Matt Hall Joy Flight - April 28, 2014

I'm not entirely sure if the first movie I ever saw was the 1986 cult classic Top Gun or Jim Hanson's 1982 “children's fantasy” The Dark Crystal. All I can say is, unlike The Muppet Show which everyone loved to watch, The Dark Crystal scared the hell out of me. If you remember looking at an evil Skeksis around the age of four or five you'll know what I'm talking about.

Keeping in mind this was 1989 where you may have owned a VHS player but no one really owned that many videos, you just hired them. Consequently at that age those were the only two movies I knew existed.

With the scary puppet demons out of the question, I loved to watch Top Gun. Of course I had no concept of the plot but I did love those F-14 Tomcats. Like most kids today will watch Frozen or The Lego Movie over and over, I would watch Top Gun. I was hooked.

Only adding to my fascination was the fact that my father was an Airman in the RAAF, so we were never far from an airfield. As a kid, I would try to guess the difference between the C-130 Hercules and a P-C3 Orion by the aircraft's sound vibration before looking up to confirm. One sound that you could never confuse was the deafening roar of the F-111. They were my favourite. They even made a great children's toy because the wings adjusted from a spread wingspan, just like a conventional airliner, to a swept wingspan when required.

Before I ever picked up a football I was captivated by aviation. My grandfather was a retired army aviator who whilst in service instructed in both fixed wing and rotary pilot training. He once wrote me a letter which essentially planned out a successful path to follow should I pursue a career in aviation. I have no doubt had I applied myself I would be a flying aircraft today. My grandfather has since passed away but I still have the letter which I read over from time to time.

I once felt disheartened that I may have wasted such an incredible asset by not following my dream into aviation. Yet, reading over his letter one day I realised I had in fact followed his advice to a T. Only now the dream of aviation had since transformed to a dream of professional football. As I read his letter and realised that all of the intrinsic principals of motivation and perseverance I had adapted in my approach to rugby league. He really was an incredible man!

As the story goes, I might be a professional rugby league player but you can never really lose that childhood fantasy of those magnificent men and their flying machines.   

Earlier this year, I was watching channel nine's Wide World of Sports and saw a story about Matt Hall. Matt is a former RAAF pilot who now flies in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Watching at home I saw channel nine reporter Bill Baxter sitting in the cockpit of Matt's light aircraft. I couldn't tell if he was crying or laughing - one this was for sure I knew I wanted to give that a go! 

Now, I have got to say I am very blessed and extremely thankful. Firstly to Bill Baxter for contacting Matt's team and putting together the segment for the Sunday Footy Show. I also want to thank Dave Lyall, Operations Manager at Matt Hall Racing for getting in touch and organising the flight. 

And of course the man himself Matt Hall. It's hard to express how exhilarating and terrifying and wonderful the whole experience was. I would implore anyone with even only a small interest in aviation to give this a try. You will not regret it. It's amazing to know that however long your life may be, a single twenty minutes of flying will be something you will never ever forget. Matt is genuinely a great guy! In the hands of a former RAAF Wing Commander, who flew his first solo flight at fifteen, I couldn't have felt safer. 

Currently, Matt is gearing up for the final meet of the 2014 World Championship in Austria.  

If you would like to know more about Matt Hall Racing or book a joy flight yourself, please visit http://matthallracing.com

Happy Landings!

Animal Encounters

I first met Ben Britton at a charity night I hosted a few months ago to support Autism Spectrum Australia (ASPECT). The evening was based around a game of Pictionary. Reason being - Pictionary focuses on similar social aspects that someone with autism may encounter. Namely, communication difficulties and imaginative thought. We had a number of prizes auctioned off throughout the night, raising about twelve thousand dollars all up.

Ben came to the event as a guest but in one of the breaks, he approached me and generously offered his services to be auctioned as a prize to support the charity. 

Ben is the face of Nat Geo Wild in Australia and New Zealand. His series Ben Britton’s Animal Encounters can be seen on the National Geographic Channel 616. He is also the director of Wild Animal Encounters, a company dedicated to promoting the conservation of all animal species by education and creating awareness.

Last week, I took my partner Casey out to see Zambi - a seven month old lion cub Ben cares for along with a number of other animals at his property in Western Sydney. I have to say it was an absolutely amazing experience. Ben had told me prior to coming out not to be shy, that Zambi would sense it and not be so playful. It’s an incredible thing to crouch up to a lion cub and reach your hand out to rub its neck, confident that you'll still have your fingers by the end of it. 

That confidence only came from Ben’s prior encouragement. His passion for all animals is evident the moment you see him at work. In a few weeks, Ben is off to Botswana to work with the Northern Tuli Predator Project a program dedicated to big cat conservation in Africa.

If you would like to learn more please visit http://www.wildanimalencounters.com.au