Chances seen with choppers 'downtrack'

After 10 years flying fixed-wing aircraft doing agricultural work, Alister Lister could see the industry was changing.

Mr Lister, who now owns Lister Helicopters Ltd with his wife, Nadine, believed there were more opportunities ''down the track'' with helicopters.

While launching their own business was a ''huge step'', the couple enjoyed running their own operation from their Milton home.

''I love flying; it's a brilliant industry to be involved in,'' he said.

From a rural background in South Otago, Mr Lister worked on farms after leaving school and served an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in Dunedin.

He later worked as maintenance foreman at the Macraes gold mine, which paid for his flying licence and a deposit for some land.

Lister Helicopters specialises in agricultural work and does everything associated with the rural sector, including lifting, firefighting, fire-lighting and mustering, along with spraying and spreading.

The company's work is mostly in coastal Otago, West and South Otago, Clinton and the Catlins.

Mrs Lister looks after the administration work, while the business also employs one full-time ground crew and several casual staff.

Mr Lister flies a Hughes 369E and said he enjoyed the versatility of helicopters,

which afforded ''a lot more strings to your bow''. He takes pride in his work and enjoys seeing the results.

Coming from a farming background gave him an empathy with his clients, he said.

''We understand when a guy's got aphids chewing his crop, it's critical for him to see some action within a few days,'' Mr Lister said.

A strength of the business was the personal connections with clients that being an owner-operator afforded, he said.

He was not in any hurry for the business to get bigger, saying two machines would probably be ideal.

The dry weather was putting stress on crops and aphids had had a ''bit of an explosion'', so he expected to be busy with spraying work for the next few weeks until the weather started to cool off, he said.