THE Hastings District Flying Club's senior flying instructor, Bob Needham, who has been flying since he was 16 and has taught hundreds of pilots to fly, has just experienced one of his proudest moments.
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His granddaughter, Joanna Oreb, on January 6 completed her first solo flight at 15 years and 1 month, which is the youngest solo student in the club's 55-year history.
Joanna lives in Queensland and attends the Good Shepherd Lutheran College in Noosa and commenced her flying lessons aged 11 years.
She pays for the hire of the aeroplane herself out of savings during the year and from working in a bakery at weekends. Instead of Christmas and birthday presents she asked for gifts of money to pay for the flying lessons.
Visits to her grandparents at King Creek near Wauchope during school holidays enabled her to have more lessons from "Papa", who sent Joanna off on her first solo flight.
The Needhams are a flying family of three generations. Bob's wife Phoebe Ann is a private pilot, having learnt to fly in Kenya, their son Anson and youngest daughter Imogen are both Qantas pilots and Joanna now completes the third generation.
Bob and Phoebe Ann's other daughter Tana (Joanna's mother) and her husband have recently retired from highly qualified positions in the Australian Navy.
Keep up the good work, Joanna.
