It was a long way from where the couple met in the small coastal town of Pauanui on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula.
They met at a mutual friend's party and while chatting, discovered that they both lived near Palmerston North.
The similarities did not end there. They had both attended Massey University, just one year apart, with McLaughlin studying agriculture and Kath studying science.
At one stage Kath even flatted in a home that McLaughlin used to live in.
McLaughlin first experienced soaring through the skies when he took up hang gliding during his time at Massey.
Following his studies, he went on an overseas journey before returning to New Zealand and working as a photo journalist.
"We were both really into sports and had a love of farming and the land," Kath says.
"I enjoyed his personality, he was a lot of fun. He had a quiet laid-back nature and a cheeky sense of humour."
McLaughlin was born in Te Awamutu, the son of Bill and Pam, brother of Peter and Ann.
They grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Ngaroma, 40km south of the Waikato town.
In about 2011, McLaughlin decided to take a break from the agriculture industry and went to work in tourism at Volcanic Air in Rotorua.
He later returned to do relief flying for Wanganui Aerowork which was just known as Aerowork by then.
During this time he also did two stints eradicating rats in the South Georgia Islands near Antarctica with Peter Garden. He called it a highlight of his flying career.
"Recently he and four other helicopter pilots from Aerowork bought out the helicopter division of the company and formed Mid West Helicopters," Kath says.
"Dave was the CEO and flying where needed. He helped set the company up and to get all the CAA regulations sorted so they could obtain an operating licence."
McLaughlin was also interested in flying drones and ran a side project of UAV mapping - doing aerial surveys for various organisations.
He had plenty of interests outside of flying, including 70s and 80s songs by artists such as The Eagles, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
Kath says they went to three Springsteen concerts together, but she could never get him into contemporary music.
"He used to give me stick if I was playing something more contemporary. He'd go 'what's that rubbish?'
"I'd tell him it was good to hear contemporary music sometimes, but he was quite happy never to hear any of that."
McLaughlin enjoyed spending time outside on their Ohakune property, where they farmed fallow deer.
He loved the outdoors - skiing, hiking, photography, fly fishing and mountain biking.
His last ride was on May 11 in his hometown of Ohakune. Dave McLaughlin had a sudden heart attack while riding and died.
A celebration of his life was held at The Centre in Raetihi on May 17 where friends and family shared stories, read poems, listened to his favourite songs and viewed photos.
"It's a cliche, but he was my soulmate," Kath says.
"He never got stressed and that's why he made such a good pilot."
