"The staff at the cafeteria were all waiting for us. We were diverted through to the hangar next door, where the Tiger Moths and a couple of other aircraft are housed.
"I went up as a passenger in a Tiger Moth (ZK BEW) and thoroughly enjoyed the flight at Hood Aerodrome, I couldn't stop laughing. Everyone on the ground was laughing, when we came into land. They all joined me in my happiness.
"There would be very few people going up for a flight at 92, let alone in a Tiger Moth.
"I had flown in one of these (ZK ANY) when I flew solo, about the same age as ZK BEW. My family didn't have a car at that stage and I was 18 years old.
"My parents knew I was crazy about aircraft, my collection of post-WWII aircraft photographs was getting quite thick. I just mentioned I was going to the aerodrome at Rongotai to enrol, as I wanted to join and fly. They were horrified.
"Dad (who had returned from the war) said 'why don't you ride a motorbike? I'll bring some home from the Mess.' I tried to kickstart the motorbike but bounced up again after it kicked back. I managed to ride it but wasn't really interested. I said thanks very much, but I'm still going out to the aerodrome.
"Next weekend he brought another motorbike home and the next weekend another one. Most parents don't want their children to ride motorbikes.
"I went to my electrical and radio servicing apprenticeship classes in the weekend, then went out to the aerodrome, where I was met by the club captain and chief flying instructor.
"They lent me a jacket, helmet and goggles, then took me out to the newest aeroplane they had there, a Canadian De Havilland Chipmunk - which didn't need all that gear as it had a cabin.
"We took off, the instructor explained some of the controls to me and he said 'now you take it' and down we went. 'Centralise your rudder bar, use the aileron to bring it back level.'
"I managed to straighten out and level off. He said 'try again' and it did the same thing going the other way, I had over-compensated.
"We zig-zagged all over the sky until I got the hang of it. But it confirmed everything I hoped it would be. I couldn't stop grinning, this was the absolute epitome, the thing I lived for.
"I applied to join the aero club after we landed and at the next committee meeting I was nominated and accepted. I never looked back. The atmosphere there was very welcoming.
"The very next time I flew was in a Tiger Moth. Winter arrived, and I would go out to the aerodrome every weekend in the hope it wasn't so windy there, but it always was - it was wide-open to the wind.
"I had a fairly long training because there was such a gap between flights. when Spring arrived, I was sent solo and didn't bend the aeroplane when I landed. I always bounced on the landings, having considerable difficulty doing a three-point landing. Nobody went crook about it so it was okay.
"I had only done about 10 hours flying solo when I met my wife-to-be. Quite early on I asked her to marry me, she said yes and we raised four children, which (together with grandchildren), has grown to a family of 40. We were married for 53 years, when she died 16 years ago.
