Aviation pilot Neville Worsley retells stories from his career in self-published book

Neville Worsley with the Piper PA18A Cub ZK-BOX. Photo/ Supplied

The sky is the limit for an aviation pilot who has retold stories from his 60 years as a pilot.

Neville Worsley, 82, from Stratford, has recently self-published his book Tigermoths to topdressing DC-3s. He says the stories in the book cover a range of subjects, and where a career in aviation has taken him.

Neville, born in Hāwera and who attended schools around the Stratford district, says he first learnt to fly at 16.

"I gained my commercial pilot's licence, where I needed 200 hours of training and to pass written and flying exams. My first job was top dressing with Brian Doyle for his business in 1962 when I was 20 years old."

He says flying runs in the family, with two of his mother's brothers flying planes in the Second World War.

"Their flying inspired me."

When Neville was in his mid-20s he moved to the Wairarapa to fly bigger aircraft with bigger tonnages.

Throughout his career, Neville says he has many highlights but also has had accidents as well.

"Once I in a Fletcher top-dresser and I had a bad accident in 1964 where I was catapulted out of the plane. Luckily I had no broken bones but I did suffer a concussion and I spent two days in the hospital. After three weeks I was back flying again."

Neville Worsley in the DC3 AWO Woodbourne. Photo/ Supplied

Neville then moved on to fly the Canadian-built aircraft the Beaver and during that time he married his wife Leone.

"I met her in Stratford and saw her again at Whangamomona when I was playing football."

In 1968 he and his wife moved to Napier with their two sons Pat and Les. He says his sons also have careers in aviation.

While in Napier he had the opportunity to fly a DC-3, an ex-airliner converted for top dressing.

"All they did was take out the seats and put in a hopper to carry fertiliser."

He says the DC-3s have a special place in his heart.

"I flew them for 11 years and in that time I covered a lot of the country."

in 1983 Neville retired from top-dressing and formed a tourist business in Rotorua.

"We flew tourists around in these vintage aeroplanes, it was really neat."

He did this with three other pilots until 1988 when he began instructing and test flying in Roturoa, while also working for Air New Zealand.

Loading the Fiat 500 Bambina into the DC-3. Photo/ Supplied

In 2014 he and Leone moved back to Stratford and retired.

While Neville still flies and holds a current pilot's licence, he has used his spare time to make models.

"I'm a volunteer at the transport museum in New Plymouth and I get out in our home-built aeroplane made by my son Les."

It was in his spare time that Neville wrote his book.

"It was the first level 4 lockdown and I found myself bored. At first, I just wrote this book for my family but one of my close friends read it, and asked if I would take it further so I did."

As well as sharing his story, Neville has also paid tribute to pilots that have lost their lives.

"I dedicated the book to over 150 top-dressing pilots who lost their lives doing the job they loved, flying, by enclosing a Roll of Honour 1950 to 2020."

He initially printed 250 copies and he says they're almost all sold, with readers across the world buying copies.

"They've been purchased from people all around the world and knowing people want to read my story is amazing."

He says the feedback he's received has been positive, and he is excited to share his story with the world.

■ To purchase a copy of Neville's book, email: dh822dc3@gmail.com.