It started as a 6-year-old lad getting to see the inside of a Cessna 172 at the Galatea Airfield.

“His dream of flying was born!”

10 years later at age 16, this dream turned into reality when this young fellow got to fly solo for the first time at Whakatane Airport. That created the next dream of gaining a Private Pilot Licence so he could take his friends and family flying.

Wow! 17 years old and holding a Private Pilot Licence. It just shows that anyone with dreams, who is prepared to work towards them, will always create the reality that they desire. All this worked the same again for this pilot to earn his Commercial Pilot Licence and Instructor Rating.

Then the ultimate dream came true with a Job Flying! He started working part-time as a Flying Instructor and then got a full-time flying job at the Tauranga Aero Club in the late eighties.

Skip ahead a few decades to 2012, where the opportunity to set up a flying school at Whakatane Airport showed up.

With the help of other flying instructors, a modern hangar with briefing rooms, a flight simulator, and five different types of aircraft to take people up in, he now gets to spend his days sharing his passion for flying by helping others to turn their flying dreams into reality.

Now in the 2020s, this "not so young lad" probably has more years of aviation behind him than ahead of him.

He is incredibly thankful for the guidance he received from many wise aviators along the way.
He now believes it is his turn to give back to the aviation community,
ensuring others can enjoy a long and rewarding flying career too.