Life as a Tuna Pilot

[@kobrapromotions]

Reported. Not once did I see a tuna flying a helicopter! 🤣🤣❤❤ from Brisbane!

[@tonystewart7287]

Hey mate, nice videos and enjoyed reading your blogs, keep it up and enjoy life out there. 🍺🍺👍

[@AerialAttraction]

Thanks, will do!

[@snakesvt]

I truly miss the boats. I flew off the PNG Nupla Kumul in 2015-16. Barefoot flying is the best.

[@VictoryAviation]

Got hella goosebumps when Years came on!!! Fantastic song, and even a better reminder of how fortunate we are as pilots!!! Here’s to blue skies mate! Wonderful production! ps-huge fan of electronic music! What other artists are you into?

[@blairguinea6811]

The best , thank you Sir

[@Shiitake0787]

Such a cool video dude. Fly safe!

[@AerialAttraction]

Thanks! Will do!

[@VillainState]

Is this the same helicopter that crashed on landing. Looks the same & boat.

[@johnarroyo9182]

What song is that. I think it makes the video pretty cool.

[@mdybos]

What is your watch model? I have old casio dw 340 dw 300, dw 240, but none of them can wake me up and yours is pretty laud and nice sound. Best work, best pilot

[@AerialAttraction]

I'm currently wearing a Garmin Instinct Solar (great watch BTW). It's the dumbest and most rugged smart watch you can get with a 1 month battery life (bit pricey though!)

[@mdybos]

@@AerialAttraction Thank you :) safetyFlying

[@BOBJOHNSON-v6u]

I subscribed

[@geraldsepulvedajorquera6144]

Great video!!! How do you apply for this kind of job?

[@CelticKnight2004]

thats gotta be the greatest job ever.

[@antr7493]

Well here is a job I never knew existed. IS that a Hughes 500?

[@AerialAttraction]

It sure is! Being a tuna pilot has been an awesome experience. Let me know if you have any questions!

[@serdavosseaworth6115]

Hello, how do you keep track of the ships position when you are out of sight?

[@AerialAttraction]

The helicopter has a garmin GPS that is slaved to a garmin GPS which remains on the boat. So as long as both systems are functioning I can always see my heading and distance back to the boat. In case of GPS outage the boat has radar and can provide a heading and distance to you as well. Thanks for watching!

[@serverlan763]

Is your primary role spotting schools of Tuna and guiding the boat to them? What kind of Tuna YFT, Albacore etc...

[@AerialAttraction]

Great Question! The primary goal is to guide the boat to schools of fish. We also look for rafts or "FADs" (Fish attracting devices) so we can drop GPS buoys on them which the boat can track. In my time out here I have also done a number of supply runs to other boats.

[@marcjohnson4884]

Dude, what and where u flying now? Medevac, ag, or gulf?

[@AerialAttraction]

Fighting fires in the 407. Hope to get a new camera and start making videos again soon.

[@AlphaChinoz]

May I ask how many flight hours a year one could expect from a job like this?

[@AerialAttraction]

500 to 700 hours is the norm. A lot of that depends on the boat and the FM. With that in mind, if you get a Japanese boat, you can expect around 300 hours.

[@layne6967]

Looks like a pretty interesting job. To be honest, there really isnt a day to day video out there, or maybe I have missed them. Just about to inquire about a job with tropical helos. Which one do you work for? To be honest, it would be good to see the living conditions, sleeping arrangements and more about your food as well. Also wouldnt mind getting a general idea on the pay scale. Looking forward to hearing from you. Fly safe and have a blast.

[@AerialAttraction]

Next month I'm planning on posting a sort of video walk around of the boat so you can see what living conditions are like. Of course, keep in mind each boat is different. For more information you can look at my website, AerialAttraction.com there you'll find some blog posts that may help shed light on some of the questions you're asking. There's also a link to e-mail me directly if you have more questions or comments. I'd be happy to give you all the information I can. Thanks for taking an interest!

[@FMK_media]

Dont go for Tropic. There isnt much of day-to-day to make its more like sleep-fly-eat-sleep repeat. 😄

[@layne6967]

Yeah, pretty much gave up on looking for a gig like that. Thanks for the reply. It’s looks fun for about a month and then, um, not so much.

[@FMK_media]

@@layne6967 well Id say its the adventure of a lifetime. Such a wide (and wild) experience. One of the best jobs I’ve had. Company was great, good money and fun flying. 😜👍

[@johnrambo7313]

@@FMK_media Hi fmk, i'm from china, want to learn fly a helicopter then find a tuna boat job like you. i would like to know do i need a work visa to work on tuna boat ? And which contry these company belongs to ?

[@ramiroblancas875]

very nice video, good editing & good music, look nice fly there, just in the middle of my cpl(h), with how many hours you were able to apply? do you need to convert your license if holding an easa? thank you very much in advance, already following you, fly safe!

[@seanmacdonald8476]

What kind of training did you receive upon landing the gig? Seems pretty cool to make approaches to moving targets. Landing with ETL seems nice? Is it easier than it might look to a 60 hr student? Cheers

[@AerialAttraction]

Landing on a moving vessel has its challenges, keep in mind aside from forward movement the boat also moves up and down as well as side to side. Additionally the deck can offer some strange up and down drafts depending on where the wind is coming from when it hits the side of the boat. I'll be doing an in depth video on how to land on a moving boat next month. Stay tuned!

[@kobrapromotions]

Nice MD! Are those inflating floats? We have something similar on our all our aircraft. I'm in the middle of my CPL(h) training

[@AerialAttraction]

I wish they were! Unfortunately they are not. They are permanently inflated, the result is an ABSURD amount of drag and above 90 knots...some pretty gnarly vibrations.

[@kobrapromotions]

@@AerialAttraction I fly a Guimbal Cabri G2 as a student atm, they get pissed when i go above 100 knots lmao, we have self inflating floats on all our choppers at the school, I feel like with ocean winds and stuff having those permanent floats would be the WORST to fly in on some days. Why can't they change them. Also is there a reason most tuna pilots ive seen fly the MDs? Why not squirrels or robbies, like wouldnt a r22 with extended fuel tank and self inflating floats be cheaper to maintain etc? Do the MDs have service life limits on startup/stop or is only hours?

[@kobrapromotions]

@@AerialAttraction like in heavy winds wouldnt the floats just try point the chopper around in direction, youd be battling your pedals

[@kobrapromotions]

@@AerialAttraction on the plus side the way I fly, one of my trainers who services powerlines here, says I'll make a good cattle pilot

[@FMK_media]

Nice mate what ship you on? Miss that job alot!

[@AerialAttraction]

FK866. I'm really enjoying boat life. Thinking I may just have to extend my contract!

[@FMK_media]

@@AerialAttraction Yeah man, that fishmaster used to be one of the best, not sure if its still the same guy. The real world is nothing to go back to ;) Stay safe

[@AerialAttraction]

@@FMK_media Short guy, only wears pajamas 24/7. Sound familiar? Rumor is they took his helicopter away so he bitched to FK until they moved him to a boat with a heli.

[@FMK_media]

@@AerialAttraction haha theyre all short and wear pyjamases! His name is Y** Fu L*n. I know there was a pilot who had problems with him back in 2015-16. We ve all had our problems with the fishmasters 😂 part of the job 😂👍

[@dereksmith1803]

Not to be critical or the "safety police" but most aircraft I've ever been around have a NO SMOKING requirement immediately around them, especially where they are fueled, which I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that that would be right there. Also, I'm sure the sea life love finding your cigarette butts in their house. Other than that, nice video. Looks like an amazing job with beautiful scenery.

[@AerialAttraction]

You're completely correct. There are inherent dangers to smoking in a helicopter or any aircraft for that matter and around jet fuel. I'm in the process of quitting. Wish me luck!

[@dereksmith1803]

@@AerialAttraction Good luck. My sister and brother in law both were heavy smokers for 20÷ years, and they both were able to quit. In sure you can too. Think of it as an instant pay raise.

[@Deploracle]

Kerosene isn't terribly flammable unless under the pressure provided by the turbine engine. I'd be more concerned with a piston engine helicopter.

[@FourthWayRanch]

​@@Deploracledon't ruin their Karen moment

[@surveyordave]

why do you fly barefoot?

[@AerialAttraction]

The short answer is, "Because I can". The long answer is because if I need to put the helicopter in the water, its a lot easier to swim barefoot than it is wearing shoes or sandals.

[@kobrapromotions]

@@AerialAttraction thats an interesting but great answer. My flight school makes us wear enclosed steel caps in case we need to bail out in the bush or something. They do powerline inspection and testing mainly. We've got Squirrels, MDs, R44s & Guimbal Cabris, Im learning in the Cabri. Can I ask where you trained and how many hours you now have? Im definitely checking out the blog!

[@VictoryAviation]

@@kobrapromotions Why steel toes?

[@mariajesusrocha756]

Olá amigos navegadores dois sete mares e os pilotos vamos compartilhar OK obrigada pôr compartilhar conosco é sensacional 🌹🌹❤️❤️😁😁🇧🇷👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ⛴️ ⛴️ ⚓️ 🦈🦈 🚁🚁🚁

[@dennisfyksen139]

Putting on your helmet prior to ignition will prevent ear smokage, please try not learning that one the hard way.

[@AerialAttraction]

Just personal preference, I prefer to hear the engine on start up so i can listen for any anomalies. Additionally, incase of engine fire, already wearing your helmet may prevent a quick egress. However, you certainly have a point! Thanks for your input!

[@derpydoug4106]

Is it true that the crew doesn't speak any English?

[@AerialAttraction]

That is correct for the most part. The Crew of the boat will come from places like Taiwan, The Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. The common language on the boat is Mandarin. The only person on my vessel who speaks fluent English is the radio operator. My spotter doesn't speak any English at all, so you learn to communicate a lot with hand signals.

[@johnrambo7313]

@@AerialAttraction i'm from china, want to learn fly a helicopter then find a tuna boat job like you. i would like to know do i need a work visa to work on tuna boat ? And which contry these company belongs to ?

[@AerialAttraction]

@Rambo John There is a tuna pilot group on facebook. They can answer a lot of your questions. Check them out.

[@snakesvt]

Getting off the tuna boats has been as much of a curse as it has been a gift. After 13 months , life on the boats eventually takes it’s toll on you. It happened to all of us. We found ourselves spending more hours of our life in uncomfortable seat looking at nothing but open sea only to return to a room the size of a prison cell, all in a helicopter put together with parts older then you. You sit around waiting for master to say “prepare for takeoff” in some language you don’t understand only to hope you actually catch the damn fish this time so you can fill up the boat and go to port. Hours waiting only to see the asshole master miss the the damn school and you have to spend god knows how many more days out at sea. You just wanna get out. You’re tired of the bed bugs, tired of eating the same old shit food everyday and dealing with the little stinking thieving crewmen, You wanna go home. You’re sick of the smell of fish and piss. You’ve been told when to fly, where to go and you just wanna be YOU again. And at first knowing that “this was my last trip” is amazing. You do 3 or 4 cartwheels as you walk off Dock and hold your Passport high and proud as you check out of RRE for the last time. But what you don’t know is that while you may be leaving the tuna boats, the Tuna boats will never leave you. Like a drug that controls you, your brain will constantly replay only the fondest of memories that you spent with some of the best people that you will ever know. And *poof*, just like that, you no longer dwell on the flight ops, shitty food or standing in REE not understanding why they the brownies and no ice cream or getting yelled at for doing exactly what the fish master said and the fish still got away. Instead, you think about your friends. You remember all of the things you did together. You remember that no matter where you go in life or who you may meet, the tuna boats will always remain a major part of the nucleus of your existence. You are Tuna Trash now and you will be a Tuna Trash 50 years from now. That’s why tuna pilots are different. That’s why getting out off the boats is like checking into rehab. You may never go back, but I promise you that you are going to relapse in your mind every single night. TTFL!!!!!

[@blave549]

Nice vid. Except the music. I just don't get why people put music over this kind of thing. I want to hear the ENGINE, and maybe the dialog too. Sorry... I still enjoyed the visuals.

[@AerialAttraction]

I'll be adding a sort of unedited video in the near future that will have engine noise and cockpit audio. So keep an eye out for that! Thanks for the input.

[@blave549]

@@AerialAttraction Very glad to hear it. I'll be subscribing. To me the most beautiful sound in the world is a turbine engine spooling up!

[@oliviersibille9177]

🚁⛴👍😄

[@DavidWade66]

fish don't stand a chance, plunder

[@JJ-cf7nb]

Thank god that the really smart people do the boring work designing this equipment so you can spend all that time looking cool safely inside that height velocity envelope. Eh?