AOPA Australia is a national organisation so it’s only fitting your editor spent five days around Perth working up several stories for Australian Pilot. The weather was beautiful, making my job of shooting the pictures to run with the stories a breeze.

Bunbury was the first stop, with a story on the Bunbury Flying School. This is a great example of a successful GA operation that has been built up by one man, Blair Howe, who had the vision to see the need for a strong flying school at Bunbury Airport.

Serpentine is always a great place to spend a couple of days compiling stories, with its huge selection of amateur built, vintage and warbird aircraft. I’ll be rolling out several stories over the upcoming editions, including a profile on a rare Yak 18 trainer from the Cold war.

I also got the chance to help pay tribute to Werner Buhlmann, an inspirational pilot in WA who has helped countless people in aviation in the west.

Bert Filippi and his lovely wife Carol hosted an afternoon tea for Werner where more than 50 pilots gathered to celebrate Werner’s achievements. It was a great day for aviation.

These stories and others will be in upcoming editions of our magazine.