Episode 22: Back to School

Steve & Grant are trying to get back into their school uniforms as they’ve discovered that Brentwood Secondary College (Steve’s old high school) have set up an aviation programme. Steve goes back to school to chat with Chris Barry, a teacher & pilot who has set everything up.

Chris learned to fly when he was in high school and had his commercial rating within a short time of graduating. He then did some instructing for a while but the aviation industry was in the doldrums so he became a teacher & went up to the Northern Territory at the top end of Australia. While teaching maths & science up there, he met a person who had a Cessna 210 but wasn’t a pilot. Chris very quickly wound up flying the 210 for the owner, getting to explore the Northern Territory in the process.

Chris returned to Melbourne and started flying as a jump pilot at Tooradin, getting to know our friends next door at Aus Air Services. He then worked with them to create an education programme that would like high schools with flying, pushing it through the Education Department and getting it approved for Brentwood & other schools. The goal is to have students graduate with their commercial level theory completed as well as their private pilot license.

Steve then has a quick chat with Luca, Anthony & Nick who are about 16 years old and students at Brentwood. They talk about how they got into aviation and what it’s like doing the course, both theory and flying in Aus Air Services’ Jabiru J170s.