I had no idea what would be the best option for me learning to fly but I figured my uncle Ross (the Cirrus distributor based at Caloundra Airport) was a good source of knowledge. Ross put me onto Damien at GoFly, next door to him, and I gave him a call. I had a few weeks off work and Damien assured me that he would be able to let me fly every day to maximise my lesson time. Also I find it very beautiful over there, and I could stay with Ross at the same time, so the cost difference compared to just staying in WA was minimal.
I completed my RPC through GoFly and have since completed my nav endorsement, and my RPL back over in WA. I am working on getting my tail-dragger endorsement next. I would also like to get my glider towing endorsement for something fun.
I’m looking for some work that combines my oil & gas experience, and links in with aviation a bit more, but I haven’t figured this out yet. For now, I like just flying as an escape from responsibility. I also use it to visit my girlfriend’s parents for coffee, as they are about 2.5 hours out of Perth in the country.
One tip I would give pilots is, don’t trust the map when looking for creeks, especially when you are quite high; a lot of them are dried up and very hard to navigate by. Getting on your track and looking for any distinct houses or silos/radio towers is good to really help you find your way around. Very helpful in WA where it is very flat, and not many landscape features inland.
Anthony Hills