Jules - Flying was a passion

Jules moved to Auckland when she was seventeen (in 1965) where she worked at Civil Aviation doing air crew licensing. As the only girl in an office staffed by ex-WWII pilots, Jules was spoilt rotten by the guys. They were vibrant, active men, mostly in their mid-40s, who were fabulous to her and became a huge influence in her life. They were deeply affected by the war. If she did not feel like doing any work, she would ask one of them for a story about the war - that was it for the day, they would all gather around and share stories.

While there she developed an interest in aviation so she learnt to fly at Auckland Aeroclub. She was grateful was allowed to fly the departmental aircraft. She passed her Private Pilot’s License on the day Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon (20 July 1969). There were only three other women flying in Auckland at the time. Originally Jules wanted to do commercial flying but her eyesight was not up to the required standard, so she knew commercial flying was not an option for her.

When a friend of hers was killed in an Iroquois helicopter crash on the way to the Vietnam War, she could not face flying. After a while, one of her colleagues turned up for a drive. He took her to the airport, where he had booked a plane and he got her back into flying. Jules was very grateful for how good those men were to her.

Jules was active in the NZ Airwomen’s Association when she in her early 20s. She organised big rallies & flying competitions for women flyers around the country. She was full of confidence because of her youth. As she got older, she realised just how amazing and fantastic the things were that she did. The group she flew with were young and had lots of fun, despite being in a regulated industry. There was more freedom then than there is now.

Flying was very expensive so they were committed. This was not the rich kid’s flying story, but their passion for flying meant they went to any length to enable it. All of Jules’ money went on learning to fly. She worked two jobs in Auckland, including doing night cleaning. To get ahead they had to do that, doing without new clothes, etc. They did not get paid much, by the time you paid board, expenses, etc there was not much left over.

A story that had Jules chuckling was how her sister also had a second job so she could go overseas. One time she rang Jules and said, ‘What are you doing tomorrow? Which building are you cleaning? What level? Look out the window at 6pm’. When she did, there was Ali swinging her feather duster on Level 6 of the office block opposite where Jules was doing the same. They worked hard and did what it took to do the things they wanted.