Sounds like a quantum leap in fighter design.

They finally cracked it!! It's here!!!!

The flying dunny!!!! 😃

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It wasn't until he moved near to an airfield in the UK over a decade ago that mechanical engineer Ashok Aliseril Thamarakshan began to seriously consider learning to fly a plane.

He got his first taste of flying a few years later, when his wife Abhilasha bought him a 30-minute flight experience for his birthday.

Aliseril, who is based in Essex, England, booked in some flying lessons at a local airfield and flew to the Isle of Wight, an island off the English south coast, during his first session.

Aliseril got his private pilot's license in 2019 . (Ashok Thamarakshan via CNN)

"That was quite an eye-opener into how (flying) gives you the freedom to just go places if you have that ability, and access to an aircraft," he tells CNN Travel. "So that really got me hooked."

Aliseril got his private pilot's license in 2019 and soon began hiring planes for short flights.

Amateur build

But as his family grew – he and Abhilasha now have two daughters – the two-seater planes typically available for private hire became even less suitable, and he began to mull over the idea of buying his own plane.

Aliseril briefly considered buying an older aircraft, and looked at some that had been built in the 1960s and 1970s.

However, he says he felt uneasy about the prospect of flying his family in an older aircraft that he wasn't familiar with, and didn't think it would be a "comfortable journey."

Aliseril began to look into the possibility of building a plane himself, reasoning that this would allow him to gain a better understanding of the aircraft so that it would be easier to maintain in the long term.

After researching self-assembly aircraft kits, he came across a four-seater plane manufactured by South African company Sling Aircraft that ticked all the right boxes.

In January 2020, Aliseril flew to the Sling Aircraft factory facility in Johannesburg for the weekend in order to take the Sling TSi aircraft on a test flight and was so impressed that he decided to purchase it.

"This was pre-Covid, where travel was still very easy at the time," he explains. "I ordered the first kit when I got back. And by the time it arrived, the UK was in full lockdown."

Aliseril says his colleagues, some of whom had experience with building aircraft, initially offered to help with the build. But the restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had spread across the world by this point, meant that this wasn't possible.

He enlisted his daughters to help. (Supplied/Ashok Thamarakshan)

Undeterred, he constructed a small shed in his back garden and planned out the different stages of the project, which would be monitored by the Light Aircraft Association, a UK representative body that oversees the construction and maintenance of home-built aircraft, under an approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The rules for amateur built aircraft differ slightly from country to country. In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has an experimental airworthiness category where special airworthiness certificates can be issued to kit-built aircraft.

Amateur-built airplanes in the UK are investigated by the CAA, who will issue a "Permit to Fly" once satisfied that the aircraft is fit to fly.

Although the start of the build was delayed slightly due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place in the UK at the time – the Light Aircraft Association inspector assigned to the project was required to visit his working space beforehand – Aliseril was able to begin in April 2020.

While he notes that his engineering background helped in some ways, he believes that it was actually his home improvement experience that proved most useful while constructing the aircraft, which has a length of 7.175 meters and a height of 2.45 meters.

"These aircraft kits are designed for any amateur to build, provided you're a bit hands-on and you've got experience working with some specialist tools," he adds, describing the detailed "Ikea furniture type instructions" with drawings that came with the kit.

"I would say generally, anyone can get involved in these sorts of builds."

Aliseril completed the work himself, drafting in Abhilasha to assist with some of the sections that required more than one pair of hands. Their eldest daughter Tara, now nine, was on hand for tasks such as removing the plastic from each of the components.

By the end of summer 2020, Aliseril had built the tail and the wings. He began constructing the fuselage section in October, when the next part of the kit arrived.

Although he'd initially planned to hire a workshop to construct the aircraft, Aliseril feels that creating a workspace at his home was the better choice.

He constructed a small shed in his back garden and planned out the different stages of the project. (Supplied/Ashok Thamarakshan)

"I could just step into the shed and work on it," he says. "So having everything just in the back garden really helped, even though space was tight."

Each stage of the project had to be signed off by an inspector before he could move onto the next task – the Light Aircraft Association completed around 12 inspections in total.

Once the majority of the components were constructed, and it was time to put the aircraft together, Aliseril moved everything from his home to a hangar near Cambridge for the final assembly and engine fit. The aircraft passed its final inspection a few months later.

It was one of the first Sling TSi homebuilt aircraft constructed in the UK. G-Diya, named after his youngest daughter, was signed off for its first flight in January 2022.

Aliseril recalls waiting on the ground anxiously as a test pilot took the plane he'd spent 18 months building up into the air.

"He took it up for about 20 minutes, and then he came back," he says. "It was a big relief. I couldn't lift my head up to see what was happening (during the test flight)."

That first flight was hugely significant in many ways.

"With these build projects, everyone calls it a project until it's first flown," he explains. "Once it's flown, it's always called an aircraft. You never call it a project anymore. That's psychologically a big step."

When it was time to fly the aircraft for the first time himself, Aliseril was accompanied by another experienced test pilot.

While he admits to being decidedly cautious, the test pilot was "throwing the aircraft about as if it was a racing car."

G-Diya has a range of 1,389 kilometres. (Supplied/Ashok Thamarakshan)

"I was feeling very nervous, I didn't want to put any extra stress on it," Aliseril explains. "But (the test pilot) was really pushing it to the limits. And it was good to experience that. I know that (the aircraft) can handle this much.

"Once I landed, (the test pilot) clapped his hands and said 'Congratulations, you've just landed the plane you built.' That was a great feeling."

G-Diya, which has a range of 1,389 kilometres, went through a number of further test flights before it was issued with a permit to fly in May 2022.

The following weekend, Aliseril flew with his wife and daughters Diya and Tara, five, to the Isle of Wight, where they took a short taxi ride from the airfield to the beach.

"The kids were really happy," he says. "So that sort of freedom. And the fact that we could just do that on a Saturday and still be back by 4 p.m. That was a great feeling."

They continued taking trips together within the UK, flying to Skegness, a seaside town in eastern England and the village of Turweston in Buckinghamshire, before Aliseril felt comfortable enough to take them a little further afield.

Last Easter, the family, who've been documenting their trips on their Instagram account, fly_home_or_away, travelled to Bergerac, France, which Aliseril describes as their "most memorable" trip together.

According to Aliseril, G-Diya has flown over 300 hours in the past two years, travelling as far as Norway.

The family have been documenting their trips on their Instagram account. (Ashok Thamarakshan via CNN)

Family trips

For Aliseril, one of the main benefits of the plane, aside from the freedom it provides him and his family, is the friendships he's formed with other pilots.

He was always mindful that owning an aircraft could become a financial burden, but has been able to get round this by working out an arrangement to share it with three others.

"To get your private license, it costs quite a bit," he adds, before noting that many of those who've taken on similar projects are either retired, or are people "who have the time and financial status" to fund the process.

"I kind of knew that from the beginning, and thought I'd take that risk and try to do it myself," he says. "I knew that once it was done, I would easily be able to find people to share that cost. And it's worked out quite well (for me)."

"It becomes a communal thing," he says. "You always have somebody to fly with if your family is not available. Also, having other pilots who are friends – you learn from each other."

Kevan Brown was on board a small seaplane, enjoying the majestic sights of New Zealand’s north island far below, when somewhere over Lake Taupo, the pilot effectively said: “Here, you have a go”.

“I’ve always been interested in planes,” he says.

“My dad works for NASA and Boeing, so I’ve seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff over there.”

But there and then, 12-years-old and joystick in hand, he was well and truly hooked. And it explains why passers-by of his Taylor home over the past few months may have spotted parts of aircraft carefully laid out across the front lawn.

Now 25, he’s gearing up to become an ultralight aircraft manufacturer.

“Pretty much as soon as I got back from New Zealand, I thought: ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to get into flight training’,” Kevan says.

By 17, he was flying solo using a rented two-seat plane from the Goulburn Flight Training Centre. But this was expensive, and if he were to accrue the 2000 hours of experience he’d need to get his dream job as an aircraft pilot with Qantas, he’d have to buy his own.

“I was paying somewhere around $250 an hour,” he says.

The ultralight aircraft in carefully laid-out pieces on the front lawn in Taylor. Photo: Kevan Brown.

The project didn’t exactly get off to a good start.

“We came across this good deal over in Parkes, about a three-hour drive west, and decided to go ahead with it,” he says.

“We went over to pick it up, but didn’t realise it had a wing span of 5.5 metres on either side, so we had to dissemble it first. The drive home was a disaster. We had to stop a few times to re-rig it and make sure everything was okay.”

The ultralight aircraft was designed by a now defunct company, American Aerolights, but another company has since bought the rights to reproduce it as a “no-licence kit” in the US.

Loading the plane onto a trailer was the first challenge. Photo: Kevan Brown.

“So you buy the kit, and it’d come with instructions on how to build it and how to fly it,” Kevan explains.

“The perfect plane for a personal builder.”

Well, sort of. It’s still taken him and a mate four days a week over 11 months to get it working, or a combined total of 500 hours.

“For the first seven months, it was in my garage in Taylor – I moved everything out and it was literally the plane taking up the whole space.”

About two months ago, it was put on a truck again and taken to Goulburn Airport for the certification and testing processes. This includes getting it just off the ground along the runway to see how the controls respond. On Thursday (18 July), he took it up for its first circuit.

“It started quick, and I’m getting more confident with the engine,” he says. “I’m keen to take on a big flight.”

He estimates the plane costs him about $45 an hour – a big reduction from the $250 he was paying for the rented plane – but his initial ambition to become an airline pilot has waned in favour of becoming an ultralight aircraft manufacturer.

The plane took up most of Kevan’s garage. Photo: Kevan Brown.

He’s particularly interested in the potential of electric and hydrogen power.

“I did want to be an airline pilot, but I don’t think I want to pursue that now because I’ve found a lot of joy in the small ultralights,” he says.

It’s a fairly open industry, and Australian legislation allows for people like Kevan to “build my own design straight out of the garage and legally fly it as long as it’s been tested and certified”.

“And I think it should stay like that, because that allows people to be innovative and come up with new ways of doing flight.”

And it’s up and away. Photo: Kevan Brown.

Small aircraft powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells are certainly up and coming.

For instance, Sydney Seaplanes, the carrier set to be taking off from Lake Burley Griffin in the coming months, also has a stake in Dovetail Electric Aviation, and expects the first test flights of small battery planes early next year.

Kevan’s plans focus on the ultralight category.

“Ultralight aircraft are perfect for training purposes, but we don’t really have any new versions,” he says.

“So I’m interested in bringing this type of aircraft back with hydrogen or electric power.”

It seems Gungahlin may have just witnessed the origin story of a future Australian entrepreneur.

Nestled deep in a corner of an old packing shed in Dareton, New South Wales a special RAAF aircraft restoration project is taking shape.

After two years of painstaking work, volunteers at the Dareton Men's Shed have unveiled the result of their efforts; revealing a magnificent, freshly painted 1954 RAAF CA-27 Sabre Fighter Jet.

The next step in the restoration of the Sabre is the wings, which require extensive repair.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)

Beneath dust-filled rays of sunlight, the restored metallic fuselage has been transformed by a couple of retired panel beaters who had no previous aviation experience.

The Sabre, with its iconic nose cone, is the culmination of the expertise of a dedicated team of retired tradies who meet regularly at their local men's shed.

Retired panel beaters Neil McDonald (left) and Greg Wood combined their efforts to restore the Sabre.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)

Dareton Men's Shed volunteer and replica Spitfire pilot John Waters says the restoration project is a great example of what the many skilled men's shed members can achieve.

"The Sabre's new paint job looks better than it would have straight out of the factory," Mr Waters said.

The tail fin and horizontal stabiliser await the final touch — a tiger to represent the squadrons that flew the Sabre.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)

Fighter in a sorry state

Despite a few missing pieces, namely the wings and cockpit cover, volunteer Greg Wood is proud of how far the project has come.

"It was in a fairly basic state when it arrived here in pieces," he said.

"It had been dismantled completely. You pretty much couldn't have taken much more off it."

The restoration is a collaboration between the Dareton Men's Shed, the Mildura RAAF Memorial and Museum, and the Mildura RSL.

The huge undertaking began when local philanthropist and RAAF historian John McLaughlin made a winning blind bid for the warbird at an Australian National Aviation Museum aircraft auction.

"I was pleased to have won the bid for the CA-27 Sabre," Mr McLaughlin said.

"It was certainly a leap of faith, but my hope is that it will be part of a permanent static aircraft display at Mildura's RAAF museum."

The CA-27 Sabre's restored canopy is nearly complete after being used as a rabbit hutch for many years.(Supplied: Greg Wood)

Parts of several Sabres have been sourced for the restoration, including a replacement for the perspex canopy that was broken during a pilot ejection.

Phil Roeszler is a retired motor mechanic who was tasked with the canopy restoration.

"The original canopy had been in a wreck where the pilot had ejected, but the canopy didn't, so he actually went through the canopy and amazingly survived," he said.

Mr Roeszler was able to find another canopy that had been used as a rabbit hutch.

It has taken hours of polishing, but it is almost finished.

Phil Roeszler and the Sabre's restoration team have dedicated hours of polishing to restore the canopy.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)

A piece of the Cold War

The Sabre's link to Mildura's wartime service is through the World War II air force training base, the Mildura Operational Training Unit (2OTU).

After the end of WWII, the unit relocated to Williamtown air base at Newcastle, NSW and in 1952 reformed to begin training fighter jet pilots.

The squadron changed its name to 2OCU, or Operational Conversion Unit.

The CA-27 Sabre was Australia's first fighter jet able to travel at supersonic speeds, and provided frontline single-seat fighter aircraft defence in the 1950s and 1960s.

Several major parts of the restored Sabre served in Australia's Cold War efforts with the 77th and 79th Squadrons at Butterworth air base, Malaysia, and at the Ubon air base in Thailand.

The planes were deployed as part of Australia's South-East Asia Treaty Organisation, mobilised to defend Thailand against attack from its Communist neighbours.

Sabre's final landing

The restoration team is hard at work on the final phase of the static Sabre display, drilling thousands of wing rivets to repair extensive damage to the wings and undercarriage.

Repairs to the Sabre's damaged wings required thousands of rivets to be replaced.(ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)

Paul Mensch from the  Mildura RSL Sub Branch said he was impressed with the progress of the restoration so far.

"It's going to be a fantastic asset to the Mildura RAAF Memorial and Museum and a great drawcard to tell Mildura's wartime history."

We ran through an “Airplane!” scenario with the aviation department at the University of North Dakota

 

As the famous saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

By the end of 2023, ultralight eVTOLs like the Lift Hexa and Ryse Recon will be in the air, and with that, eVTOLs will be introduced in the U.S. for the first time in history. This first impression will resonate for years to come and hopefully, only in positive ways.

“Beyond military use and first responder applications, we plan to make Hexa available around the country for people to experience eVTOLs for themselves, starting this year. We also plan to set up permanent flight locations,” said Kevin Rustagi, a spokesperson and director of business development at Lift. “We’ve already presold 4,000 tickets [$249 each] for a series of short flights along with VR simulator training. Having flown Hexa, I can say that it’s incredibly fun.”

Lift’s customers will go through a three-part simulator training and then three actual flights with a dedicated instructor in constant communication. The first flight, for example, encompasses auto-takeoff, climbing vertically to about 15 feet (five meters) and then landing using auto-land.

“The more people become familiar with eVTOL aircraft, the more open they’ll be,” Rustagi said. “People saw Anderson Cooper fly a Hexa on 60 Minutes, but it will be different for people to see it in person and fly one themselves.”

“We’re all about making eVTOL flight accessible to everyone,” added Balazs Kerulo, chief engineer and lead designer at Lift. “The earlier ultralight companies like Lift start flying, the earlier we can garner public acceptance for the industry as a whole. ‘Flying cars’ have been discussed since cars first arrived, so it’s not a new concept. What’s new is that ‘flying cars’ are real.”

Anticipating perception

Most in the eVTOL industry already realize that this will be the introduction of eVTOLs to the U.S. market — watching others fly small one-person ultralight eVTOLs and/or actually flying one — and that it’s going to happen very soon.

As mentioned, from the overall public perception of the eVTOL industry, there’s a lot riding on the launch of ultralight eVTOLs. This includes perceptions of safety, of course, but also noise and more.

One question is whether the public will see these small aircraft flying around and view eVTOLs in general as financially unattainable.

“There may be a perception among some that they could only be for the rich,” said Erik Stephansen, vice president of regulatory affairs and aerodynamics at Ryse. “But we are going to launch with a price that’s about one-tenth of a helicopter, which makes it possible for many more people to own one.” 

This is still not affordable for the everyday person, of course, but that’s always been the case with ultralight aircraft.

“We will be selling to private owners and are making test flights available to potential customers,” Stephansen said. “There will be those who want solely the adventure of private flight, but we already have many customers who have preordered who own farmland and ranchland. An ultralight eVTOL allows you to go as the crow flies, and do tasks very efficiently. We have more demand than we can fill through to the end of 2024 already.”

He added that “ultralight eVTOLs are a great place to start eVTOL flight. They will allow the industry to crawl, walk and then run. Being at shows like CES in Las Vegas — we were the first to fly there — has also helped with familiarization of the public. We will continue to be at events this year.”   

Emergency use

Perceptions that eVTOLs are only for the rich and have no benefit to society may be negated by the plans of ultralight eVTOL firms like Lift to introduce emergency response uses right away. This may help the public understand the even broader range of uses that will come when larger type-certified (TC) eVTOLs are introduced in the U.S. — several months later in 2025.

“For emergency response, there are a variety of eVTOL use cases for ultralights and TC aircraft alike,” Kerulo said. “A paramedic could fly Hexa to the scene of an emergency, quickly and above traffic, to stabilize a patient. From there, they could send the patient back to the hospital in Hexa, flown remotely. Water rescue, manned/unmanned teaming, search-and-rescue — there are literally hundreds of use cases.”

Many companies introducing TC eVTOLs are preparing use case demonstrations and other public awareness activities for their larger aircraft that will coincide with — or will follow — the launch of ultralight eVTOLs.

For example, the two-seat VoloCity from Volocopter, now in the process of obtaining European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification, will be taking center stage at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In EASA’s study on the social acceptance of urban air mobility in Europe, the agency identified Paris as the most promising city for airport shuttle and sightseeing use of eVTOL aircraft.  

Regulatory change?

No eVTOL company, whether ultralight or TC, wants an accident.

From Lift’s perspective, Kerulo noted that “the fear is that a flight incident would set the industry back, and so it’s paramount that we all remain safety-focused.” 

Rustagi added, “We’re rooting for our competitors. The market is immense. We want the pioneers to do well, to survive and thrive, to lay the foundations for the industry.”

Stephansen had similar thoughts. “We are all in this together,” he said, adding that electric propulsion provides extra redundancies.

Operationally, there are also safety features in eVTOLs such as auto-land and auto-takeoff. And in the Recon, for example, if you let go of the controls, it just hovers.

“There are so many safety features,” Stephensen said. “Having said that, I do think true and full acceptance of the safety of eVTOLs will come later, from the operation of the larger eVTOLs as they’ll be flying over cities.”

But to perhaps add extra assurance that there are no accidents with the first wave of eVTOLs to fly — that is, the ultralights — should a set of minimum safety features be mandated in ultralight design under the U.S. ultralight regulations (Part 103)? And should restrictions in this regulation pertaining to where people can fly an ultralight and at what speed and altitude be updated with the arrival (and expected large volume) of ultralight eVTOLs?

Tom Charpentier, government relations director at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), described 103 as “a very unique and limiting rule.”

“To the question that’s been asked over the years of whether it should be changed, our answer is always no,” he said. “It will lose its regulatory uniqueness and changing it would risk losing the operational freedom that Part 103 allows. The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] will find a way to regulate ultralight eVTOL use to a level it feels protects public safety.”

Rob Hackman, EAA vice president of government affairs, noted that developing standards and regulations for eVTOL aircraft and operations is taking some time, but the FAA and industry need to get it right.

“The FAA gets criticized for moving slowly, but operating in the national airspace system, a system already utilized by many different aircraft and pilots, is a very complex issue,” he said. “Just like operating on roads and highways, when piloting an aircraft, everyone needs a thorough understanding of the operating rules and how to operate safely, no matter what type of machine they are piloting.”  

For his part, Stephansen describes Part 103 as “very solid but also left open for interpretation.”

“It has allowed for thousands of different ultralights to come to market and be flown safely since the regulation was created in the 1980s,” he explained. “Partly because of the regulatory openness, thus, allowing for new safety innovations, ultralight is a very safe aircraft category. Part 103 ensures safety, limits risks, and supports personal flying freedoms. I think it strikes a really good balance between these. When you think about it, it’s quite amazing that a framework from the 80s is still applicable today. It’s got a proven track record.” 

Hackman adds that the EAA and others also have a strong history of spending a lot of time educating ultralight aircraft operators about the laws on how and where they can operate, as well as the importance of “fly friendly” practices and respect for the non-flying public.

“Hopefully, this philosophy will continue with ultralight eVTOL use,” he said. “This will be an important part of public acceptance, along with safety.”

When many people think of modern aviation, they think next generation, highly advanced, flying machines, which can maintain flight at cloud-thinning altitudes, and land in the most brutal of weather. I mean, surely some rainy weather couldn't down a state of the art, 400K pound flying piece of metal, right? Well, sometimes, we think wrong. 

Photo Credit: Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines/AP Photo

Yesterday, on Oct. 23, 2022, Korean Air Flight 631 began it's approach into Cebu's Cebu Mactan Airport (CEB). The stupendous aircraft, and Airbus A330, was carrying 162 passengers, along with 11 crew. The weather is Cebu is not very welcoming. While the exact weather conditions at the time of the incident are not quite clear yet, it has been known that the airport was under extremely heavy rain along with other non-ideal weather factors. The latest evidence reports that the flight crew attempted to land the aircraft twice, but were forced to abort both incidences. Finally, on the third attempt, around 23:07, the crew managed to get the A330 on ground, but alas, the aircraft slid down the runway, before overshooting, taking a barrier fence along with it, and ending up in a grassy field not too far off the runway, The aircraft's engines were practically destroyed, the cowlings detached and crushed. There was also severe damage to the airframe, and as seen in many recent photos, the entire underbelly of the fuselage towards the nose, has been torn off, exposing the bare, mangled components and inner workings of the aircraft. According to reports, all 162 passengers and 11 crew survived, with little to no injuries.

Besides these base details, no in-depth data or further information have been released publically about the incident.

-Nicholas(Nick) Samaco

Tucked away inside a small north Queensland hangar are two planes that belong to a bygone era, flown by men with a deep appreciation of the past.

With their bright retro colours and open cockpits, the World War II-era Tiger Moth biplanes almost look out of place in modern-day Mackay.

They have been kept in pristine condition by the sons of Fred Christiansen, who once used them to ready fighter pilots for combat.

Before and after the war, Mr Christensen worked in the sugar cane industry around Mackay, and he eventually settled in the "sugar city".

He also passed on his love of flying to his two sons.

One of them, Greg Christensen, 69, a founder of the Mackay Tiger Moth Museum and himself a pilot, recently reluctantly hung up his pilot's cap and goggles.

But he's urging others to get involved, saying it's important to many descendants of local war veterans to preserve these moving memories of their past.

"There's other blokes that are quite a bit older — a couple of guys are in their 70s," he said.

"That is the only volunteer-based museum [housing Tiger Moths] where there's no profit going to... the pilots and the ground crew."

As well as preserving the air crafts and their history, the Mackay Tiger Moth Museum has given passengers a unique glimpse of Mackay through an open cockpit.(Supplied: Mackay Tiger Moth Museum)

WWII training aircraft

The De Havilland Tiger Moth was first manufactured in the United Kingdom in 1931.

During World War II, Tiger Moths were used as military training aircraft in Commonwealth countries, including Australia.

According to the Royal Australian Navy, almost 1,100 of the planes were build in Australia between 1940 and 1945.

The two Tiger Moths were purchased by the museum in the 1970s, to prevent them being sold overseas.

The Tiger Moth Museum has been run by volunteer crew and pilots for decades.(Supplied: Mackay Tiger Moth Museum)

Mr Christensen flew them for about 40 years.

"My father was an instructor during the war, teaching people to fly in Tiger Moths.

"My brother... was our first chief pilot and he taught most of us to fly the Tiger Moths."

Mr Christensen completed his last flight in recent months, before moving south to be with family.

"I did in excess of 1,500 joy flights around the town, so I got to see a fair bit," he said.

He made sure his final passenger was someone special.

"My wife was onboard. [She] was looking after the kids while I was playing with those things. It was quite nostalgic," he said.

WWII descendants among museum pilots

The Tiger Moths have been a common sight in Mackay's skies for more than 40 years.(Supplied: Mackay Tiger Moth Museum)

Many volunteers and pilots at the Mackay Tiger Moth Museum are descendants of WWII veterans.

Mr Christensen now hopes younger pilots will step up to the controls.

"The aeroplanes are in great nick...[they] will outlast the people," he said.

"It'd be great to see the younger people get enthused and get as much out of it as we have.

One of the museum's Tiger Moths was built in 1943 and the other in 1942.

Both have undergone expensive repairs and refurbishments over the years.

The team of volunteers sells joyrides, with the proceeds invested in maintenance of the planes.

Mr Christensen said the historic aircraft had long surpassed people's expectations and would still be gracing Mackay's skies for a long time to come.

"They were supposed to go five years. That's what their life expectancy was," he said.

"They'll go on forever."

His aim of getting his commercial pilot’s licence is nowhere nearer, in a similar story for many previous Soar Aviation students.

Students have been stranded with Soar Aviation, one of Australia’s biggest flight schools, placed in administration.

Mr Toro said he called it quits with the flight school after growing increasingly concerned about safety and teaching standards, after witnessing a dangerous crash that almost claimed the life of a fellow student in 2019.

“The crash happened right in front of the window where we were studying,” he said.

“It was a really bad situation. A poor pilot student who was in that horrible situation, it was lucky he survived.”

The student at the flight school was left trapped after being involved in a serious crash at Moorabbin Airport on December 12 2019, that saw his plane flip and crash.

A finding into the crash is yet to be handed down by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, but it came after another serious crash of a student at Stawell in Victoria in October 2018.

The ATSB found the 2018 crash was caused after “contrary to the aircraft’s limitations and the pilot’s qualifications, aerobatic manoeuvres were conducted during the flight, and immediately prior to the loss of control”.

“Aerobatic flight should not be undertaken by pilots who have not been adequately trained, as it requires specialist techniques and methods to maintain control of the aircraft during significant manoeuvring,” investigators noted.

“This accident clearly demonstrates the catastrophic consequences when the hazards of aerobatic flight are not managed.”

More recently, a student and a trainer from the school died in a crash at Carcoar, south of Orange in the central west of NSW, in November in an attempt at a touch-and-go landing.

Mr Toro said he was concerned about the instructors at Soar Aviation who were “very new to the industry”.

“I still remember having one instructor from New Zealand, he got lost when we went for a flight,” he said. “I was a student and I ended up guiding the situation.”

Mr Toro said the issues at Soar Aviation extended to its planes. “Some students had technical issues, one had a door open mid-flight,” he said.

“They got planes that were for sporting. The planes were not designed for training purposes.

Soar Aviation has 56 planes, but put up seven for sale in 2020 seeking to cover $500,000 in losses.

Figures in the flight teaching industry said many of the planes used by Soar Aviation were considerably cheaper to operate than the Cessna 172 Mr Toro said the students saw advertised.

Soar Aviation’s business model was built around providing part-time pilot training to students through its education partners in Sydney and Melbourne.

Students were covered by VET-fee help for up to 200 hours of flight time, but anything extra was out of pocket for students.

Its deal with the Box Hill Institute at one stage saw it teaching hundreds of students, but by the time it shut near the end of 2020 it had been whittled down to just 126 students.

This is fewer than the almost 200 students currently members of a class action headed by Gordon Legal, alleging that the flight school did not meet CASA requirements, and delivered substandard teaching.

Mr Toro said he was concerned that Soar Aviation kept trying to keep students flying despite them failing to progress to licences.

“My problems started with getting massive overrunning hours without seeing a light to get my licence,” he said.

“Management was pushing its instructors to push people to fly no matter the weather.

“The extra repetitions that was the big concern for us, if you run out of your 200 hours the extra hours were out of pocket.”

Mr Toro said he signed up to Soar Aviation because the offer to study part-time meant he was able to continue working. He was quickly concerned about the “very poor student support” and how few people were able to progress to a commercial pilot licence.

“The internal exams were so easy to pass, but the ones that really mattered were the ones by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority,” he said.

“The majority of students failed to comply with CASA regulations because of the poor quality theory training.”

Mr Toro said he and fellow students had brought up issues with Soar’s former CEO, Neel Khokhani, and its education partner, the Box Hill Institute.

“I had a very stressful meeting with the Dean of aviation. He said you can drop the course and nothing more happens,” Mr Toro said.

Mr Toro said Mr Khokhani was mostly absent during his time at Soar Aviation, speaking to his class once.

Mr Khokhani declined to comment.