A nine-year-old Jack Woodman was en route to America with his family, when one of the flight attendants invited him to see the cockpit.
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As the wide-eyed child marvelled at the art of aviation, a seed was planted.
Six years on, he is now one in a handful of talented young pilots to complete their first solo flight at 15.
The year 9 Xavier High School student took the day off on Friday to begin birthday celebrations by sitting exams at the Riverina Aviation College – and it paid off.
“It’s the best birthday present yet, I’d have to say, it was fantastic,” he said.
“I flew around, and after a while we landed, and she (the flight instructor) said ‘I’m going to jump out now’, so I landed and she got out.
“Then I turned around and the whole runway lined up in my vision, and that’s when the penny really dropped – I realised, this was it.”
His parents, Kate and Maurice, listened in on the action from the airport flight tower, swallowing some serious nerves when their only child received the go-ahead to fly alone for the first time.
“I was feeling sick, even when I woke up this morning, I thought ‘Oh no, today’s the day’,” Mrs Woodman said.
“When he’s down on the ground, if there’s a problem, we can fix it, but we can’t help if he’s up in the air.
“That’s going to happen for the rest of my life, I’m sure.”
Mrs Woodman said Jack had been determined to reach his goal – busking at farmers’ markets over three years to come up with half the cost of his flying lessons.
“When he does something, he sticks to it and does it, he isn’t a quitter,” she said.
Jack said his goal was to hold a private pilot license by the minimum age of 17, which would allow him to fly Australia-wide.
“I’m hoping to get it before HSC, because it will be hard to balance HSC and private licence study,” he said.
“I have an aunt who’s a pilot in Perth, so I would love to fly over to Perth to see her.
“Eventually, I could fly to Melbourne and watch the footy overnight.”
Jack’s hasn’t decided yet what he’ll do after school.
Music, physics and aerospace engineering are among the pool he plans to draw from for his career.
“Even if I don’t make a career out of it, it will still be a big part of my life,” he said.
“Some people might call me crazy for investing all my money on aviation … but it’s something I enjoy, so I’m happy with that.”
Riverina Aviation College flying instructor Grahame Carroll said Jack could accomplish whatever he set his mind to.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” he said.
“If he decides to keep on flying, or if he even wants a career in aviation, he’s the sort of young fella who could achieve that.”