In 1960 he learnt to fly at the Wanganui Aero Club, where he is still an active member, and after flying behind propellers for several years decided to get a jet of his own. He decided on a Venom, a later development of the Vampire he had seen as a boy, as it's a more powerful aircraft.
"The Goblin engine in the Vampire has 3200lb of thrust but the Venom's Ghost engine is 4800lb. They look fairly similar but the Venom's a hell of a lot gruntier. The Venom has a top speed of 535 knots [990km/h]."
He found his Venom in Switzerland where it was built in 1956. In active service it had four 20mm cannon and could carry two 500lb bombs or eight rockets.
"We found it sort of by accident. We went and had a look, it was all fine and, yes, it was for sale. It was in an airworthy condition but hadn't flown for 18 months or so, and there were a lot of things to be done to satisfy our requirements.
It arrived at Ardmore near Auckland early last year. Just reassembling it, even without any other work, would have taken about two months but there was a myriad of things that needed attention.
"Things like the undercarriage which needed to be completely stripped and rebuilt."
John said the project would have stalled if it wasn't for Pauanui aircraft engineer Gerry Gaston, who worked on the RNZAF's Vampires in the 1960s.
"With his skills and experience he was the right engineer for the job. He was the real catalyst, something like this couldn't happen without a dedicated person like him."
Another dedicated support person is John's wife, Karen, herself a keen aviator, and who he says has backed him throughout the whole process and only had one problem with the newest addition to the family.
"Being a single-seat aircraft she was disappointed not to be able to go for a ride in it, but has been very understanding," he said.
After the repairs were completed the Venom was repainted into 14 Squadron RNZAF colours, a tribute to Kiwi Venom pilot Trevor Bland who had flown them in Singapore. John said Trevor made several trips to the hangar to see "his" aircraft and was there for the first engine run.
On November 11, 2012 the Venom, now registered ZK-VNM, made its first flight in New Zealand with Squadron Leader Sean Perrett at the controls. John said the experienced pilot was ideal for the job as he had "squillions" of hours flying jets in the Royal Air Force, including the famous Hawker Harrier.
After an uneventful test flight to Tauranga it then made the trip home to Ohakea, where it is now based.
After training in two-seat Vampires and a Czech L-39 Albatros trainer, John flew the Venom for the first time in February. He said having Sean and fellow RNZAF pilot Squadron Leader Jim Rankin as his instructors made the process a lot smoother.
"They are really top instructors. If they thought you were doing something wrong you've really got to stand up and take notice. I can't speak too highly of them."
The biggest problem with flying the Venom, like any military jet, is fuel. Although its fuel tanks can take up to 3000 litres John says it burns on average an eye-watering 22 litres per minute, and a 70 litres per minute at full throttle and low altitude.
"The problem with jets is they're most efficient at altitude, say at 40,000 feet, but if you're going from Ohakea to Wanganui it is not practical to fly to this altitude.
"It's not the sort of thing you necessarily just take out for a Sunday drive," he says.
John's proud of the Venom and the comments he received after it was displayed at the Masterton and Blenheim air shows earlier this year, but he's also pleased with the fact he's able to fly the machine himself.
"There's not many 72-year-old jet pilots out there and I'm rather chuffed, with plenty of support and assistance along the way, to have been able to achieve this."
