Change of pace for veteran pilot

CHERIE HOWIE/Marlborough Express

FAMILY REUNION: Cathay Pacific pilot Dave Brown, left, and his daughter, Tiffany, were able to catch up with family, including Dave's brother Phil Brown, right, when Dave Brown flew a Harvard aircraft at the Classic Fighters airshow at the weekend.

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When Dave Brown flies, it is usually with up to 340 people sitting behind him, but the passenger's seat was empty when he took to the skies above Omaka at Easter.

Mr Brown was among a group of pilots flying Harvard aircraft in formation as part of the biennial Classic Fighters airshow, a welcome change from his usual aerial activities, he said.

The father of three flies Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft for Cathay Pacific.

"This is completely different flying, which is why I enjoy it.

"I fly long haul for a job. Most of it is at night and for 11 hours, so to get up and throw these things around a bit is great. It keeps the fun in flying."

However, the experience was far from new for the Auckland-based pilot.

As a member of New Zealand Warbirds, Mr Brown takes part in airshows around the country, and before joining Cathay Pacific, he spent more than 10 years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, much of the time flying Skyhawks.

The key to formation flying was practice, he said, with much of the work falling on the formation leader.

"It's the leader who is doing all the positioning and getting all the entry speeds right for manoeuvres. You have to have a lot of faith in the leader, because he really is the one doing the flying and doing the display, and the rest of us are just keeping a constant position on him."

Although he was not trained in a Harvard, as the air force retired them just before he joined, they were a great aircraft to fly, Mr Brown said.

"They've got a few vices, but that's part of the challenge."

Aerobatics and formation flying were part of his career in the air force, and although he had been with Cathay Pacific for 19 years, he was keen to "keep that part of my flying ticking along".

"This is a good way to do that."

- The Marlborough Express