When students from a Whangarei special school saw the plane they would be flying in their eyes lit up with excitement - for many of them it was their first time in the sky.
Through the Child Flight Charitable Trust, Whangarei's Blomfield School was able to send eight of their students for a trip around Whangarei in a plane piloted by John Shaw.
Assistant principal, Sophia Green, said for many of the students, if not all of them, it was their first time on a plane.
"For our students' family they can find it difficult to take their children in any public transport. Part of this is learning that it is okay."
Ms Green said the students were very excited about the trip - which showed in their expressions. Some were keen to get back on the plane, another didn't walk into the hangar - he flew in with arms stretched like an aeroplane.
"In lots of ways they enjoy it. It can be looking, the sounds - it's very sensory," she said.
Chris Jordan, CEO and founder of the Child Flight Charitable Trust, said he was able to offer the trips through the help of Z Energy and loved seeing the students' reactions.
"It is so rewarding to do something like this and you see some amazing reactions from them," he said.
Ms Green said this was the third year they had been offered flights.
"They were very excited, so happy," she said.
Photographer John Stone went to capture the excitement.