He completed a milestone 1000km non-stop flight during the youth soaring development camp at Omarama on Saturday.
Formerly from the Hakataramea Valley, and now of Christchurch, Alex is one of only 560 fliers in the world registered with the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) to have glided the distance.
Cousin Richie is not a member of that select group.
Last year, when Alex completed a 500km flight, it was thought he was the youngest pilot anywhere to have flown the distance unpowered non-stop.
He left from Omarama early on Saturday and spent 11 hours twice flying a circuit between Lumsden and the top of the Rangitata River before landing at Pukaki Airfield, near Twizel.
Alex said the "blue wave" weather conditions were challenging during the flight.
"Normally, you can tell where there is lift by the shape of the clouds. But there were few clouds on Saturday, which made it hard to tell [where any lift was]."
Despite the long duration, and an at times unpleasant flight, there was no opportunity for boredom, he said.
"There's too much to concentrate on - there's no autopilot.
"The highest I went was 22,000 feet. You need oxygen when you fly over 10,000 feet, and it gets really cold. It was -15degC for most of the flight."
Alex said he took lots of food and drink. But the problem was that at some stage during an 11-hour flight, the need to use a toilet arises, then becomes urgent.
"I've never been so busting to go to the toilet. We take special plastic bags, but you really don't want to use them unless you really have too.
"The first thing I did when I landed was go to the toilet."
Soon after landing, Alex said three cars full of people from the Youth Soaring Development Camp arrived to pick up him and his LS4 single-seat glider.
"They showered me with Champagne. It was a bit sticky. But I was pretty stoked.
"This is seen as a major milestone in a glider pilot's career. I didn't think I'd be able to achieve it at such a young age."
"I'll take the sticky Champagne any day."
