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The Aviation Adventures Team includes
some of the most skilled pilots in the business.
We are dedicated
to giving you an enjoyable experience and providing quality service.
We like meeting people as much as we like flying. Sharing the
joys of a biplane flight is what we do best!
Chris Rudge
Chief Pilot
and Managing Director
Chris has
been flying gliders and powered aircraft since 1984. As a tow pilot
flying "tail dragger aircraft", he has completed over 5000 launches.
His total time in aircraft exceeds 4200 hours. He also holds New Zealand
and Canadian commercial licences for aeroplanes and balloons, and has
flown helicopters. He was the first New Zealander (and one of only a
few people in the world) to log 1000 hours each on aeroplanes, gliders
and balloons. In addition to holding four New Zealand national aviation
records, he has been flying at Omarama for 21 years and was the Chief
Flying Instructor for the Southern Soaring gliding company from February
2006 until April 2010. Other achievements include being the author of
two aviation books and visiting
Antarctica eight times.
Darren Smith
Pilot,
Quality Assurance Manager
Darren
Smith is an experienced pilot with over 2000 hours fixed-wing time
(1100 of this being in tail-dragger aircraft) and over 1000 hours as
a glider pilot. During the off-season he flies gliders and tow planes
in Canada and works in New Zealand flying a Cresco aircraft on sky diving
operations out of Queenstown and Wanaka.
Mike Jarman
Pilot
Mike Jarman joined the
team in early 2010 as a pilot. Based in Christchurch, he commutes to Omarama
over summer to help out with glider towing and flying the Ag-Cat. He also
flies a Piper Cub tow plane for the South Canterbury Gliding Club at Timaru.
Les and Irene
Lamb
The
owners of a major art gallery in Gairloch, Scotland, Les and Irene Lamb
have been visiting Omarama for over eleven years. A keen dry fly fisherman,
Les was initially attracted to Omarama due to its reputation as an excellent
place to catch trout.
In recent years, Les and Irene were the major shareholders and Directors
of Southern Soaring, which was sold in April 2010.
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