Super Yachts
Is it a secret society or something?
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 394
Likes: 2
From: Aus, Europe & everywhere in between
Nothing secret about it. Just a little hard to come by 
Flight International sometimes advertises. Get down to the Med in summer and take note of the names of the yachts. Go from there.
Some boats have an agreement with certain companies to supply pilots (& aircraft).
Flight International sometimes advertises. Get down to the Med in summer and take note of the names of the yachts. Go from there.
Some boats have an agreement with certain companies to supply pilots (& aircraft).
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,669
Likes: 5
From: uk
Log in and register here:- http://powerandmotoryacht.com/
get on the forum and have a chat with some of the guys. Was offered 2 jobs by doing that. I also wanted to be engineer/pilot. Had all relevant STCW + JAR certs etc but they do expect you to have at least 1000hrs and type rating already. 355/EC120/130, plus you might end up doing fairly long trips with very little flying.
Good Luck
get on the forum and have a chat with some of the guys. Was offered 2 jobs by doing that. I also wanted to be engineer/pilot. Had all relevant STCW + JAR certs etc but they do expect you to have at least 1000hrs and type rating already. 355/EC120/130, plus you might end up doing fairly long trips with very little flying.
Good Luck
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,669
Likes: 5
From: uk
all the yachts I spoke to, basically they employ people for the particular job and help out in other jobs onboard. They wanted to employ me as chief eng. and poss do some flying but I wanted to be employed as pilot and help out as engineer. Pay for engineers was from about £2k/ €3k to start and up to about £6k/€9k per month. It was tax free and had health/life ins/small travel allowance + yearly bonus up to 20%+charter tips depending on vessel. I only ever worked as engineer onboard a large yacht but on one occasion I made $1k in one week from tips. (famous film start chartered the yacht).
I know there is at least one pilot who frequents Rotorheads who flies off yachts and I guess he prob makes about 100k+ year. Again, depends who you work for but all salaries are pretty much negotiable to a point.
I know there is at least one pilot who frequents Rotorheads who flies off yachts and I guess he prob makes about 100k+ year. Again, depends who you work for but all salaries are pretty much negotiable to a point.
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
From: Canada
Good people to talk with here:
http://www.heliriviera.com/
http://www.heliriviera.com/
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Florida
I, too, have been interested in opportunities in the yacht industry, but info is hard to come by. I have spoken with Heliriviera but does anyone else have any other information? I am only interested in N registered aircraft as I only have FAA licenses and am looking for full or part time employment. Thanks in advance.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 394
Likes: 2
From: Aus, Europe & everywhere in between
If you are realy interested in a job on a Super Yacht, don't look at the rego of the aircraft as a stopping stone.
Alot of the helicopters operating off the Superyachts are N reg but there are Bermuda, Caymans, NZ, Aus & UK.
The only handbrake with the G reg aircraft is that you can get a one year validation to fly a G reg machine but the validation will only allow you to do PVT and aerial work ops for the owner (normally the Yacht) which is not a problem as most Superyacht ops are private. What happens after one year????
All the other regos mentioned above will allow a rather easier validation process with no hassles. Bermuda & Caymans do not issue licences. They validate other ICAO licences.
So, there you go - there is nothing stopping you. You just need an opening to step into.
Alot of the helicopters operating off the Superyachts are N reg but there are Bermuda, Caymans, NZ, Aus & UK.
The only handbrake with the G reg aircraft is that you can get a one year validation to fly a G reg machine but the validation will only allow you to do PVT and aerial work ops for the owner (normally the Yacht) which is not a problem as most Superyacht ops are private. What happens after one year????
All the other regos mentioned above will allow a rather easier validation process with no hassles. Bermuda & Caymans do not issue licences. They validate other ICAO licences.
So, there you go - there is nothing stopping you.
You just need an opening to step into.
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,584
Likes: 0
From: UK
Have a care when assuming that
They aren't. Most superyachts are chartered out when the owner is not using it, and then it becomes Public Transport. On most big yachts crew have secondary duties too, you'll almost certainly be expected to be a deck hand, watch keeper and engineer too. They don't tend to have specialist pilots sitting on their fannys doing nothing for 9 1/2 days out of 10. The biggest hazard for all superyacht crews is the boredom from long periods of inactivity. Thee things can spend months at a time tied up going nowhere...
most Superyacht ops are private.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 394
Likes: 2
From: Aus, Europe & everywhere in between
Have a care when assuming
You are right, some Yachts are chartered out when the owner is not using it - not the helicopter though.
Last edited by Oogle; 19th June 2007 at 20:32.
