Young aviators learn art of flying in special school

Tauranga pilot Nick Rowe (left) is one of 45 volunteers teaching teenagers like former Bethlehem College student David Goodall to fly at an annual camp in Matamata this week. Photo / Supplied

A Tauranga man is continuing a long-standing family tradition by giving up his time to train future pilots at a camp his grandfather helped to establish.

Pilot and flight instructor Nick Rowe followed in this dad and grandfather's footsteps when he went through the Walsh Memorial Scout Flying School as a teenager 21 years ago.

The intensive two-week camp, in its 49th year this week, introduced him to a life in aviation working as a pilot and he had now been returning to the Matamata-based camp as an instructor for the past 14 years. "I suppose it's in the blood," he laughed.

Mr Rowe said he was still young in volunteer years, with some instructors hitting 40.

The camp catered to 72 students between 16 and 19, with 44 of them completely new to the camp and flying.

In 14 days the students go from having no flying experience to flying their first solo flight around the Matamata airstrip.

But Mr Rowe said it about more than flying.

"The course is like Outward Bound for flying.

"Whether they choose to carry on or not doesn't matter because it's the skills they learn and the friends they make."

Watching students transition from nervous to confident and completing their first solo flight was an awesome experience, he said.

Tauranga air traffic controller James Pengelly was volunteering his time for the sixth year and said he wished he had known about it when he was a teenager.

The thrill was watching the students achieve their first solo, he said.

"That's why we come and do it because seeing the reaction and look on their face is the buzz that keeps you coming back year after year."

Former Bethlehem College student David Goodall, 18, was at the camp for the first time and hoped it would set him up for a career in aviation engineering.

His goal was to get his private pilot licence.

Gordon Ragg had dedicated his life to aviation - working for 30 years as a pilot in the airforce and now in his 14th year as director of the flying school.

"It's a very good thing for young people to have if they want to go on to aviation school ... It's a wonderful personal achievement when they complete their first solo."