28
February 2013
NORTHERN FaRmiNg LiFEsTyLEs
Never too late to
fly
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Maize Harvesting/Planting Square Silage/Hay Mulching Muck Spreading Cultivation Undersowing
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0274 788 472 • 09 435 1310
by Rose Rees-Owen
Senior flying instructor Murray Foster says it’s never too late to learn to fly. He has created a ‘flying farmers’ subdivision of the Dargaville Aero Club with all members catching the ‘infectious’ flying bug. Thirteen farmers from around Northland fly recreationally as a release from the day-to-day stresses of farm life, including the club’s president and dairy farmer, Peter Randall. “Through flying I have found a hobby that gives me considerable enjoyment and relaxation,” says Peter. It was something he always wanted to do and began flying around 10 years ago when he hit the ‘big 60’ and never looked back. “After hitting the milestone, the
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next Saturday saw me down at the Dargaville Aero Club going for a trial flight in the club’s Microlight plane and over the next three years, as time allowed, I
gradually got my hours up and passed the necessary exams.” As the club’s popularity rose and their two recreational carbon fibre planes, the Texan and the Fly Synthesis Storch, were constantly in use, Peter brought his own plane and constructed a hangar and a 300 metre runway on his farm. At age 83, Bill Lambeth holds the title of being the oldest ‘flying