In 1973, Geoff was studying Optometry at New Zealand's Auckland University.
He joined the Sports Aviation Club, which was affiliated with Waitemata Aero
Club, based at Ardmore Airfield. There he started flying 4-seater Piper
Cherokees, but aircraft safety concerns soon saw him joining Auckland Aero Club which was,
at that time, one of only two Governmentt-recognised flying schools in the
country (the other being the Air Force).
The AAC fleet consisted of AT3
Victa AirTourers: Nippy wee 2-seater aerobatics-capable aircraft which were made
in Hamilton and used as Trainers by the NZ, Australian and Israeli Air Forces.
This resulted in his becoming accustomed to aerobatics well-before even gaining
a full License!
Full-time University, five part-time, shift-working jobs, plus
flight-training soon took it's toll. Something had to go... And that was
University. So he "dropped out" after two years of study and became a
Computer Operator. Ironically, his second such job was back at the University's
new Computer Center (tailor-made to house a "brain the size of a
planet" Burroughs B6700 Mainframe), and it was whilst working there, in
1975, that he earned his NZ Private Pilots License.
Time passed and Geoff moved to NZ's Capital (to work for
NCR on their Century/Criterion computers), where he joined the Wellington Aero Club
and was delighted to discover that he was the only member rated to fly their CT4 (the
"grown-up" version of the AT3) Air Force Trainer along with their Grumman Tigers.
Then Geoff made the big leap across "the pond" to
follow his fortune with a number of Burroughs & Honeywell Mainframe sites
in Sydney... and Flying sadly fell by the wayside (along with rally-driving).
MORE time passed...Geoff moved back to New Zealand, met his lovely wife-to-be and they eventually move
to the States, at which time he became associated with NZ's Airmaster Propellers.
It seemed appropriate at that point that he renewed his license, but America was just
converting to a computerised system of handling Pilot's Licenses, and that
system didn't recognise Victa AirTourers and without the verifying
documentation (buried deep in a NZ storage facility by this stage), he couldn't
simply do a Refresher Course.
The easiest thing was "simply" to start
again, from scratch! Which is what he did, this time in a range of Cessnas, right up to RG's
(Retractable Gear and Constant Speed Props) and HP's (High
Performance), flying out of Gran-Aire at Milwaukee's Timmerman Field, once home to the EAA, of which Geoff has been a
member for 20+ years now.
Geoff moved to England a few years later. He joined the Thanet Flying Club (TG Aviation) at
London Airport (Manston), near Ramsgate, an old RAF Base (previously RAF
Manston... Runway length 9,016ft !) and the closest UK airfield to France.
There
he flew their Cessna and Piper Warrior
range and made a few aerial forays across the English Channel (of Battle of
Britain fame) to Belgium and France.
A mere year later (in 2004) he found himself LIVING in
France, so he joined the "Aero Club de Berck sur Mer et Côte d'Opale" (which was quite a
mouthful over the radio, and is now simply the "Aero Club de Berck")
which owned French-built Robin
HR-200/100 and Cherokee
PA28s.
But whilst it
had been OK for Geoff to fly G-registered (British) aircraft in France, it was
NOT legal for him to fly F-registered
(French) aircraft in the same airspace, even if identical ! Go figure! (The word "Bureaucracy" IS derived from the French!!)
So he then had to undertake
renewed Training to become F-qualified... a process which still has to be
repeated every two years, following each U.S. Medical !
Since then the aero club has aquired a French Issoire APM-20
Lionceau (Lion Cub) and Geoff has also had the chance to fly many other
aircraft types, including gliders, Europas, Tecnams,
Ultralights, Microlights and the gorgeous fully-aerobatic Mudry CAP-10, another
French creation.
----
And now the year 2024 has arrived... COVID took its toll in terms of Flying after 2019, so Geoff has not been seen in the skies that often in recent times... though his head might still remain there! -)
