Brandon takes to the skies after earning pilot certificate

It was at the Benalla Airshow, held in March of 2023, that Brandon Sebaly spotted an opportunity.

Benalla based pilot Mark Carr had taken Brandon for a flight when he was 13, several years earlier - and he’s never forgotten how it made him feel.

“I’d always been thinking about it, and wanted to train to fly, but I didn’t know how to start,” Brandon said.

“I was at the air show and I saw Ron Olson there with his A32 Vixen, and he had a sign up which was about recreational pilot training.

“So I said, ‘when can I start?’”

Ron, who has recently retired from flight training, was chief flight instructor at the Benalla Recreational Flying School at the time.

“I’ve been flying with Brandon for about two years now,” Ron said.

“It does take a while to teach someone to fly. The first couple flights are very straightforward, where the instructor is doing most of the flying.

“After that, we work into the use of the controls.”

Ron said once a student is capable of controlling the plane, and has gone through all the relevant training, they have what is called a check-flight.

“They have to be checked thoroughly, and then they have checks continuously until they are proficient to get their licence.

“Then they can go by themselves whenever they want.”

Earlier this year, Brandon, reached that stage and earned a Recreational Pilots Certificate.

“With this certificate, it allows me to fly around 25 nautical miles from my home base,” Brandon said.

“So I can go to Wangaratta and places like, Yarrawonga, but there are places I can't quite go to, yet.”

Brandon has plans to study for his next certificate, which would allow for cross-country flying.

“I was thinking about having a bit of a break,” he said.

“I think I'll have a little bit of time off, but that'll be hopefully the next step, doing a bit of cross-country.”

In the meantime Brandon is studying aircraft maintenance as an apprentice.

“I started the apprenticeship with Alpine Aviation, in Wangaratta,” he said.

“I finished up there at the start of this year, but now I’m doing more structural stuff like fuselages and wings with Statewide Aviation.”

While he loves working with aircraft, it’s the draw of the open sky and freedom of solo-flight that Brandon lives for.

“It’s just how it feels,” he said.

“It’s amazing how you can control a machine up in the sky, and fly around.

“The views are just brilliant.”