Jambin, QLD, February 2024
When I was a boy in Denmark, I was fascinated by aviation. I did want to join the Royal Danish Air Force, but one of my eyes is a little bit different than the other one. They couldn't accept me. I phoned my mother after the tests and I said, "Mama, I'm not joining the Air Force”. "That's good," she said, “my boy is not going to go flying.” I actually cried because that's the way she felt, but I can understand that now. I still wanted to learn to fly and I eventually got my private pilot license in 1966 in Moorabbin, Victoria. I never felt like getting a commercial though. I could never fly a jumbo jet. I wouldn't want the responsibility of 400 people.
I bought this Aeronca Champion 7HC Tritraveler in 1995 and got it shipped from Alberta, in Canada. A lot of people ask if it’s hard to get a license. You've got to study hard. You've got to learn meteorology and engines, performance and operation, principles of flight, etcetera. It's fascinating.
I was diagnosed with diabetes last year in February. And that shocked me. I've been fit as a fiddle right up to the age of 80 or 82. And then suddenly I got to watch what I eat. I got to take tablets. It is a sacrifice to let flying go. But you also stop when the going is good. I can still go flying with my mates at the flying club. They all appreciate me as a member. I know that.