Testimonials

If you are a past passenger please feel free to share your reviews of our service by contacting us. Below are some comments from previous passengers who have experience some of our helicopter and seaplane experiences.

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Ashley Caldwell – Graduation Flight

This emotional and beautiful recognition from Ashley Caldwell’s Mum, Leigh, reminds us why we love our job. Please share their story of a very special graduation journey here

Share their spectacular slide show of images as Ashley arrives in style here, bringing Townsville to a stop!

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Muttley shares his fitting goodbye…

“Plan A” – A skydive to release Pink Rose Petals to celebrate the life of a wonderful, irreplaceable woman who had touched the hearts of so many Skydivers across Australia. “Plan B” – I shouldn’t need one, I have been skydiving for a long time and I can jump in most weather conditions that present themselves this time of the year.

The Day of the Skydive – Wind…and gusting above our Legal Limits.
Who do I know that could help me at short notice? Who can I trust to fly for such an occasion? So many questions and so few options, and time is running out.

I decided to call Hylton at Nautilus Aviation with slim hopes of being able to organize something that would be memorable and assist in the lifting the feeling of loss at the passing of a Skydiving Stalwart.
No answer, so I left a message. A very short time afterwards I received a call from Hylton explaining that he had been flying when I called and but now was free to chat. I explained the situation to him expecting that he would be busy and unable to help, but expecting him to offer other alternatives that I perhaps had not considered. His answer was definitive, “I will see you at the Hangar at 1:30”. The feeling of relief and happiness was immediate.

I had known Hylton for a number of years and always knew that he was a man that you could rely on and a man that would go out of his way to help in any way that he could. He was the man for the task.
The flight could not have gone smoother. I felt some of the sadness of the situation lift, as soon as the Helicopter rose above the ground at the Airport.

The flight to the Strand was beautiful, smooth and quick. Hylton suggested that we hover over the water and release the Rose Petal from a small hatch in the door. So with a beautiful view of Cleveland Bay, The Strand and Magnetic Island as the backdrop we released the Petals and watched them slowly waft on the wind towards the water. A fitting tribute.

We returned to the Airport with a sense of happiness overcoming the sense of loss. I left the airport knowing that without Hylton’s help that day may have gone by without a fitting tribute.

An hour later Hylton called me just to see how I was feeling. I was amazed that he would go out of his way to not only provide the service that I had experienced with his Helicopter, but to also care about me.

The world gets faster, more complicated and less personal each year, but there are still people that go out of their way to make a difference in other people’s lives. Hylton is one of those people. I cannot recommend highly enough the service that Hylton and Nautilus Aviation provides. If you have a special occasion that you would like to be made even more special then call Hylton for the service that you deserve.

Thanks Hylton for making a difference in people’s lives.

Ben Southall’s Blog on Orpheus (“The Best Job In the World”)

Weather: Sunshine and squally showers, 30ºc

After spending some time on what islanders call ‘The Big Island’, or Australia to the rest of us, it was time to venture back out onto the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef for some self-indulgent relaxing and pampering…oh come on it’s what the job was meant to be about from the day it was advertised!


We’d finished our last trip on the Coral Princess in Townsville and to get to our first stopover meant meeting up with an old friend Hylton from Nautilus Aviation, who’d flown me a few months ago from Cardwell to Magnetic Island. These familiar faces are starting to pop up everywhere and I love it.


Out on the trailer at Townsville airport a silver bird awaiting us, an R44 Helicopter looking resplendent in the sunshine. Bre and I climbed on board, Hylton powered up the machine, radioed the control tower to make our flight plan known and took us away. I can never tire of the feeling I get from a helicopter hovering, powering forwards and whisking across the tarmac.

- Ben Southall (Winner – “The Best Job In the World”)