58
PORT MACQUARIE BOBCAT FORMATION ✦ The Magnificent Seven in their Flying Machines! An exclusive interview with Bobcat Formation Leader Dr. David Cooke
➸
Dr. David Cooke, leader of the Bobcat Formation Photo Credit: Veronica Lind
I
f you look to the skies every Saturday morning when in the Port Macquarie, Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills areas then, weather permitting, you will be treated to a dazzling air show performance by some of the most experienced and impressive pilots around! The enthralling and daring performance is thanks to a collection of pilots known as the Bobcats who soar through the clouds in their colourful aircrafts in impeccable formation, thrilling observers on the ground. The Bobcat Formation was started in 2009 by former flying doctor and Airforce pilot Dr David Cooke. David was joined by friend and former Navy pilot Alan Bradtke and
✤ “After my father died, my mother married another pilot in 1945,” explains David. “He was killed and then she married a third pilot. The day I came home at the age of 16 and said to her that the Air Force was teaching me to fly she burst into tears!” - Dr David Cooke
the two members of the Hastings District Flying Club would indulge in casual formation flying, more as a hobby than anything else. After a chance meeting with fellow pilot Greg Kemp back in 2013, the nucleus of the Bobcat Formation evolved in time into the seven-strong set-up it is today. “I’m pilot number one,” says David with a smile. “That doesn’t mean I am any more important than any of the other pilots, just that I lead the formation and am therefore the first pilot to take to the air.” Flying has always been in David’s blood and his family has a rich tradition in the aviation industry; his grandfather was an instructor in Bristol Box Kites during the First World War and his father
