Local teens reach for the sky

Abigail Spink

They may not be licenced to drive a car, but 16-year-olds Cameron (Cam) Evans and Kobe Hayes have already cruised to 1000ft on their first solo flights in a PA 38 Tomahawk aircraft.

The local teens, who have been flying at Marlborough Aero Club since the ages of 13 and 14, flew solo on their 16th birthdays after just over 30 hours of training each.

After being gifted trial flights by family a few years ago, the boys fell in love with flying and have been working towards achieving their PPLs (private pilot licence) ever since.

Cam, who flew without instructor Nathan for the first time on 19th August, described the experience as “a bit nerve-wracking…rolling down the runway, knowing there's no one else if something goes wrong.”

Despite the nerves, he remained confident in his abilities to handle the plane.

“We're both trained for engine failures, so it wasn't that bad.”

Kobe, who flew solo on 13th September, says he was “pretty locked in” and was so focused on the flight that he didn’t take much in until the end, when he sat back and realised the experience was “pretty cool, actually”.

Cam agrees: “Once I landed and finally had time to think about it, I was very excited.”

The boys are both set on aviation careers, with goals to achieve their commercial pilots’ licences and fly for Air New Zealand. Cam says he hopes to fly regionally for the airline or go over to Alaska for bush flying. Kobe is hoping to fly international routes and “see the world.”

For Nicola Evans, Cam’s mum, watching the flight was a proud moment:

“They put in all the hard yards and they've had to do some tricky stuff.”

“They had a goal and they accomplished it. So, it’s such a nice feeling to think they’ve done it…it’s so exciting for them” she says.

Kobes’s dad, Aaron Hayes, has full trust in his son and says there were no nerves watching Kobe take to the cockpit alone.

“If he's not here flying, he's at home on a simulator flying. So more than capable.”

“I was really excited to see him go through the whole process and get to the end.”

The boys attribute their success to the great instructors at the Aero Club – Nathan and Holly – who they say have been an amazing support on their journeys so far.

Next on the list is achieving their PPL licence, something the boys are already ambitiously aiming to secure by the time they turn 17 next year.