NZ pilot earns royal wave of approval

Squadron Leader Holly Steel. Photo / Supplied

When a 5-year-old Holly Steel watched the rescue helicopter swoop down on Raglan beach to save an injured surfer, she knew she wanted to be a pilot.

And on Friday the Royal Air Force squadron leader became a part of history when she flew her search and rescue chopper over Buckingham Palace after the royal wedding.

It was a surprise tribute to her colleague Prince William, just as he and Kate Middleton surprised crowds when they emerged driving Prince Charles' open-topped Aston Martin, decorated by Prince Harry with the number plate JU5T WED on the back of the car..

The Sea King hovered over The Mall with an RAF flag underneath it.

It followed an official flypast, which had been heavily publicised, of a Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane and two Tornados and two Typhoon jets.

The spectacle was seen just after the newlyweds had kissed twice on the balcony of the palace.

"William had asked if a Sea King could be part of the flypast," Ms Steel told the Herald. "It was our personal salute to him. We saw the car coming through the gate and he smiled and waved up at us."

Ms Steel, 31, who was born in Hamilton and grew up in Ngaruawahia, just north of the city, is the flight commander of B Flight 22 Squadron, based at Wattisham Airfield in southeast England.

Prince William also flies a Sea King and is a member of 22 Squadron, but is based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, North Wales.

A member of the RAF for 13 years, Ms Steel was accompanied by her co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Lee Turner, two rear crew members and an RAF photographer.

The crew had watched the ceremony and balcony kisses at their base before embarking.

"We were massively excited on the way down," Ms Steel said.

"On the way back the crew was quite quiet just thinking about what we had been a part of."

Ms Steel, a former Horotiu School student, remembers sitting on the beach with her parents when she was about 5, watching a rescue helicopter crew load a man, who had been hit in the head by his surfboard, on to a stretcher.

"It scooped him up and I thought 'Wow, that's something I'd really like to do'."

She moved to England with her parents at the age of 10 but travels back to New Zealand to visit friends twice a year. She joined the RAF at 18.

Ms Steel has met the Prince on a number of occasions as she visits RAF Valley for flight simulator training and was an instructor at RAF Shawbury, in the West Midlands, when he was doing his helicopter training, but did not teach him.

"I know him well enough to say 'hello'. He's a really personable, down-to-earth guy."