Sense of freedom found in flying for Hamilton man

Troy Robinson, 19 next to the Piper Lance that he got to fly in. Photo / Tom Rowland

Hamilton's Troy Robertson, 19, was given the opportunity to fly in a light plane from Hamilton around northern New Zealand earlier this month. Troy has cerebral palsy and was provided with the opportunity by Chris Jordan and the Child Flight Charitable Trust. Troy is following his dream of studying English. He started university English during his last year at Fraser High. He wrote this report after his flight.

The start of the engine sounded like a Nascar revving at 9000 RPMs.

As the pilot went through all his pre-flight checks — "seat belts secure, check, doors locked, check, headsets on, check" — I could feel myself breathing heavily as the seconds passed while awaiting take-off.

I was lucky enough to get invited for a ride in the Child Flight Charity plane. This eventuated when last year I met the founder of Child Flight charity, Chris Jordan. I was asked by Chris to write a story about my life and how my disability (cerebral palsy) affected me and as a result of doing this I was invited along for this flight.

We met at the Hamilton airport at 10am on a Saturday and waited for the arrival of the plane.

As we waited I could feel myself getting more excited by the minute. After a short time it landed, and as I took my first look at the plane, I thought to myself, will I even get in that thing? We were told the flight to Tauranga might be a bit bumpy due to the wind but this didn't bother me because I am quite used to being bumped around in our own R22 helicopter.

My dad lifted me into the back seat and strapped me in before trying to put my wheelchair in the rear compartment. I was a little bit nervous when I got in the plane because sometimes I have trouble sitting in a normal seat so I was worried I wouldn't be able to sit in the seat. This ended up being not an issue — the seat was nice and comfy, and the belt held me in place firmly. Putting the wheelchair in ended up being a bit of a task but with a few parts removed it fitted like a glove.

Dad climbed in beside me and fitted my headphones so I could hear all the radio talk. Everyone else climbed in before the pilot checked with the control tower if it was all right to take off and next thing you knew we were off.

As we gained speed to take off, it felt like I was going down the back straight at Bathurst in a V8 supercar.

Cambridge was the first landmark that I recognised, as it is where my nana and pop live. Along the way there were a few bumps, especially when we got near the Kaimai Ranges which I found quite a thrill. It was like going over the speed hump bridges at Kawakawa in Northland at a fast pace. When we climbed over the Kaimais we were able to see Mt Manganui in the distance and then my dad pointed out the Tauranga airport to me, where we were heading to land.

We came into the airport over Tauranga city and the port. When we got on the ground there was an old biplane and also a gyrocopter taking off — the airport seemed quite busy. We parked up near the aviation museum and café.

Chris then asked us if we would like to have a look through the aviation museum, which was pretty awesome seeing all the old and military aircraft. We had a gander around the museum for a while then we headed to the café for some lunch.

Once we had all eaten, we made our way back to our plane, climbed aboard ready to depart. Unlike the first time, I wasn't nervous at all this time because I knew my seat was fine and comfy.

We took off and I could see a glimpse of Bay Park race track where I have recently been to stockcars, then we flew up the beach and over the top of the Mount, which was a beautiful sight.

While we were flying over the Mount we came across a big wind which caused the plane to do a big jump. It was like when I rode a calf at the rodeo. We made our way up to Waihi where I saw the huge gold mine from the air, which was amazing. We then cut across the Hauraki Plains towards Hamilton. As we got close to Hamilton we could see the new motorway construction towards Huntly, looking very impressive from the air.

Before heading across to Temple View and back to Hamilton airport where we landed. It took a little while to untangle my wheelchair and get it out this time but we got there in the end after a bit of fiddling around.

I find the freedom of flying — whether it is in a plane or a helicopter — amazing, being able to see things from above you wouldn't really be able to see from the ground and cruising effortlessly around checking out various sights.

Flying certainly is a change for me because I usually look up at everyone and everything from my wheelchair but when I'm in the air I'm looking down at things. You also get from A to B in double quick time compared to driving. One thing that I do prefer on a hot day is the air conditioning in our helicopter. When we remove our doors it keeps you much cooler than the air conditioning in the plane.

It was an awesome day and a great experience. Thanks to Chris Jordan (Child Flight Charity), Cerebral Palsy Association and also the pilot, Graeme.