ADELAIDE BIPLANES

08/04/2026

Piper Super Cub PA-18-150

A Return Home – Heritage Tailwheel Training in South Australia

In a few weeks time, May 2026, a very special aircraft comes home. We have tried for 7 years to buy her back and finally she has started her ocean journey from Southampton Docks in the UK. We are tracking her journey to Adelaide, she has just left Singapore on the Container Ship Cosco Philippines
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:689033

Our 1965 Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, serial number 18-8277. Formerly registered G-BVIW in the United Kingdom and soon to become VH-KIW, she is not simply joining our fleet — she is returning to our family.

We owned her until 2004 when we left the UK and came back to live in Australia. She shaped our lives. She shaped our children. She carries memories that sit quietly but powerfully within us.

There was a time when Bonnie and Matt would pull her up to the decking at Maltings Barn in Henfield, West Sussex, wash her carefully in the afternoon light, and wait for their Dad, Martyn, to come home so they could head back into the sky together.

Both Bonnie and Matt learnt to fly in this very aircraft. They went solo in her. They grew in confidence in her cockpit. She was part of everyday life — part of growing up, part of discipline, part of becoming aviators.

Built in 1965 and now finished in her unmistakable Cub yellow, this PA-18-150 represents one of the purest training aircraft ever designed.
Tandem seating.
Direct control response.
No excess.
No distraction.
Just honest aerodynamics and beautifully balanced handling.
To learn to fly in a Super Cub is to learn to aviate.

The Cub teaches rudder discipline. It teaches energy management. It teaches you to feel the aircraft through your fingertips and feet. Every take-off demands attention. Every landing rewards precision. There is nowhere to hide in a tailwheel aeroplane — and that is precisely why it produces capable, confident pilots.

Technically admired for its lightweight construction, high-lift wing and harmonised controls, the PA-18-150 is equally at home on grass strips, country airfields and coastal runways. With 150 horsepower at the nose and classic tandem seating, it is forgiving enough to guide a student — yet disciplined enough to refine even experienced aviators.

This is heritage flight training at its finest.
The sound of the engine at idle.
The scent of warm oil and fabric.
The tail lifting on take-off.
The runway narrowing ahead in a three-point landing.
This is grassroots aviation — the kind that builds judgement, resilience and respect for wind and weather.

We purchased her back from Ian Logan of Kensington, London — Graphic Designer and author of Logomotive, a book celebrating railroad graphics and the American Dream. It feels fitting that an aircraft so closely connected to freedom, nostalgia and design heritage now makes her way to Australia — a land of wide skies and pioneering spirit.

As a family, we believe she is returning to her spiritual home.
There are many waiting to meet her for the first time. For us, May 3rd 2026 — when she arrives in Port Adelaide — will be emotional. A circle closing. A story continuing.

Soon she will once again teach students to solo. She will create new memories. She will introduce a new generation to the art of tailwheel flying — not simply learning to operate an aircraft, but learning to truly fly.

Some aircraft are impressive.
Some aircraft are rare.
A few become part of your life story.
This Super Cub is all three.

And we cannot wait to welcome her home.

21/01/2026

We sent a text to The Elves to help us divert Father Christmas to Adelaide Biplanes. They succeeded with 'bells on', bringing vintage cars, trucks, including a big red 1960's Fire Truck and a 1900 horse drawn Fire Cart pushed by CFS volunteers, backed up and with all horns blaring by the 3 CFS Trucks from Sellicks, Aldinga and Willunga!
The CFS stayed and assisted children onto their truck to hoot the horn and turn the wheel! Future volunteers?
Thank you, thank you to all those people giving their time to make this magic happen ....

The Elves respond to a text requesting their help to divert Father Christmas to Adelaide Biplanes, December 2025

24/12/2025

Kingsley Storer flies ....

"I hadn't been on an aeroplane ever, until I was 11 years old. My Grandmother who lived at West Beach used to take us to watch the aeroplanes at Adelaide Airport. Then, when I was 11, she took my brother and I into the airport and she had booked us a mystery flight on an Ansett Airlines Fokker Friendship. We went to Whyalla, got a sandwich at the airport and came back again, all for $10 in 1985!

That started the 'I want to fly'! I read books about flying and could recognise different Boeing aircraft. We had a really old computer, a Commodore 64, made in the UK, and on there was a prized Flight Simulator! You could only fly to 4 airports .... Chicago, Seattle, Long Island and Los Angeles maybe?

In the beginning, I wanted to be a Neurosurgeon, or maybe a Computer Systems or Electronics Engineer. I had an Uncle Brian that was a GP and I really looked up to him. I decided in the end, that I really wanted to do a job that helped people. By the time I was 17, I had started a 6 year course at the University of Adelaide studying medicine. I continued with a year of research in Neurosurgery.

I did my first year of Internship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, followed by another year at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney to start Neurosurgery as a General Resident. After 12 months, I started a PhD in Neurosurgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, that kept me busy for the next 4 years.

I met my wife Desi in 2000. We took time out from my PhD in 2002 and went off to live in London, travelling around Europe, also working as a locum in different hospitals around the UK.

We eventually came back to Sydney, Australia and I finished my PhD in 2006. Then, whilst chatting to my future father-in-law, an Anaesthetist, he encouraged me to apply for a job at Campbelltown Hospital. This meant more study, for another year.

We still wanted to travel to the States, actually we wanted to live there permanently! So, in June 2007, we got married and I left in July to take up a job as a resident in Anaesthesiology at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Basically, this meant 'on the job' training.

By now, I had been studying and working in medicine for 16 years.

Whilst in the States, I worked as a Consultant in Anaesthesia and did this for another 6 years. It wasa during this time that both our boys were born.

Why did we come back? .... Family .... the boys were growing up and missing their grandparents, plus New York was really expensive.

In 2018, I started working at Flinders Medical Centre, specialising in Neurosurgical Anaesthesia. There are certain things that you can do with anaesthesia that affect the brain. If you are not controlling the blood pressure or breathing well, then it can affect the outcome.

Flying now is a good way of using the skills of anaesthesia. Planning a flight, knowing what your options are, risks versus rewards, having plans and being systematic.

Why go flying in the floatplane? There are a number of reasons .... trying to broaden my horizons and I like to keep adding skills to my box!! "

20/12/2025

I received a letter from Sarah Elf based in West Sussex in the United Kingdom....

"I am reminded from last year’s advertisement, that you will soon require Elves to be on standby for your annual event welcoming our CEO Father Christmas to your part of the world.

It’s always the same for me, another year passes and I still won't make the grade to be selected to accompany him. FC said I have to remain in the toy factory due to the colour of my hair. Rules state: section 4 paragraph two in Elf terms and conditions, only FC can show his white hair in public, no elf is allowed the same colour hair as him.

Personally I feel, well, a bit 'miffed' ..... But I will continue to work hard back at HQ, but please spare a thought for the retired Elves who have the passion to be among humans, but for whatever reason fail to make the grade.

Seasons greetings
Sarah Elf x "

I am sure we could make an exception one year Sarah Elf!

07/12/2025

Here's the Story .....

We have heard a whisper from Air Traffic Control that Father Christmas has sent in a flight plan to overfly Adelaide and Aldinga Airfield on his way to the South Pole at 1500 hours on Saturday 20th December 2025.

We have put together a cunning plan to dispatch Martyn the Pilot in the big Waco biplane to fly formation with Father Christmas and his reindeers, with the hope of bringing him back to the Airfield for a brief visit!

We have sent a text to The Elves and The CFS, requesting their assistance.

Santa's flight is subject to weather. Enquiries to Adelaide Biplanes Flight Office 08 8556 5404

All Welcome!

06/12/2025

Martin Elton …. Learning to Fly

“It all started as a joke! Barbara (at work), said that I used to miss so many flights that I ought to fly myself!

I started the business in 2016, Elton Landscapes based at Keswick, mostly doing commercial projects involving all aspects of landscaping …. paving, playgrounds, turfing and planting for Councils, Developers and Childcare Centres. This is why I travel across the state!

We built a big playground on the Pt Lincoln foreshore, it took maybe 6 months then we went on to do the White Reserve, The Special School, Cummins Preschool Playground and Puckridge Park Playground. My brother lives there, so it was also a chance to spend time with family! I also like being out in the country and really enjoy the regional work.

A mate of mine had started to learn to fly at Parafield, north of Adelaide. I thought how cool would it be to jump in an aeroplane and fly myself to where I needed to go? I did 2 lessons at Parafield Airport in 2023, but it was hard to get to, then I found the Harmony at Adelaide Biplanes and started lessons in earnest in 2024.

Unfortunately, I had to step back from flying due to business and financial pressures and have only recently come back to it! I have found flying to be a major stress reliever, because this is all I can concentrate on! It is the only hour per week that I give to myself and I allow the time to concentrate on something different!

We have 2 sons, Cleve and Hugh. Now Cleve wants to be a Pilot and they both love going away with Dad to do jobs.

My solo flight was amazing! I couldn’t wait to go, I wanted it! Coming in to land, it was a huge milestone for me. I noticed how different the plane handles when the Instructor gets out.
The calmer you are, the better you fly. I was calm …. "

26/10/2025

Lachie Price, 16 years old, flew from Western Australia to find us ….

What did he want? …. A Tailwheel Endorsement

“I first remember going flying with Dad when I was maybe 5 years old in 2014! Our aircraft, a 1959 Cessna 150 taildragger was stored in the back of Hans Wenziker’s’ hangar at Northam Airport , 1 hour’s drive east of Perth. I sat by his side and we just flew locally, for the pleasure of flying.

I don’t know why Dad learnt to fly, but he was really young like me, 16 as well. Mum learnt to fly too when she was 49, because she found a plane she loved and wanted to fly it! The Champ 24-8426!

Dad used to be an Instructor and he taught Hans to fly. Since then we have become family friends, but he is more like an Uncle or Grandpa to me now. We have done some longer flights together to places like Geraldton, the Stirling Ranges and up to Broome. We met Hans up at Broome as he drove the 900 miles in his Nissan towing a caravan instead of flying! Along the journey Dad taught me to use the maps!

We live on a 220 acre cropping farm that we lease to a local farmer. We bought the farm in July 2021 and it already had a hangar with grass runways. I am away at Boarding School, the West Australian College of Agriculture Narrogin. There we do 3 days of class, 1 day of trades and 1 day of farm. I love welding and flying.

I have always wanted to fly…. When we went on a family trip to America (I was 10 years old) to go to the big Oshkosh Air Show, I wrote to the Captain on our flight and got a reply! I did actually get to go up to the Flight Deck on that occasion!

Then there was the KitFox. My Dad told me about his mate Mitch in Adelaide who had a KitFox in kit form for sale. I rang him and he told me that I could come and get it! I was 13 years old. Me, Dad and Fred, a mate, came over and picked it up. I did some work on it, a lot of sanding and then I realized that it needed new wings! Eventually, I decided to sell it and the money I received paid for my Tailwheel Endorsement!

We also spent COVID lockdown working on a Ravin 500, VH-LST, she is now back flying. Every Saturday was spent restoring it with Dad and Geoff, all the time I was learning too.

Finally, I started learning to fly at Cloud Dancer Pilot Training at Jandakot Airport, Western Australia in October last year. Sometimes Dad would fly me down in the Arrow for my lesson, or Mum and Grandma would drive me the hour and a half to get there.

When I got my Recreational Pilot Certificate and the Navigation Endorsement, Mum and Dad started talking to me about the next step …. my Tailwheel Endorsement, so that I could fly our Champ!

Mum rang Adelaide Biplanes 3 months ago and we started to plan. At first we had no idea how we were going to get to Adelaide, then it was decided that Hans and I were coming in his SportStar, then Mum and Dad would come too on the trip in the Arrow. Now we started to plan ….

We took off on Saturday 27th September heading first to Kalgoorlie for fuel. After a total of 5 ½ hours flying that first day, we stopped at Forrest for the night. Sunday morning, we took off to Ceduna, now in South Australia, on to Clare Valley and then we continued on to Aldinga, as the weather was forecast to get worse on the Monday. This was 6 ½ hours flying. Hans needed to stretch at the end!

My first lesson in the Champ I found a bit stressful, definitely different to flying the SportStar! After the 3rd day of flying, the wind calmed down a bit, I got better and started to enjoy it. Now I want to come back and do my Aerobatic Endorsement.

I would love to get into the Airlines eventually. I’d rather fly, instead of driving!”

03/10/2025

Meet Adam Saber

“I still clearly remember the point at which I knew I wanted to fly. I was 8, and it had been after watching a documentary on the Dam Busters …. that was the moment that set my future in the sky. I never waivered from wanting to fly since then!

All through High School my room was filled with aeroplanes …. models, pictures and photos. Then a chance meeting cemented not only my love of aviation, but my long-term focus on classic and warbird aircraft. Someone broke down out the front of our house and knocked on our door. While waiting for a tow truck they started chatting with my parents. This person, Bernie, became a long-term mentor for me and it turned out he was (and still is) the Chief Engineer at the Old Aeroplane Company in Tyabb, Victoria.

Bernie took me on my first flight in something that wasn't an airliner, the T-28 Trojan. Across a few years, he also got me in the Winjeel, Harvard and Mustang. While I like modern aircraft, there is nothing like the sound of a Merlin or a big radial!

I was an Air Force Cadet for a few years and this helped with flying lessons. Looking back through my logbook, my TIF (Trial Instructional Flight) was in a Cessna 152 on 3 Apr 2000, 4 days after I turned 15. I did a mix of flying with the Australian Air Force Cadets and with Peninsula Aero Club (also in Tyabb). I paid my way through a mix of casual work during school holidays and the bank of Mum and Dad. I can't thank them enough for the sacrifices they made driving me all over the place. This included some of the national flying competitions, and I ended up with my Pilot Licence before my Drivers Licence.

There was only really one path for me in aviation and that was the Air Force. I had my heart set on it, which made picking school subjects easy! After entering the RAAF, I completed the Pilots’ course in December 2006 and commenced flying on the AP-3C Orion in January 2007.

My first few years in the RAAF were flat out learning the aircraft and deploying all over the place. During the upgrade to Captain, there wasn't a great deal of time to learn a new aircraft, but I managed to keep my hand in GA doing adventure flying out of Point Cook, Victoria.

My best friend, Ben Di Manno, took me for a fly in the Decathlon VH-CUM early in his training for the commercial pathway. It’s been fascinating that our separate careers have paralleled so closely. He was flying GA when I was in Tamworth, then was working in Perth while I was at 2FTS (No 2 Flying Training School RAAF). When I ended up in Adelaide, he had worked for a regional airline, then with Jetstar, based out of .... Adelaide! He has recently gained his command and we are still very close friends.

In Adelaide, I was the Commanding Officer of 11 SQN based in Edinburgh. I still flew a fair bit in the P-8A Poseidon. Part of that role was maintaining my technical proficiency, so I did maybe 500 hours flying across the 3 years, including an air-to-air refuelling qualification.

I got my first experience in the 1952 Cessna O-1 Bird Dog with Lindsay McKee. These aircraft were used for Forward Air Control and Observation Missions. I flew with Bernie in the Harvard VH-NZH and in the 1947 P51 Mustang VH-JUC! The Mustang was phenomenal, like being connected to a part of history. Beautiful to fly, but very complex, amazing to think how fast people used to be qualified in them!

Everything keeps bringing me back to a love of the classics!!

Flying in the Bird Dog was the catalyst to get my tailwheel endorsement. What better place than at Adelaide Biplanes??!! I first flew with Martyn in the Super Decathlon and it is still one of my favourite aircraft to fly. I have lived in Adelaide a couple of times since then, and every time, I get recurrent and fly out of Aldinga as often as I can. For the last few years I have the most time in the Great Lakes aerobatic biplane. I absolutely love that machine!! Then, I got some time in the 1942 Boeing Stearman. It is everything I'd hoped!

My current role is in Sydney as Deputy Commander Air Mobility Group (which is as the name suggests, Air Forces transport group). I am hoping to get qualified on an air mobility aircraft next year, but of course that depends on the Air Force and capacity to fit it in. It could be in any of the transport/refuelling aircraft, the Hercules, C-17, C-27 Spartan or KC-30 Tanker. Given that I have P3 experience, the Hercules makes sense and it’s a great connection to the local community here, having been based at Richmond since the 1950’s.

My Memorable Moments? ….

Landing on ice runways and flying across the North Pole was incredible, seeing the aurora from a CP-140 Aurora, I could not buy that stuff! Flying the Mustang and the Harvard. Flying the mixed formation …. the Catalina, the Neptune, P3 and the P8, it is still a huge highlight. Also, it was amazing to lead a 5 ship P8 formation across Adelaide and a fantastic wrap up to my time at 11 SQN …..

My career in aviation and the Air Force has taken me to almost every continent, both as RAAF and on exchange. The pathway to professional aviation is not an easy one, but once you find what motivates you and your ‘why’, then you just have to keep at it!"

28/09/2025

Meet Joss Guyer ....

“My family's connection to Australia began in 1982, when my Dad in his early 20’s, came to Australia on a working holiday. He found work as a Jackaroo at Aberdeen, an outback station in Queensland. He stayed for a year before travelling back to the UK to work on the family farm with Grandpa.

I grew up on that farm near the village of Methwold-Hythe, in the county of Norfolk on the east coast of the UK. The farm was originally a dairy farm, then we grew potatoes for Waitrose and Tesco’s (like Coles and Woolworths).

Mum and Dad loved Australia and we would fly back for a family holiday at every opportunity. We used to leave from London Heathrow and we’d arrive at Brisbane in Queensland. I remember when I was just 5 years old thinking “wow, that smells weird” when the aircraft doors opened (they were Qantas 747’s) at Brisbane International Airport in the tropics. It was from winter in the UK to a tropical summer in Queensland! We would spend up to 3 months of the British winter in Australia. As children, we had to do journals to keep up with our school work.

My 'light bulb' moment was when I was 10 years old. My Grandpa had bought an ancient Microsoft Flight Sim. He gave me a game and his old joy stick. It barely worked on our vintage farm computer! Dad used to work in the office early, so I would sneak downstairs with him and played Flight Sim pretending I was a Qantas Captain! I knew already that I wanted to be a Pilot and fly!

The farm got really busy and Dad decided now was the time to actually move for a sea change to Australia! We sold half the farm and the other half was managed by Grandpa and a Farm Manager. This was in 2005, I was then 11 years old. We (Dad, Mum, my brother Greg and me) set up home at Repton near Coffs Harbour, in NSW. We stayed there for 2 years before moving to Armidale where Dad bought ‘Enooma’, a property near Guyra, grazing Angus cattle.

I am not particularly academic and remember being at Senior School where a Careers Adviser told me, make your mind up, you can’t do Outdoor Education and be a Commercial Pilot, neither seem possible!!!

When I was 18 years old, I went back to Norfolk in the UK and worked on the family farm for 6 months with my Grandpa. I found myself in the local library researching outdoor education careers and discovered a University degree in Cumbria. A degree would make my parents happy and being outdoors was going to make me happy! Score! I excelled at outdoor pursuits and sports and I went on to study for 3 years at The University of Cumbria, achieving a BA Honours Degree in Outdoor Education and Tourism.

During my time at University, I climbed Mont Blanc 15,780 feet high on the French Italian border and also the Dent du Geant at 13,000 feet. Every summer I worked. I went to Greece as a mountain bike guide, also to a Swiss outdoor adventure and language school, then I was lucky enough to take the Princess of Jordan mountain biking, I also famously acted the part of a climber, Edward Wymper, in a film about the first ascent of the Matterhorn, plus lots of rock climbing in the Lake and Peak Districts and ice climbing in Scotland.

But I still wanted to fly …..

After to-ing and fro-ing, trying to find my feet around the world, gathering huge experience in tourism and outdoor leadership, I came back to Australia for a job running an Adventure Zip Wire Park in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Whilst doing so, I decided to use my spare time to try and begin my flight training. Camden in Sydney was sort of close (an hour’s drive away) and I began on a Piper Warrior II. I went solo, but then COVID happened and that put a halt to my flying aspirations. Luckily, before the lockdown, I had already met Julia and we married in 2023.

Julia and I came to South Australia later that year, for me to work on Kangaroo Island as a Tour Guide. This meant travelling over to the island on the ferry and working for 3 days and coming back home south of Adelaide for 3 days!

The long distance to work didn’t make sense long term. So, to make ends meet while I found myself yet again trying to find my feet, I started work in Adelaide as a labourer for a tree felling company. The drive was long, but it did mean driving past a sign that pointed to Aldinga Airfield advertising scenic flights, (Adelaide Biplanes).

All I wanted to do was learn to fly and train as a Commercial Pilot, but I still thought it was an impossible dream. I thought to myself, I am 30 years old, if not now, then never!!

On days that I had finished relatively early, I drove down and parked at the end of the runway and watched the aeroplanes. I thought …. Right, I’ll do anything, I am going to go in and volunteer!

I spoke to Gaylene, she said bring back your CV. Which I did and dropped it off. I went again a week later, and said I’ve updated it. Then, scared that no-one was taking me seriously, I kept doing that! But Gaylene had kept it and had read it!

One week, I decided that with the very little money that I had left in my back pocket, I was going to spend it on a flying lesson in the Cessna 172!

This was the moment that the course of my life changed. …. When we came back, Stewart my Instructor was chatting to me, I told him about desperately wanting to get into aviation, I would do anything! Martyn heard me across the corridor, and he called out … Bonnie, Gaylene, have you met Joss??!! You need help, come and talk to him!

I was in the right place at the right time and a few weeks later, I was behind the desk, in the kitchen making coffee, bacon and egg sandwiches, earning my cake endorsement, putting away aeroplanes and chatting to students full time! Julia said, you may have finally found your feet this time! To this day she puts up with my blinkered determination! I wouldn't be able to do it without her unwavering love and support!

18 months down the line, I now have an RPL (Recreational Pilot Licence) and a Tailwheel Endorsement, Navigation Endorsement and Constant Speed. I have 140 hours towards my Commercial Pilot Licence, taking all the opportunities that are presented because I am here on a day to day basis! 3 Commercial Theory exams are under my belt, 4 more to self study for. All of this an impossibility in my mind a year ago!

I need 55 hours left of solo time and to finish the CPL Theory exams.

For the first time I can see over the horizon, it is still not without stumbles, but I know I will get there."

28/09/2025

The time has come .... I have picked up my pen again literally, to 'crack on' with writing stories that need to be told .... Here we go,
Gaye

31/01/2025

Fergus Watts .... Getting a PPL in a month! Meet this determined young New Zealander, a Civil Engineer and Project Manager, who was working in the Solomon Islands when he upped and flew to Adelaide in South Australia to find Adelaide Biplanes. This story begins with "How did you ever find us??!!"

"Having grown up going on the odd club trip or in tow with Dad and Ross for random trips around the country and hearing stories of the aviation history in the Franklin Family including my Great Grandfather gifting a Tiger Moth at the commencement of the Waipukurau Aero Club, flying skipped a few generations, but I had long ago decided I would one day get my Private Pilot Licence.

I love going to really remote places in New Zealand, there are always people there with aeroplanes and I wanted to do that! I love surfing, fishing, hunting ....I have a pioneering spirit for adventure!

My challenge has been staying in one place long enough to actually get it done however. I’ve spent the better portion of the last ~10 years working across the South and North Pacific managing remote construction projects – including a coconut processing factory in the Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia, the location of the forward Japanese base in the North Pacific and connected to the Pearl Harbour attack, resulting in a retaliation strike by the Allies called Operation Hailstone (I understand it was the most successful / tonne of ships sunk in history, something like 90 Japanese shipwrecks are in the Chuuk Lagoon), work throughout Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, an underwater project in Tuvalu, visits to Guam, Pohnpei and other far off little obscure islands.

Most recently I have been working on the upgrade of two original WWII airstrips in the remote outer islands of the Solomon Islands, one Japanese occupied area on the border with now Autonomous Bougainville and one American Airstrip further to the south, right in the thick of the confrontation where the two forces met prior to the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The majority of the work I do in the Pacific involves UXO – (Unexploded Ordinance) remnants of the Pacific War are still everywhere – though day to day long forgotten here in New Zealand the impacts of war are still prevalent in certain islands – it is not uncommon to hear of deaths from an outside kitchen fire exploding a buried UXO and countries having military/police divisions for dealing with UXO’s. The United States of America and Japan do contribute in a small way to the clean up but really only scratch the surface of the ongoing costs. Typically the Australian Military provide the most support in assisting with the cleanup.
I’ve lost count of the number of unexploded mortars, grenades, bombs, paravanes, munitions and ammunition, canteens, machine parts, radial engines, dog tags, guns and other war relics I’ve seen dug up, ship wrecks I’ve seen, plane wrecks in the water, planes overgrown in the jungle, gun emplacements, collapsed tunnels and remnant war infrastructure. The shear volume of bombs that failed to detonate on impact with the ground is staggering, the detonators either had a high failure rate or what’s left behind is actually minor as a percentage of what was dropped and went off – I’m not sure exactly which is true. The Japanese aerial dropped bombs also had the same problem.

Stories of Japanese war gold are abound around the pacific, buried US Jeeps, pristine planes hidden in hillside bunkers that remain undiscovered, Japanese submarines in underwater caves – some I know are true stories while others seem to be nothing more than a good yarn but who really knows.

On one island in Micronesia, following a landslide the locals supposedly came across a stash of Japanese Gold Bars in an unknown tunnel, having no way to sell the gold, they somehow decided to use the gold in their mouths and the whole population has gold teeth which I saw for myself – with more hierarchy comes more gold teeth! On the same island, a few locals were one armed, or missing fingers and hands after holding on too long when dynamite fishing with explosives they’d removed from unexploded mortars and bombs!

Because of my work I knew I was never going to get an opportunity to get my Private Pilot Licence the usual way, so I set about finding an intensive route.

My ideals were ....

*To be taught by grey haired grumpy old bu**ers
*To do the PPL in a tailwheel, preferably something old that required ‘flying’
*Somewhere where I could fly, day in day out

I had no desire to learn in the classic flight school, sitting in a classroom wearing a white shirt, flying one of a fleet of modern trainer planes and being taught by someone that’s just left high school. That concept didn’t fit with my dream of being able to use flying to get around New Zealand, fly into remote off strip locations, access surf, hunting and adventure and get to my property in South Westland.

I wanted the New Zealand Aeroclub experience in a condensed fashion. Hard to find it seems!

Initially I contacted a number of places around the world, Alaska and Idaho – possible they said but the hoops to jump through as a foreigner or “Alien” as the Americans refer to us were impossible as they assume everyone wanting to fly is going to become a terrorist, I spoke with some schools around New Zealand, and got a response from an outfit in Wanaka that I was dreaming and would need ~3 months to do a PPL with them, time I didn’t have.

That’s when I looked into Australia and found an outfit in South Australia, one hour south of Adelaide called Adelaide Biplanes and fired off an email. To which the response was “6 weeks for a PPL is theoretically possible but you’ll have to live and breathe it” & “yes we can do it in a Tailwheel – an 80yr old flapless Aeronca Champ” They were prompt in responding, professional and fitted the ticket I thought.

Work dragged on a bit closer to Christmas than I’d hoped so by the time I hopped on a plane from the Solomon Islands and flew straight to Adelaide there were only four and half weeks left until Christmas. I distinctly remember walking up to the front desk when I first arrived and three Pilots who worked there and were hanging around when I said I’m here to get my PPL before Christmas all burst out laughing and promptly told me I was dreaming! Perhaps that was all the motivation I needed!

Adelaide Biplanes is one of the coolest flying outfits around – with a fleet of old classic planes including a Stearman, Waco, Tiger Moth, Great Lakes, Piper Super Cub on floats, Super Decathlon, all based out of a classic little flight office with a café, historic aviation paraphernalia all over the walls, the junior CPL pilots making coffees, baking cakes and everyone wearing khaki flying shirts – with a humorous disdain for the white shirt and ...... bars! It is 5 mins inland from Aldinga Beach, surrounded by the vineyards of the McLaren Vale wine region. Aldinga Airfield is a seriously busy little airfield, 4 crossed strips with a mix of RH & LH circuits, a lot of hangars, Heli’s coming and going, other schools flying in and always multiple in the circuit, a skydiving operation, controlled airspace at low level to the North, a windy spot - with strong sea breezes and a small mountain range to the south providing conditions for a real mixed bag of wind every day. The place was definitely overwhelming at first.

Adelaide Biplanes is owned and run by Chief Pilot – Martyn Smith, with north of 20,000hrs a real good bu**er, grey haired, as passionate about aviation as you get and grumpy to boot (good grumpy!). I remember he sent me up solo into the circuit for only my second time and at one point there were three different strips in use with full stop traffic – boy was he quick to get on the radio and give the others a hell of a rark up!

Despite the mocking of my dream to knock it out in no time and constant ridiculing of the kiwi accent and how we pronounce “six” we got on with it on day one and I never missed a day and the weather never prevented a day of flying.

By day 6 of flying I went solo at a private strip in Strathalbyn – a routine affair, it just happened. By the end of week two, Martyn was still telling me finishing by Christmas was impossible and I’d have to come back next year for 2-3 weeks.. I still had a glimmer of hope, if only they’d just give me a few more hours.

The Private Pilot LIcence is not the most common licence completed these days as they have an RPL licence which enables a private pilot to fly and carry passengers in a GA Plane, with endorsements available for everything excluding night flying, twin engine and instrument ratings. The RPL can step direct to a CPL also bypassing a PPL. The RPL has self-declaring medicals, more leniency with service hours, maintenance etc. For someone who wants to fly privately in Australia but never internationally, there really is no reason to hold a PPL, unfortunately I needed the PPL in order to transfer it to New Zealand
In Australia the PPL theory isn’t broken in to 6 exams as it is in NZ either, the 6 topics remain but you have one single exam with all 6 topics mixed amongst the questions – a brutal exam that is renowned for taking 2-3 attempts to pass and a horrible failure rate. I quickly figured I hadn’t a choice but to pass the exam before Christmas even if I was to come back in 2025 to complete the flying as I’d soon forget any study I’d done if not. So I set to studying in earnest and soon realised the mammoth amount of information I had to learn!! Boy maybe the guys laughing at me were right… I was realising I’d underestimated how tough this was going to be.

I booked the exam for Friday the 13th of December for no other reason than I thought it humorous and was happy to face superstition head on – dare I say it flying in the face of danger. This gave me just under 2 weeks to study like mad from no real knowledge. Australia has some really good resources for the theory, so I purchased the 2 Bob Tait textbooks and worked my way through them. I spent the last two days doing practice exams, learning how to use a flight computer, nav calcs, diversions, density heights and the classic loading charts and MTOW tables.

In the mean time I was flying every hour they were giving me and studying when I wasn’t flying, frustratingly at times I’d only log a single hour some days. Given the grumpy grey haired old bu**ers I had intentionally sought out, there wasn’t any chance of me pushing them for more hours, so I had to grin and bare it and take the hours they slotted me in for. Martyn’s attitude was very much .... it will take how long it takes .... and we don’t pump students out here – see you in 2025 Ferg! They knew my aptitude and how much to push me, even if it felt slow at times.

Friday the 13th came around and luck must have been on my side as I managed a pass of the exam on the first attempt, an hour off for lunch and out I went in the Champ for the first dual navigation trip. No time to waste. The Champ is a simple and very basic little aeroplane, flapless and has only 5 gauges and no GPS – RPM,
Airspeed, Altimeter, Oil P & T. Old school and basic, no lazy flying with constant inputs needed. Not many landmarks in the outback either. You really have to work hard to find little identifiers on a map – road intersections, bends in rivers, grain silos, everything in the outback looks the same! Having sat the exam and done a Nav, my brain was exhausted by days' end.

By the time I went on my second Solo Nav I only had another 5 days of flying left before I flew back to New Zealand and Martyn had finally convinced me, ever the optimist I am, that finishing by Christmas was impossible. That afternoon though I flew with another legendary instructor who I’d spent most of my time learning with – Stewart Bond

Overnight Stewart and Martyn had obviously been chatting and I arrived in the morning to a change of tune… “we think we can get you finished by Christmas Ferg, BUT for the next 5 days of flying and for your assessment you’re going to have to jump in a different plane” – a Super Decathlon, Aerobatic, Tailwheel, Stick and with a Constant Speed Prop. Because the Champ had no transponder we were unable to enter controlled airspace and complete this part of the training syllabus in the Champ.

So off we went in the Decathlon into Airspace and around Adelaide International for 2.0 hours before I got back in the Champ that afternoon for a 3.0hr Solo Nav in order to meet the 10hr solo requirement. Five hours ....another big day for the head.

The final PPL Assessment with CASA was booked with 4 days to go, declarations were signed, ID photos taken, class 2 Medical done, proper persons checks & money paid to everyone wanting their pound of flesh from me.

For the next 3 days we used the time in the Decathlon to fly into controlled airspace, airports, final Instrument time, complete a CSU Type Rating and figuring out how to talk to the tower and fly the different plane!

The day of the assessment arrived, the last Friday before Christmas and despite being windy every day it was looking even windier than normal – 25G30KT and dicey deteriorating forecast. I forgot to close the window on the Before Take-off checks & got pulled up by this which rattled me, but before I knew it I was departing crosswind & requesting clearance to track directly into the 2500ft Airspace just off the north Aldinga and then onward overhead Adelaide International and cleared to fly the submitted flight plan.

It was all smooth sailing until the tower at the last minute diverted me to Mt Lofty with no heading or vector given – supposedly it is Adelaide’s highest mountain, I of course had no clue where Mt Lofty was, given the mountains in Australia are laughable and would hardly be considered a knoll or rolling hill country in NZ and of course, I couldn’t for the life of me find it on the map! At least I was pointing roughly in the right direction! Lesson learnt, I should have told the tower I was unfamiliar with the area and I can’t see anything that resembles a mountain.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, pop up request to get up to 8000ft and out of some nasty turbulence and a testing landing in the gusty afternoon wind. I felt I hadn’t flown the best but well enough apparently.

I was at the airport and on the plane back to NZ the following morning. 51 logged hours in 22 days over 4 weeks and the PPL was done. A Tailwheel Rating and a CSU Rating & one very empty wallet. Not the easiest 4 weeks, certainly no holiday, but doable for someone short on time and the desire to get it done.

As for how well they taught me… you’ll have to ask Roscoe, we took the Club’s Cub for a spin together just before I headed back to the Islands.

Coming back to my connection to WW2 through my work around the Pacific; doing the PPL in 4 weeks really put into perspective to me just how green some of the pilots must have been when they were sent off to combat. Especially late in the war when there were pilot shortages. Stories of rushed training exist in the Luftwaffe, the Kamikaze Pilots, Soviets and even the RAF – imagine doing just 4-6 weeks of flying and being sent into battle! Talk about Fight in Flight no chance to choose Fight or Flight.

South Australia was a great place to do it and I understand hours logged are transferrable from Australia back to New Zealand, even if you were considering say a 10 day holiday to knock out a portion of a PPL started in NZ or a float plane type rating coinciding with a holiday for the Missus. Adelaide is a cool city, I really enjoyed my time there. I found it much like Hawkes Bay, rural classy vibes, nice vineyards and classy eateries, fresh produce, an abundance of stone fruit and a stunning coastline.

To bring the PPL to NZ, all I now need to do is complete the NZ PPL low level flying and terrain awareness syllabus as Australia doesn’t teach this (no mountains), along with a BFR and the licence can be transferred across.

Adelaide Biplanes really was the NZ Aeroclub experience at a full time organisation. I nailed it in selecting them to do my training. I got exactly what I was after.

For anyone mad enough to want to do the same check out https://adelaidebiplanes.com.au/ or feel free to give me a call.
See ya up there. Ferg Watts"

For those interested here is some WWII black and white footage from Seghe Airfield during its construction and operation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQHioMqTJbE&t=270s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsQpBWAwCsI&t=81s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3W9Hc7dM6A&t=495s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE63cTKlwZs&t=347s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHNzjzmWlP4&t=38s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTQemPA5nUY

Well by now of course, we all love him and look forward to his return to this little known part of South Australia. Awesome that he found us!