Novice pilot hops his way back home

It seems Hedland’s Darren Nugent has never heard the adage you need to learn to walk before you can run.

The 48-year-old recently travelled to Taree in New South Wales to pick up his Hornet short take-off and landing light aeroplane built by custom manufacturer Australian Aircraft Kits.

While most Hornet STOLs are used as mustering planes, Mr Nugent ordered his with room to carry his fishing and hunting gear so he and his fox terrier could head out bush on camping trips.

Yet before any trips could be possible, he had to get his plane home to Hedland, flying across more than 4500km of Australia’s remotest country.

There was the added challenge that Mr Nugent had only recently graduated from his pilot training course with Hedland’s Polar Aviation.

It meant that when he set off from Taree, hopping between small, dusty landing strips across the Top End, he was also completing his first solo take-offs and landings.

In fact, his whole transcontinental flight across Australia was his first time flying an aircraft solo, an achievement Mr Nugent said was only now sinking in.

“I just went ahead and did the trip, but now I am just starting to grasp the size of that task,” he said. “I actually broke my first 100 hours of flying time … during this trip.”

“(The Hornet STOL) also is not a touring aircraft, it is designed for 30 to 40 minute flights.”

“So a transcontinental flight in that aircraft … it was a hell of an experience, put in that way.”

It was an experience that had not only the plane’s builder, AAK, but flying enthusiasts and magazines across Australia lauding Mr Nugent.

Yet it is not his only remarkable endurance effort.

Having fallen in love with planes as a child, his commitment to get his pilot’s licence after numerous setbacks is equally inspirational.

Making his first attempt to become a pilot as a 22-year-old, Mr Nugent saved $15,000 to train in Broome.

Yet after just a few flights, the training company went bankrupt, taking his money with it.

It cost him a flying job he had lined up on the proviso he gained his licence.

Years later when he was ready to make his second attempt, he became a single dad and put all his money into supporting his two children.

So after waiting more than two decades to complete his pilot’s training in Hedland, Mr Nugent is now in a hurry to make up for lost time.

“I did not want to put a foot in the grave not having achieved my lifelong goal,” he said.