Seize the day: Kim flies high

Kim finds freedom in the sky Amelia Earhart, aviation pioneer and the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean once said: “There’s more to life than being a passenger.”

There’s a deeper meaning to that quote which applies to all of us and how we choose to live our lives, but for Halcyon Parks homeowner Kim Jones, it has literally fuelled his passion for flying for almost half a century.

“It’s a very special feeling being able to move in three dimensions with little effort and a special feeling of freedom,” he said.

Enchanted by the idea of flying since he was a child, Kim had the opportunity to become a pilot when he was working in the Pilbara as an engineer in the early 1970s. “I took every opportunity I could to get up in the air, and it’s something I’ve just always done,” he said.

After working as an executive with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in Canberra for more than 20 years, Kim retired in 2016, moved to Queensland, and came to Halcyon Parks with his wife Jan Gough earlier this year. He still flies every week, keeping his plane, the second one he has built himself, at Caboolture Aerodrome.

“Both aeroplanes took 14 years to build; family, moves around the country for my work and other projects such as a sports car and rocking horses for grandchildren in between,” he said. “I started building models when I was 10 and just progressed to something bigger over time.”