I cant give much advice from the helicopter side of things, but being a tradesman Ive been in and out of this a few times.
The main thing to remember is that to break even as a sole trader/business you need to get around $20/hr more to make it worth your while. As a sole trader you will need to pay you own super, income insurance, workers comp, and public liability. These can add up to a very large amount.
The new setup with BAS statements means that you dont have to file every quater, you can now file yearly if you wish, which means you dont have to spend as much time at home doing accounting. When the GST first came in I was spending near 3hrs per week, just trying to keep in front.
While its true you can write off more as a business, you need to think about how much you will have to write off. For example I could write off materials, tools, travelling, the car, ect...
But you may find that as a pilot you wont have that much to write off.
On the whole, in my opinion, if you arent going to be earning over $60,000 per year, then its just not worth you while.
Im back on wages now, and find it makes my life much simpler. If you have the option I would go with wages.