helicopters in 2005 Jason stayed on and took on the role of Chief Pilot before moving on to Wanaka Helicopters in 2007, gaining his B-Cat Instructor rating with Simon Spencer-Bower. The next two summers were spent in New Zealand developing Stewart Island Helicopters (formally Mount Anglem) which had recently changed hands back to Jason. The off-seasons of 2008 and 2009 were spent overseas on all sort of operations including various types of precision drill lifting operations, repeater servicing, mining, search and rescue, Medivacs, fire-fighting, and forestry patrol.

In the role of CEO and Operations Manager, Jason now spends most of his time developing Stewart Island Helicopters hands-on. Muttonbird Transport, Search and Rescue, Fire-Fighting and Precision Lifting still remain a big part of Jason’s annual flying however he takes pride in spending his time advancing the company and guiding his team to the next step.

TYSON BRAMWELL (Company Pilot)

Tyson grew up in the Otago region before moving to Southland to start his Career. He gained most of his experience in the Fiordland Mountains before heading to Canada for seasonal work. Tyson joined the team at SIH late in the 2008/2009 season starting predominantly on Scenic operations before moving into Commercial work, hunting parties and Muttonbird Island transport. Tyson has passion for Search and Rescue operations and the local community. Along with the ability to learn quickly and develop relationships with our local clients makes him an important member of the SIH team.

RICHARD WADDINGTON (Company Pilot)

Richard joined the team at SIH in 2009. He started his aviation career in Canada at Alpine Helicopters in Canmore and more recently moving to New Zealand and gaining his NZ CPL whilst working at The Helicopter Line - Queenstown on ground support.

The Fleet...

AS350 'SQUIRREL'

Passenger Seating: 6 pax
Useful load: 650kg approx
Cruise Speed: 125 knots
Endurance: 3 hours
Range: 315nm

The Squirrel is a comfortable fast helicopter with a large open cabin and high lift capacity. The spacious cabin can be reconfigured for many different operations from Passenger Transport to Air Ambulance, or Freight Transport making it very versatile.

ROBINSON R44

Passenger Seating: 3 pax
Useful load: 350kg approx
Cruise Speed: 120 knots
Endurance: 3 hours
Range: 300nm

The R44 is a fast, comfortable helicopter with excellent visibility as everyone has a window seat. We have cargo pods for both R44's which makes the them the perfect machine for scenic flights and also tramper/hunter transport.

Ground Support...

MAUREEN JONES (ZLRZ - Halfmoon Bay Radio)

Maureen Jones of Stewart Island is one of our main flight-followers and flights co-ordinator during our season and in particular during the Muttonbird season. Maureen has been operating radios at Stewart Island for about 45 years and is highly regarded by our pilots. Maureen is the company’s life-link during some of our flight operations in the deep south. “voice of the south”

BEN WARD

Ben started with SIH at the beginning of the 2009/2010 as ground support. He is currently studying his Pilot Licence and is looking at becoming a long term member of the SIH team.