No Flight Of Fancy As Teen Takes To The Skies

Illawarra Mercury

Tuesday December 23, 2008

By CATHERINE McNAMARA

TEENAGER Dean Penrose was calm yesterday as he took his first passenger on a joy flight.

But he wasn't carrying just anyone. His 64-year-old grandmother, Barbara Braakman, was on board.

Mrs Braakman's look of glee showed why she was the lucky family member chosen for the 16-year-old's first passenger flight.

"When I was 15, I decided she was the first one who was going with me," Dean said.

"She's probably the craziest in the family, which is why I wanted to take her first."

Dean has been flying for a year.

He passed his general flying progress test last Saturday, after 21 hours in the air, and now has a student pilot licence, which allows him to pilot single-engine aeroplanes up to 5.7 tonnes.

He has greater freedom in the sky than on the road, where he still has to drive with L-plates.

The Albion Park teenager, who wants to be a Qantas pilot, is determined to gain as much flight practice as possible.

He works casual shifts at McDonald's to earn the money to fund his ambition.

His grandmother has been at the airport to greet him at every landing, so Dean decided to give her the flight as an early Christmas present.

"I didn't know if he'd get it in time - we've been struggling with the money to get through," Mrs Braakman said. "Then he got clearance to fly with passengers on Saturday afternoon. I'm his very first passenger.

"I've been waiting for so long."

Mrs Braakman could not fault Dean's flying.

She said he was calm and having a good time.

When Dean said his landing at Illawarra Regional Airport was "terrible", Mrs Braakman quickly came to his defence.

"It wasn't. It was a lovely landing," she said.

Dean said there was only one time when his grandmother had seemed scared.

"She was a bit nervous when I did a steep turn, but she wasn't too bad," he said. "It was awesome to have Nanna there.

"We talked the whole time."

Mrs Braakman said she would fly any time with her grandson, but drew the line at stunt manoeuvres.

"He loves the stunt stuff. And I say, 'Well, don't tell me about it because I'm definitely not going to go on that'."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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