48 Profile: Paul Bennet KATHY MEXTED Fasterand Louder Kreisha Ballantyne persuaded airshowman and warbird scared of spins and stalls, they tend to look down on aerobatics as though it exponent Paul Bennet to sit still long enough for an is wrong. “Aerobatics inspire a lot of people, but we’ve come across a few interview. Kathy Mexted wrote up the story on one of old pilots who think aeros put too Australia’s air show stalwarts. much stress on the airframe. “There are people you wouldn’t expect that absolutely hate spinning f you don’t go near another fly. The next day Paul was at Royal stupid risks. I’m competitive and ‘out but sometimes they’ve become so computer for the whole week, Newcastle Aero Club enquiring there’ and will try new things, but I good at knowing how to stay out of just log onto Paul Bennet’s about flying lessons. like to be in control. I don’t persist it, they don’t get close to it. Some website and have a look at the “From being a qualified boat builder with things I’m not good at.” of the country’s best warbird pilots short clip on his home page. It and shipwright, I’d moved into making With an aerobatic rating, the goal refuse to spin, and while I can’t say involves a low-flying Pitts and granite bench tops. I made some good is to compete. You start with rolls and that’s wrong, I can’t agree with it. In a high flying motorbike. money doing that, and then went once they’re mastered you follow with their minds, they’ll never get to the Flying was not a new idea to to Luskintyre building Tiger Moth loops, half cubans, wingovers, rolls- point of spinning, but in my case, I the young Paul Bennet who’s wings. Because of my skills, I was a fast off-the-top, spins and snap rolls. You feel the same about the Trojan. It’d father had a private licence worker. I can’t even remember how do each figure one at a time. take a lot to recover it. When you’re and who’s grandfather flew Tiger many Tiger wings I built. There were As an instructor, Paul likes to teach on top of an aeroplane though, it Moths in WWII. heaps, but there wasn’t enough money each manouvre separately, and doesn’t won’t get away on you like it will “My grandfather died young, in all that so I moved to Newcastle. like writing out an aerobatic rating when you are less experienced.” but I’ve still got his pilot’s licence. “I’d won the Australian sailing unless the student can spin, because Dad used to take us away for flying championship in Taree and ended up if the manouvre goes wrong, they’ve Flying is the Pitts holidays in privately hired aircraft in 16- and then 18-footers. That was got to be able to get out of the spin from Manning River Aero Club. I when I was getting going on the flying. in order to recover. Most of Paul’s flying has been in the grew up at Old Bar, midway between At the time, I was top of my game “I think it should be absolutely Pitts. He used it for his tailwheel Newcastle and Coffs Harbour on the and sponsored with sailing, but at the compulsory for instructors to teach endorsement and before he even got NSW coast,” Paul says. bottom and beginning with aviation.” spinning as part of the PPL syllabus. his PPL, he had won his first aerobatic “It was naturally assumed I’d The trouble is that many instructors competition, flying on a GFPT. He learn to fly, and at around 16 to 18, I Beginning aeros fear spinning and that fear is couldn’t fly to the comp; he could only knew I’d love to, but it always seemed transmitted to the students. There’s fly when he got there, so he went to so out of reach due to the family’s Paul gained his GFPT in a C152 and nothing unsafe about any of that stuff. Parkes and had to do three circuits financial position, so I concentrated his PPL in a C182 at Warnervale. That The first thing you should do with Phil Unicomb, his instructor. At on flying models with Dad.” first ride with Scott had cemented in a new aeroplane is practice stalls. least now with an RPL – Paul says – a When his good friend Scott Paul’s desire to pursue aerobatics and It’s something that is misconceived pilot can sign a Maintenance Release. Robinson, also a modeler, took Paul being at Luskintyre meant he could by 90% of pilots,” he says. You just can’t take the aeroplane for a ride in his Pitts, Scott packed drop tools and go flying with a fellow “Warbird pilots will tell you the outside the training area. a couple of toilet rolls into Paul’s aerobatic student when the time same about a Wirraway. The most “I’ve got an instructor rating on a PPL hands. The ensuing performance was right. Phil Unicomb was the beautiful handling aircraft in the cutting the toilet rolls and trying instructor in an S2a. world won’t do anything untoward Up they go: the Paul Bennet team to make the 21-year-old passenger “I’m described as cautiously unless you’re out of balance. I think if consisting of three variants of the sick, did nothing to ease his desire to adventurous,” says Paul. “I don’t take you look at those scared instructors, Pitts biplane. AUSTRALIAN FLYING September – October 2015 australianflying.com.au 49 “I think it should be absolutely compulsory for instructors to teach spinning” DARREN MOTTRAM DARREN September – October 2015 AUSTRALIAN FLYING 50 Profile: Paul Bennet australianflying.com.au TOP TO BOTTOM: Paul’s air show contribution of both aerobatics and warbirds has been the highlight of many events around Australia. Paul’s Wolf Pitts stunned the crowd at Avalon this year, and rightly takes pride of place in the team hangar. deal. I think you need a team to do aerobatics at the higher levels. In fact, I don’t know how you can do it if you don’t have a team and all talking the same language. I share all my knowledge with Glenn and it doesn’t matter who wins at a competition as long as I come first,” he says laughing. “It’s just rude to beat the boss!” Paul staunchly confirms the Wolf Pitts as the best aerobatic aircraft in the world. He bought his from DARREN MOTTRAM DARREN America. It was an experimental factory build, built by Steve Wolf, Motivation who Paul claims to be a very good, expensive, craftsman, builder and Paul’s motivation is his incessant pilot who has been instructing all his need to keep busy. It would be an life. Paul has flown the Extra, Giles, understatement to say that he doesn’t Edge 540 and all the Pitts’ except the like sitting still. There is always more S1-11. Of the 20 or so S1-11’s in the practice to be done. world, there is only one in Australia; “You never have the perfect flight. the Super Stinker that belongs to You can land and say it’s one of the South Australian pilot Chris Sperou. best flights I’ve ever had, but we will always critique and go over every Biplane vs flight we do. I’m pretty hard on myself. I talk with Glenn Graham monoplane and Glenn Collins all the time and Why would Paul want a biplane NADENE BALLANTYNE I want them to tell me if what I’ve instead of a monoplane? Because just done is no good. At least every his biplane is a real show plane. “I’m competitive and ‘out week or two I still go and fly a comp And in a monoplane, there is a there’ and will try new things, sequence to keep the precision going huge amount of weight required for – even if I’m not competing. the spar to strengthen the single but I like to be in control.” “If I go practising out at Kurri wing, whereas a biplane uses the Kurri, which you can hear from here wing wires for strength. because of the Part 61. I’m a qualified between us. He picks things up pretty but you can’t see, I might come back “The Pitts tailplane is huge for instructor on every type that I fly, naturally, especially the formation and do some four-point rolls and a the size of the aeroplane. It’s got an such as tailwheel, constant speed aerobatics. Between the three of us vertical or something like that, just aerofoil tailplane instead of a tubular retractable, constant speed, aerobatic, we work at different ends of the scale, two mintues worth, so Glenn can one and is really light. When we take inverted spin recovery.” but as a group we’re amongst the most watch it and then we’ll talk about it. the bottom wing off I can pick that He can also instruct on the experienced aerobatic pilots around. “In the sky, I can’t always feel up in one hand, however the wing of warbirds that he’s rated on. He’s “In Unlimited Category, for the whether it’s wrong or right, and so an Edge 540 or MXS takes about not interested in ab initio training first flight of a comp, everyone flies I need the person on the ground to half a dozen people to carry it.” however; just in passing on his the same sequence.