due to COVID-19 restrictions, restaurants are closed. We expect them to be opening September - October, 2020
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
ORIGINS
WHY HELI LUNCH
Police, Planes, Trains & Motorbikes
Our founder, Garry Schilling, has always had four great loves: police, planes, trains and motorbikes.
Becoming a policeman was his first ambition. Racing motorbikes came next, followed by flying aeroplanes and building model trains. Not necessarily in that order. The difference between a dream and a destination? Garry has managed to achieve all four.
A career with the South Australian Police (SAPOL) was cut short by a serious motorbike accident. But while one chapter closed, another began.
His fascination with aviation, particularly aeroplanes, helicopters and the wonder of flight, had never really gone away.
Garry went on to gain his pilot's licence, flying small fixed-wing aircraft, before establishing a small-jet charter business in Adelaide. It quickly attracted an impressive clientele, including the Australian Federal Government and members of the Australian Cricket Team. Yet, despite this early success, life had other plans.
Over the years, life delivered its fair share of curveballs, bringing changes, challenges and unexpected turns.
In 2016, Garry received a rather unexpected tap on the shoulder — a gift, if you will — in the form of an aggressive cancer diagnosis. Rather than simply carrying on as before, it prompted him to stop and reassess his future. What did he want to do with the time ahead? What kind of business would he genuinely enjoy building?
While in hospital receiving treatment, he began reflecting on those questions. He wrote down a list of priorities and passions. At the top of the list of priorities was one simple instruction: HAVE FUN. And among his enduring passions, one had always remained close to the surface: his love of flight.
The answer came surprisingly quickly. Take a helicopter to lunch.
It was a simple idea, born from two things Garry knew he wanted to combine: the joy of flying and the pleasure of doing something different.
When COVID arrived, and the restrictions of the following two years forced people to rethink how they lived, worked and spent their time, the idea had an opportunity to take shape.
What began as a straightforward thought — taking a helicopter to lunch — gradually developed into something more.
The opportunity was not simply to combine a flight with a meal, but to create a day that people would remember. A chance to discover remarkable places, enjoy exceptional food and share an experience that might never otherwise have happened.
And so, HELI LUNCH was born.
Built around a simple philosophy — HAVE FUN — and a lifelong love of flight, HELI LUNCH continues to bring the two together in a way that is distinctly its own.
Because sometimes, the best ideas don't come from asking what the world needs more of.
They come from asking yourself what you would love to do.
For Garry, the answer was always going to involve a helicopter.