Carly Sherriff, 19, has been obsessed with planes since she was tiny — she recalls being a toddler and spending time with her grandparents, Lyn and Paul Sherriff, at their Stewart St house.
"Grandad worked at the airport ... and grandma would push me up in the stroller and we’d go and watch the planes and wait for grandad."
About a decade ago, her mum’s partner, Gavin Hawke, helped foster her passion, first by introducing her to Air Milford, then later paying for her to have a trial flight, and then a flight simulator experience.
And when she was 15, he organised work experience at Air Milford, with highly-respected local aviators Hank and Antony Sproull.
She’s never looked back.
Carly worked multiple jobs, including as a babysitter, dog walker and kitchenhand, to fund her training while at Wakatipu High School, where she received 18 awards for academic and sporting prowess during her three senior years.
In 2022, she won a $3000 Lewis Day Scholarship, to help with her flight training costs, and the following year she was offered part-time work at Air Milford as a flight coordinator.
She took that job on fulltime last summer, and continued there till June, when she moved to Christchurch to attend the International Aviation Academy of New Zealand.
That wouldn’t have been possible, she says, without receiving one of this year’s Pauwels Flying Scholarships, worth $13,000, established by retired Air NZ pilot Captain John Pauwels in 2018 to foster future generations of pilots.
Initially targeted towards students at his alma mater, Christchurch’s Hillmorton High, a ‘special award’ was created in 2019, which is open to any Kiwi citizen or permanent resident aged between 15 and 20, and available, primarily, to disadvantaged young people, young women, and others who are under-represented in society.
Pauwels says Carly’s already shown "utter devotion" to her chosen career for years, noting when she sees a plane pass overhead she stops everything she’s doing to study it.
"We feel it takes a special type of aviator to be so in love with flying that your world temporarily stops spinning as a plane is flying overhead," he says.
Her scholarship, supported by the Queenstown-based Hugo Charitable Trust, is going toward the cost of her two-year level 5 diploma in aviation, which comes with a $146,000 price-tag — "and it’s predicted to probably go up", she says.
"It’s an incredible help to both me and my mum because, without it, I would have had to have worked a few more years [before] pursuing my dream."
Hugo chair Mark Owens says Carly’s story’s one of "determination, perseverance and passion", and the trust’s "delighted" it’s been awarded to a Queenstowner.
"Aviation requires commitment, resilience and heart, all qualities that Carly has shown in abundance."
Carly says once she graduates, she’d like to become a GA pilot for a couple of years before eventually heading to the airlines, possibly following in Pawuels’ footsteps.
As to where she’ll start her career, she’s hoping its back in Queenstown with Air Milford.
"They’ve just helped me so much with ... little bits of advice that have helped me get to where I am.
"No one in my family flies, so without them in my corner I’d be so lost."
