Over the past month, eleven planes from ‘Flight Training Adelaide’ have flown into Nhill.
The pilots are all trainees from Hong Kong, sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airlines.
Flying Austrian-built Diamond Star aircraft, with their 180 hp Lycoming engines, the pilots have been doing flying navigation exercises, learning to use maps rather than GPS technology.
They chose Nhill as a destination specifically to visit the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre at the Aerodrome.
The Link Trainer in the Heritage Centre was a major draw card for the visitors.
Captured on camera was Ethan, who already has 80 hours in his logbook.
He hopes to be flying Jet passenger aircraft in the future for Cathay Pacific.
Ethan said ‘the link trainer was challenging to fly, but I really appreciated the experience.
I’m amazed how well the 1930s technology worked.’ As the news gets around, we can expect more trainee pilots flying in from Parafield over the next few months.
The Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre is open every weekend from 10am – 4pm and at other times by appointment by phoning 0490 657 770.
This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 24 May 2023.
