{"id":351155,"date":"2024-07-23T16:05:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T06:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=351155"},"modified":"2024-07-23T16:05:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T06:05:29","slug":"jacks-career-is-about-to-take-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/07\/23\/jacks-career-is-about-to-take-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack’s Career Is About To Take Off"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Glider pilot Jack Christie took his first solo flight on Monday, using a Kingaroy Soaring Club DG-1001<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 23, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

If 16-year-old Jack Christie looks happy, it’s because he’s just completed his first solo glider flight … the start, he hopes, of a long career as an aviator.<\/p>\n

Jack completed three solo flights on Monday from the Kingaroy airfield, and after he completes his fourth and fifth on Tuesday will earn his A Certificate, the first step in the long process of getting his pilot’s licence.<\/p>\n

One of those Tuesday flights was one hour and 16 minutes long, which Kingaroy Soaring Club’s Greg Schmidt said was “phenomenal” at this stage of training.<\/p>\n

Flying is in Jack’s blood.<\/p>\n

His grandfather, Duncan Christie, is a soaring club instructor, and his father is RAAF Air Vice-Marshal Nathan Christie CSM, who is currently based at Butterworth Air Force base in Malaysia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jack is on holidays in Australia, staying with his grandparents on the Sunshine Coast, which seemed to be the perfect opportunity for him to start stretching his wings.<\/p>\n

“I have always wanted to be a pilot,” he told southburnett.com.au<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He had to complete 35 dual flights in a glider – including alongside instructor Mark Wahl in Kingaroy – before attempting his first solo flight.<\/p>\n

“I started gliding with the Air Force Cadets in NSW about this time last year,” Jack said.<\/p>\n

Moving to Malaysia meant Jack had to quit the cadets but he was determined to keep on flying.<\/p>\n

He aims to eventually earn a spot in the Defence Force Academy in Canberra, where his older brother Aidan is already studying.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pair hope to become the fifth generation in their family to serve in the Defence Force.<\/p>\n

Jack grew up around military aircraft, but says his family never pushed him towards a RAAF career.<\/p>\n

“Every time I look up and see a plane in the sky, I want to fly it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Jack’s now begun that process, with every hour gliding counted as one hour flying when it comes to pilot training.<\/p>\n

He is now working towards his glider pilot’s certificate, and has completed all the bookwork.<\/p>\n

Like every young would-be pilot, Jack would love to one day fly a fighter jet, but his second choice would be the impressive C-17 Globemaster military transports which are based at Amberley.<\/p>\n

Duncan said he would like to thank the Kingaroy Soaring Club for helping Jack with his training.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“They are absolutely world-class,” Duncan said.<\/p>\n

Jack agreed: “They’re awesome!”<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in gliding – particularly young people – have been urged to contact the Kingaroy Soaring Club<\/a> <\/strong>for more information.<\/p>\n

First solo flights can be taken as soon as the pilot turns 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If 16-year-old Jack Christie looks happy, it’s because he’s just completed his first solo glider flight … the start, he hopes, of a long career as an aviator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":351156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1824,3,6],"tags":[617,21],"yoast_head":"\nJack's Career Is About To Take Off - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If 16-year-old Jack Christie looks happy, it's because he's just completed his first solo glider flight ... the start, he hopes, of a long career as an aviator.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/07\/23\/jacks-career-is-about-to-take-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jack's Career Is About To Take Off - 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