Youth Glide
WHERE ARE THEY?
Wickham
We continue our series on Youth Glide Alumni with two young people following very different careers. Toni Thompson, originally from the South Canterbury Gliding Club may be in the Air Force but she doesn’t think we’ll be interested in her because she doesn’t have a flying job. She doesn’t seem to realise just what a wonderful young woman and role model she is. Adam Priest, (ex-Tauranga Gliding Club and actually pre Youth Glide) on the other hand has had a number of very exciting flying jobs. Toni's Story Since I was six years old, my father took me to nearly every War Birds Over Wanaka Airshow there was. On one occasion, there was an RAAF F-111 Aardvark doing a display. My interest in aviation began after hearing over the loud speakers that a woman was in the cockpit. I had no idea what gliding was until
Toni
34
February–April 2017
2011. My PE teacher at the time knew I had an interest in aviation and advised me to apply for the South Canterbury Gliding Club Scholarship. I received $500 from the club to start gliding. Shortly after I received the scholarship, I attended the Youth Soaring Development Camp at Omarama. I still had little knowledge of how gliders stayed in the air, and was the only member of the South Canterbury club to attend. Clueless and alone, I set up my little tent outside the campground kitchen. After only a few days at the camp I had made lifetime friends and had some amazing experiences. On my first flight at the camp my instructor introduced me to aerobatics. That was the moment I knew that this was going to be a hobby that I would continue and I attended another two camps after that. I have had some amazing flights in Omarama. On my favourite flight to date we saw climbers making their way to the summit of Mt Cook. I am now a member of the Aviation Sports Club at Whenuapai, working on getting my QGP. I am currently in the RNZAF working in the Mission Support Squadron as an Analyst. I have been doing this for three years and have really enjoyed my experience in the Air Force thus far. Although
Toni Thompson
my position is not in direct line with flying, I have flown on all of the RNZAF’s platforms and been involved on a number of rewarding missions. Recently I was involved in a search and rescue in the P-3 Orion where we found two fishermen lost to the north of Tonga. I have been lucky enough to travel with the RNZAF. I’ve been around New Zealand, over to Canada and Australia. I am looking forward to more upcoming trips this year. My career goal is to move into an aircrew position within the RNZAF. For once I am glad I listened to my school teacher as I have met such a great bunch of people. Attending the camps gave me valuable and enjoyable life experiences and it has also helped me on my journey into the RNZAF. Although I am making slow progress through the syllabus due to work commitments, I am still gliding when I can and still intend to tick off the goal of gaining my QGP.
