Evidently John knows how to maneuver a miniature plane and on both competition days his 1.8 metre Goldwing Sback 342 served him well.

While it was rewarding to come home from Yenda as a prizewinner, John says what he really cherishes is the great sense of community spirit amongst association members.

“They’re just a big family, no one bags anyone else, no one says a bad thing about one another,” John said.

There were 19 pilots who turned out to the Yenda state finals last weekend with entrants competing against those with similar levels of experience.

John competed in the ‘basic’ category, the easiest level of competition, and even still the judging criteria is incredibly technical with pilots receiving a score out of 1,000 points. Judges assess pilots based on two flights, one on each day of the competition.

This was John’s third aerobatic competition, and since his first competition in February John has gone from strength to strength, coming third, then second, then first in the ‘basic’ category.

He’s hoping to perfect the ‘basic’ seven minute routine before he progresses up to a more difficult competitive category.

It’s an open sport; influenced heavily by weather conditions and John enjoys the challenge of flying to the conditions every time he picks up the controller.

John believes that the secret to success is a passion for the sport, and plenty of practice. John is truly invested in the art of flying miniature aircraft; each day when the conditions are good he will launch one of his model planes in the backyard to fine tune his skills. Sometimes he ventures to the State Flying Field on Gundagai Road to practice in a more open environment. It’s an absolute joy for John, and that’s what keeps him going.