Ilan Aviaz

Aviation interested me from childhood. I flew radio-controlled models, until one day I went up for a discovery flight that was meant to last ten minutes — and turned it into my first flying lesson, which lasted an hour.

Six months later I held a private pilot licence. Twenty-five years have passed since, and along the way I completed a commercial pilot course and a flight instructor rating — and the taste of that first flight is still with me.

That is exactly what I try to pass on to everyone who sits down beside me — whether it is a single birthday flight or the start of a pilot's course.