Local aeronautical enthusiast Michael Brophy has won Pilot of the Year for the Central West region.
Over the past 12 months Mr Brophy has been competing in a series of five competitions held at Bathurst Airport.
Mr Brophy told The Cobar Weekly the competition is run as a series of tasks that test a pilot’s fundamental aviation skills on speed of judgement, precision, airmanship and adhesion to regulations.
Each competition contributes cumulative points towards the end of the year total with the highest scoring pilot at the end of the series winning the award of Pilot of the Year.
“I was one point behind at the beginning of the final competition but eventually scraped into first position in a ‘spot landing’ exercise, landing on the precise point that was nominated by the examiner three times in a row,” Mr Brophy said.
He said the fraternity during the competition was fantastic.
“Every competing pilot was extremely supportive of one another and I am looking forward to next year’s competition,” Mr Brophy said.
In the meantime Mr Brophy is continuing to pursue his idea to establish a flight school for Cobar and said his business plans for grant funding are to be submitted shortly.
