Through The Jungle, Above The Treetops, Bush Flying in Suriname

swisspilot said:
Our little production about the flying we do here in Suriname is finally on-line, enjoy and share!

Click to expand...
I just think that is so cool! I loved the music, the editing and the cinematography! The scenery....meh.....lol What a beautiful little country. Man, there is some really awesome and adventurous bush flying to be had all over the damn globe. How many little dirt and grass strips and tiny airfields are there that you fly in and out of? That is some A game flying, sir. I'll reckon that you never tire of the views either. How many years have you been there? The fishing and the wildlife must be just awesome.

Is it okay if I send your video to a few friends? They'll really enjoy it.
 
swisspilot said:
yeah man! it really makes me wonder why Cessna doesn't send them out of the factory like that, we have 2 Supervans plus a 3rd conversion will come soon..
Click to expand...
I'm also glad to see there are still aviators out there, even if it's only in remote corners of the planet.
 
A Life Aloft said:
I just think that is so cool! I loved the music, the editing and the cinematography! The scenery....meh.....lol What a beautiful little country. Man, there is some really awesome and adventurous bush flying to be had all over the damn globe. How many little dirt and grass strips and tiny airfields are there that you fly in and out of? That is some A game flying, sir. I'll reckon that you never tire of the views either. How many years have you been there? The fishing and the wildlife must be just awesome.

Is it okay if I send your video to a few friends? They'll really enjoy it.
Click to expand...

I have been here since 2012, I fly the 206, the 208 and right seat on the Twin Otter. We operate to 50 something airstrips, other then our base airport we only fly to unimproved airfields, ranging from just over 900 feet to 1500/2000, made out of dirt, mud and grass.

I wish we could have included many more places in the video, but as filming was done on normal operation flights only, we couldn't just go off course for 10-15 miles to make a pass by some crazy isolated waterfall, which we do when we are empty or have special charters...

The fishing here is amazing, in fact I'm planning a fishing trip up the river for this weekend, in remote areas the rivers are filled with Aimaras and Redtail catfishes. Along the coast on the estuaries it is full of grey snappers, swamp areas and lakes have tons of peacock bass. Hunting is also very good here, very easy to get a rifle license, and a double barrel mossberg sells the same as in the US...take a truck and head on one of the trails, plenty of deers and wild boars, set up camp bring plenty of friends and beers and just enjoy it. In the South there are still a lot of Jaguars around and it is not hard to spot Anacondas just chilling by the river.

please share it!
 
You've been there a good while then. Lucky man! I love fishing and I remember a trip that Jeremy Wade took there for his show River Monsters (one of my fave shows) where he went for and caught a huge ass Wolf fish that was was just enormous and gave him quite the fight. What an incredible adventure you are having, both on the job and on your off time! That is a lot of spots you are flying in and out of. 900' feet. Hot damn. The rain forests must be just wonderful. The people seemed very friendly in the video too. I will definitely be sharing your video around, it's very nice. So glad you posted it. It's the kind of video they should be showing at flight schools instead of a bunch of jumbo jets taking off at ORD. Best thing I've seen on here in a while. It just made me happy.......like the videos that the bush pilots up in AK post on here sometimes. There's flying and then there's real flying.
 
Last edited:
Having flown in both Suriname and Brazil, I can't wait for this full video! Very cool......
 
A Life Aloft said:
So glad you posted it. It's the kind of video they should be showing at flight schools instead of a bunch of jumbo jets taking off at ORD. Best thing I've seen on here in a while. It just made me happy.......like the videos that the bush pilots up in AK post on here sometimes. There's flying and then there's real flying.
Click to expand...

Quoted for the MF'in truth.

I wish I had seen this video 25 years ago. I really do.
 
killbilly said:
Quoted for the MF'in truth.

I wish I had seen this video 25 years ago. I really do.
Click to expand...
@killbilly Hey mister, you are doing pretty okay so far and your recent milestone is pretty awesome. Be proud of that! We all have our little regrets here and there, but screw it.....keep looking towards the future, enjoy where you are now and be happy that you have at least come this far and you're going to continue on to many terrific adventures in the future. THAT is what matters. You get to have the views now that you've always wanted. Fortunately in this life, we get do overs. :)
 
A Life Aloft said:
You've been there a good while then. Lucky man! I love fishing and I remember a trip that Jeremy Wade took there for his show River Monsters (one of my fave shows) where he went for and caught a huge ass Wolf fish that was was just enormous and gave him quite the fight. What an incredible adventure you are having, both on the job and on your off time! That is a lot of spots you are flying in and out of. 900' feet. Hot damn. The rain forests must be just wonderful. The people seemed very friendly in the video too. I will definitely be sharing your video around, it's very nice. So glad you posted it. It's the kind of video they should be showing at flight schools instead of a bunch of jumbo jets taking off at ORD. Best thing I've seen on here in a while. It just made me happy.......like the videos that the bush pilots up in AK post on here sometimes. There's flying and then there's real flying.
Click to expand...

Yes they did an episode of River Monsters, we actually don't go very often to that part of Suriname, because there is really nothing there, only couple villages, also part of that region is in dispute with Guyana...they do have a very nice resort more downstream from the filming location. There is an American guy here that came to work as an A&P for MAF, now he runs fishing tours and has his own youtube show about fishing in Suriname.



The Wolf Fish is actually very tasty.

Fishing is really huge here, and in Paramaribo you have dedicated stores just like in the USA.

I have some very nice pictures of places we, unfortunately were not able to get on camera during the 2 weeks we filmed. I will make a thread under "Pictures".

It is really awesome to fly here, the locals are very nice and after a while at the villages and gold mines they will all call you by name. Most of the time we are the only link to civilization and they really show us they appreciate our work.
 
Last edited:
swisspilot said:
Yes they did an episode of River Monsters, we actually don't go very often to that part of Suriname, because there is really nothing there, only couple villages, also part of that region is in dispute with Guyana...they do have a very nice resort more downstream from the filming location. There is an American guy here that came to work as an A&P for MAF, now he runs fishing tours and has his own youtube show about fishing in Suriname.



The Wolf Fish is actually very tasty.

Fishing is really huge here, and in Paramaribo you have dedicated stores just like in the USA.

I have some very nice pictures of places we, unfortunately were not able to get on camera during the 2 weeks we filmed. I will make a thread under "Pictures".

It is really awesome to fly here, the locals are very nice and after a while at the villages and gold mines they will all call you by name. Most of the time we are the only link to civilization and they really show us they appreciate our work.
Click to expand...

I noticed that Wade often chooses to go to the most remote, PITA to get to spots in any country that he visits/fishes in. lol He really seems to enjoy roughing it and going to like tiny villages in the middle of nowhere and the like.

I am seriously going to enjoy those fishing videos! He has a bunch of them loaded up. Thanks for posting that.

I look forward to your photos and will watch for your thread then. I think deep inside of most aviators, lies the desire of the life of a bush pilot. Some of my first and most loved books and stories were of Beryl Markham, Don Sheldon, Karen Blixen, Roy Dickson, Punch Dickins, etc. It's the remoteness, the adventure, the ever changing beautiful scenery, the skills needed to be able to fly in so many types of wx, terrain and land in so many different types of rugged destinations, what you get to see and experience, differences in cultures of the area that the average person just does not get to experience, the lifestyle, the freedom, the characters that one interacts with...........so many things really.

I am really enjoying what you have had to say about what it's like to be doing the job that you are. Very interesting. Makes a lot of us sigh, I am sure.There are many ways and roads to do what you love, be content and make a living/life for yourself in aviation. I kinda wish we had a bush pilots forum on here.

You're a wise man to have known you wanted to accomplish this and then go for it with everything you had. Pretty damn cool, IMO.
 
Last edited:
I sat in on a corporate HR meeting today when everyone scoffed at the mention of bush flying + landing on a dirt strip. Its nice seeing that a good flying job doesn't have to mean flying an Airbus. Thanks for sharing!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top