Young pilot’s passion takes off
Flying lessons have gone from dream to reality for Timaru girl Ava Venn.
The 12-year-old took the controls of a Piper Tomahawk at the weekend and found navigating the South Canterbury coast ‘‘exciting but scary’’.
Ava has been raising money for flying lessons with gobstopper machines, but an anonymous donor gave her a voucher for her first lesson earlier this month.
South Canterbury Aero Club chief flying instructor Aaron Pearce said Ava handled the controls well. ‘‘She’s a very capable wee kid.’’ Pearce said he handled the takeoff and landing, while Ava controlled the yoke for much of the rest of the flight.
Ava said although she was anxious about crashing at times, she enjoyed the whole lesson.
She said flying in a smaller aircraft meant it was easier to ‘‘feel what’s happening’’.
The pair flew from Timaru’s Richard Pearse airport up the South Canterbury coast to Clandeboye before returning.
Fog obscured a view of Timaru, but Ava said she enjoyed seeing the landscape underneath her.
As well as the fun of flying, she learnt about the checks needed to ensure a safe flight.
She is booked for another lesson in the next school holidays.
She went flying with the club in a monthly navigation competition earlier in the month.
Her father, Steve Venn, watched the flight from the clubrooms. He said his daughter’s passion for flying was plain to see after the lesson, and she talked about it all the way home.
Ava, a keen saver, has bought three gobstopper machines to pay for the lessons.
Earlier in the month, her father thanked locals for the ‘‘phenomenal’’ support, assistance and guidance they had shown for his daughter’s dream.