Q

I’ve called this person ‘Q’ because he’s exacting, precise, just like the quirky man who equips James Bond with all his gadgets. Our family knows Q well. His mum and dad live across the road from the family home in Sale. The three of them are pretty much an extension of our family or vice versa. I challenge anyone to meet a more generous of spirit, community-minded family unit brimming with wisdom and kindness. I love them.

Q is a pilot. There’s not too many people who can say their office boasts more than 180 degree views. He hadn’t always wanted to be a pilot. In fact he was very good at languages at school. He speaks fluent Japanese taking to linguistics like a duck to water, his progression boosted by two long stints in Japan and friendships with exchange students hosted by his family. A friend of his in Tokyo told me that in her opinion his grammar is better than that of most native speakers. He recounts sitting on a train in Tokyo overhearing a couple of girls describe him as cute, presumably unaware that the fair-skinned Australian man with the golden locks could understand every word. On exiting the train he acknowledged their compliments and left the two awestruck. Lucky the wind didn’t change because it may have challenged botox in the performance stakes. I love this story because knowing Q he would have said it matter-of-factly without one iota of indulgence.

It dawned on him one day that he couldn’t resist looking at planes. If a plane flew overhead he found his eyes drifting upwards, magnetised by the power of man’s creation. Think about it for a moment. It weighs how many tonne and it flies? It flies. It’s physics beyond what my arts-focused brain can comprehend. Not for Q though. He followed the trail of the jet stream as if it were the yellow brick road and started taking flight classes and hitting the text books with gusto. 

The story of how he got to be a pilot is testament to his resilience and personal resolve. He’s lived and travelled around WA, QLD and the NT in search of work, often sleeping in hostels or on the side of the road in a swag. As I understand it, when you first start out, work can be ad hoc and spontaneous. Timing is critical. He says his timing has never been great. The aftermath of 9/11 had a devastating impact on the aviation industry and just as his career gained momentum COVID-19 swept the globe clipping his wings, but not his spirit.

As with so many stories life has a funny way of working out. While timing for Q has been unfortunate from a work perspective, in relation to his personal life, it is impeccable. He is an instructor as well as a pilot. As someone who is generous of spirit, a trait he inherits from his parents, he is always happy to assist other pilots in their training. It just so happened that one student who is extremely competent, likeminded, down-to-earth, blonde and attractive needed some guidance. Enter Justine, his future partner. Together they make a great team. They’re positive, practical, hands on, there’s nothing they can’t fix and they conquer any challenge that comes their way. They’ve lived in New Zealand and established their own careers working with the national airline while making friendships and networks along the way. Rather circuitously they’ve now returned to Australia. It’s wonderful that hey’re home.

Q is quite possibly one of the most unassuming people I’ve ever met. There’s no hidden agenda, never an ulterior motive. He’s straight up. It’s probably fair to say he’s a different cat. He’s never been influenced by mainstream trends or fads and I don’t think he’ll have an existentialist crisis anytime soon. From a young age he sported the jeans and sneakers combination much to the admiration of my younger brother who does not respect easily. Indeed he was ahead of the sneaker/jean curve. He’s his own man and likes what he likes.  

Has your sense of mortality increased with age? I remember as a kid cackling with joy at experiencing turbulence. So much so I would sit up on my knees and watch fascinated at passengers’ heads jerk from side to side in the rows ahead. As a mature woman I’m that flighty (so to speak) the plane only needs to jolt unexpectedly and I’m slouched and gripping the seat, Mr Bean style, saying the Hail Mary on repeat.  

I’d want Q in cockpit in a crisis. We both lived in Canberra at one juncture in our 20s and he generously gave me lifts to the airport on numerous occasions. As Q pulled up one time I realised I had accidentally locked my bag in the house. The catch was I was bridesmaid for my best friends' wedding and the dress was in the bag. As I flapped about the exterior of the house like a swan, Q extracted his keys and with quiet determination gently prised the window open, enough that I could wriggle though and retrieve the bag. Calm, level-headed, rational. This is the person I’d want at the helm in an emergency. Age, perspective, hindsight also tells me there are bigger issues in life than a bag in locked house.

There are many thresholds one must meet before becoming a pilot. One of them is acquiring loads of airtime. I was only too happy to help Q accrue his hours where possible. Coincidentally an opportunity arose on a weekend when the Demons happened to be playing at the MCG. It was agreed Q would fly a friend and I to Melbourne from Canberra. From the outset he made it clear that he makes the ultimate call on whether to fly or not. A decision I fully respected. But on the day the weather was looking ominous. It was early morning and a thick fog settled in and seemed hesitant to leave, like an uncle pulling up a seat ready for a long chat. I privately appealed to the weather gods to rectify the situation. Then just when things were looking grim, Q looked on, the clouds dispersed and the sun’s rays panned the runway, like Moses and the parting of the sea. It was a glorious moment on many ‘fronts’, particularly the weather one.

I can’t wait for the day when I’m sitting on a plane and overhear “It’s Q your captain speaking.”  I’ve had no bearing on his journey but as his pseudo sister I would feel a level of pride. I am already proud to say I know Q. He’s truly forged his own path and he’s already smashed the skies, so I’m not sure if there is a limit for this remarkable man. 

Keep soaring Q.