For a private pilot Stephen has accomplished quite a lot in his 5000 or so hours of flying since he obtained his English PPL in a Cessna 152 in 1982. He has owned a variety of single and twin engine aircraft, starting with a 1/15th share in a Cessna 172 and progressing to the Aerobatic Bonanza that he flies today. On the way he has owned a Fuji FA 200, a Beech Duchess, a Cessna 310 and an MD520N Notar helicopter to mention just a few and has over 100 aircraft types in his logbook. Among his aviation achievements, he owned and operated one of the largest flight schools in New Zealand, competed in international aerobatic competitions, displayed warbirds and his beloved Notar at air shows around the world and ferried a variety of aircraft across the Pacific ocean. If you ask him why he never took his Commercial Pilot’s License he will tell you that he always wanted to fly on his own terms and not be told by anyone else when and where he had to fly.
Today he flies his Aerobatic Bonanza E33C out of his retirement location in Oroville California with his wife Denise and his ever present co-pilot a Yorkshire Terrier named Agapanthus Mayhem.