Hidden heights of a Masterton mind

Simon Bull has secrets.
The design engineer gun-for-hire and Wairarapa College old boy is silent about his private projects despite listing several high-profile contracts on both sides of the Tasman Sea among his career achievements to date.
"Some people think you're mad, some are interested in your ideas. Patents are one way to go but I find it better just to keep my personal design thoughts close to my heart.
"I've been working with an ex-Navy machine shop guy. We put our heads together every now and then, so yeah, I have a couple of secrets."
Mr Bull, 33, first worked as a graduate engineer on the Martin Aircraft jetpack, blueprinting prototypes of the machine that reached a record height of 1524m during a test flight last month.
He has freelanced design work on the cab and nose section of the latest double-decker train now ruling the rails in Sydney. He was on hand for the testing of mega-trucks built to haul 110,000-litre water tanks used for dust suppression and has volunteered his skills to race car teams.
His latest project was contracted through his own consultancy firm and lies beneath his coal-producing adopted home of Newcastle in New South Wales.
"Right now, I'm working on specialist mining trucks; underground explosives trucks that carry ammonium nitrate emulsion and mixer set-ups with robotic arms that can squirt the ammonium nitrate into a blast hole and set it off."
However, his secrets as a design engineer reach far greater heights than underground robots; higher even than the clouds he often navigates as a recreational pilot.
"Mining vehicles are good, they pay the bills, but I still fly every second or third weekend and aircraft are where it's at for me."
Would that be in, or beyond, the blue sky?
"You mean going into space? Well, there's at least four private projects going into space right now and Nasa has said it intends to sub-contract to private companies for the international space station.
"There could be opportunities to get involved in that, sure."
Mr Bull worked his maiden aviation job in 1995 with the Skyfix Aviation company based at Hood Aerodrome in Masterton, where "a good-hearted engineer" named Byron Knight gave him his start in the industry.
He counts his veteran pilot father, David Bull, and endless hours using power tools to build wooden boats and model planes in the family workshop as primary influences in his career choice and passion for flight.
He first took control of a plane when he was 12 years old "thanks to the 21 Squadron Air Training Corps and the dedication of Paul Walker and other volunteer instructors that flew with us kids".
It was his enthusiasm for flight that helped fuel his work as a graduate engineer on the Martin Aircraft jetpack in Christchurch. Several fellow graduates had cut their teeth on the jetpack, which was originally designed for recreation.
He worked on the jetpack between graduating and starting work with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and still monitors its progress.
Inventor and company Glenn Martin has said six military forces from around the globe, including the US and China, are focusing on his machine.
The 120kg carbon fibre jetpack has also attracted interest for use in border patrols, disaster relief, search and rescue, firefighting and emergency paramedics.
Finance of up to $10 million is now being sought for commercial production by next year for the jetpack, which is patented in 55 countries worldwide and would carry a price tag of about $100,000.
Mr Martin described Mr Bull as a "very talented young engineer" whose ongoing involvement with Team Martin is "a welcome boon".
A bonus reward came for Mr Bull in 2008 while he was displaying the jetpack at the EAA Airventure Oshkosh convention in the US state of Minnesota.
Not only had he rubbed shoulders at the convention with Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson and jet-obsessed movie stars Harrison Ford and John Travolta, but he also met trail-blazing aerospace engineer Burt Rutan.
Mr Rutan designed the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 for becoming the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space twice within a two-week period.
Mr Bull is content for now to work where his needs take him - underground if necessary - but intends, same as Mr Rutan, to keep his design sights fixed much higher.
"Guys like that have not been constrained and there's been so many good ideas that have been washed over in history when they just need new technology and another mind to bring [it] about."