Flying ace’s skyhigh success

By Rebecca Fraser
FLYING is addictive, it’s an absolute passion, and the view from up there … it’s just like time stands still.
That’s the view of Berwick pilot and flying enthusiast Colin Van der Lugt who has clocked up more than 25 years in the air.
The 47yearold father of one recently attended the Peninsular Aero Club presentation night where he won the Glide Approach medal after competing in numerous flying competitions at Tyabb Airfield in the past year.
Mr Van der Lugt also achieved second place for streamer cutting and was deemed overall competition winner and was presented with a trophy.
He was also awarded the Ern Rittman Perpetual Trophy for the “Ace of Base.”
In the past 25 years Mr Van der Lugt has flown all over Australia and admits there is nothing better than taking off and flying to his beloved Australian outback.
“I am limited for time due to my business, and I find my holidays have to be jampacked.
“Flying is the quickest way I can get to the Outback.
“I have travelled all over Australia since getting my pilot’s licence and I have been barramundi fishing in the Northern Territory as well as buffalo hunting there I just love it,” he said.
Mr Van der Lugt said his wife Kerry was not a keen flier after a ‘little mishap’ some years ago.
But he said his 11yearold daughter Brittany was already a flying enthusiast and had developed a real passion for flying.
“A few years back we had engine failure just past Pakenham and had a forced landing at the Pakenham airfield.
“That really put the wind up her (Kerry) and she has never really liked flying since.
“But she thought I was a bit of a hero for a while afterwards though,” he said.
Mr Van der Lugt admits that he has lost some friends to flying over the past two decades but this has never made him doubt his passion.
“We had a syndicate up North with four good mates and we followed the Variety Car Club rally, flying from Melbourne to Broome.
“On the return trip two of us stopped at Bendigo and drove back but the other two kept flying in the morning and crashed the plane into Mt Macedon.
“That was eight years ago my guess is that they took off and it was clear weather but then the weather must have caught up with them a bit.
“The unfortunate thing about flying is that I have lost a few friends along the way, but that has never stopped me
“Flying is just the best thing on earth it is just terrific,” he said.
Mr Van der Lugt learnt to fly at the Groupair Flying School, which operated out of the Casey Airfield in Berwick where Monash University is now.
He said he remembers when he began to fly and could see how much Berwick has grown and changed in 25 years.
“On the Sunday afternoon the only reason ClydeBerwick Road was congested was because cars would pull over to watch the array of light aircraft buzzing overhead.
“As the runway ended at the road, passersby could view the aircraft at close proximity.
“There was twin engine aircraft roaring off, Cessnas both fast and slow, homebuilts, Pitts Specials fast and agile or antique Tiger Moths teetering above the roadway,” he said.
Following the closure of Casey Airfield, Mr Van der Lugt moved to the Moorabbin airport, then Tooradin, before spending the past five years at Tyabb.
He also indulges in some aerobatics and has many tricks up his sleeve.
“I can do stall turns, loops, barrels. I really enjoy it, it is good fun, there is nothing better,” he said.