Teen pilots ready to take off
Two teenagers are well on their way to their dream careers after being the youngest pilots to gain their licences at the CHB Aero Club.
The pair, Reuben Hansen and Terina Wardley, started flight training with CHB flying instructor Ross Macdonald when they were 15.
“You have to be 16 to fly solo,” says Ross.
“So we timed their training so that they both went solo soon after their 16th birthdays.”
After that milestone, the teens continued their flight training, including passing six exams, and passed their private pilots’ licences before Christmas.
“They are the youngest that the CHB Aero Club has put through,” says Ross.
“We have had other young people fly solo, but these are the first that have followed through and gained their private pilots’ licences.”
For CHB local Reuben Hansen, training at the CHB Aero Club was a logical choice. He funded his training by working at Mitre 10 in weekends and after school.
Terina Wardley is from Havelock North and also paid her own way through the programme, working at the Clive fish and chip shop.
Terina travelled to CHB for training under the recommendation of her father, a commercial pilot who flies for Air NZ and thought the small local club was the best place for Terina to learn grassroots flying skills.
Both students have now been accepted at Air HB to further their training and they are both aiming for careers as commercial pilots.
Ross says he was impressed by the young pilots.
“They both worked their way through their training with little financial help. They studied through their schools under the STAR programme, which helps students to study subjects that are not on the school curriculum.
“The STAR programme funded their exams, which they both passed.”
Ross says that while the club has trained pilots who have gone on to fly professionally, these two are by far the youngest, “and it was great to see kids so young with a set goal to work towards and the determination to achieve it.
“It’s been good to see them develop in skills and as young people. They were 15 when they started training and now they are young adults who have stepped up and taken on the responsibility of flying aircraft.”
■ For more information the CHB Aero Club has a Facebook page and website: chbaeroclub.co.nz