The Recreational Route to Qantas

A young pilot’s journey from Heck Field to the Qantas Group Pilot Academy

From the moment he could remember, Will Partridge had his eyes set on the skies.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to one day become a pilot,” he says, reflecting on a journey that began not with the roar of a jet engine, but with the hum of a light sport aircraft at Heck Field on the Gold Coast.

At just 14 years old, and without a clear understanding of Australia’s aviation pathways, he found a lifeline in a family friend’s recommendation: Gold Coast Sports Flying Training. “We were told it would be the perfect spot to begin,” he recalls.

Flying once every three weekends, he worked steadily toward his Recreational Pilot Certificate (RPC), balancing school life and flight training with the help of a supportive family. “Learning to fly at that pace was a little challenging,” he admits. “I’d seen many of my instructors move on and kept meeting new ones, hearing all sorts of stories of how I could aim for my future after high school.”

Then came July 2022 — a pivotal month. At 15, he completed his first solo flight in Sling 8668, before he could even legally drive!

“It was such a daunting yet incredible feeling to be up on my own,” he remembers. “My great-grandmother was there to watch me that day — the only other pilot in the family — and I knew I had to make her proud.”

With his RPC completed by May 2023, he soon earned his Passenger endorsement and began sharing the thrill of flight with the very people who helped get him there. “Taking my supporting family and friends for a flight around the Gold Coast was one of the most rewarding parts of my early flying.”

As high school neared its end, he turned his focus toward a dream job — flying for a major airline. “I decided to test my luck and apply for the Qantas Group Pilot Academy at FTA Queensland. I didn’t think I’d stand much of a chance against thousands of applicants across the country.”

But chance favoured preparation. With each successful step of the selection process, he surprised even himself — right up to the moment the acceptance email landed in his inbox. By February 2025, he was in Toowoomba, training at Wellcamp Airport under the Qantas Group banner.

He describes a full-circle moment in April, completing his second “first solo”, this time in a Diamond DA40. “My great-grandmother is still around, living just down the road from the academy, so it is awesome having her watch me go through the next stage in my career.”

Now just months away from earning his Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), he looks back with gratitude on the foundation built under RAAus. “Without the support from my incredible instructors and that early-on experience with flying under RAAus, I don’t think I would be where I am today — with an even stronger passion for aviation.”

To those who question the value of his recreational aviation start, Will offers a firm answer: “I often have people ask if it was a waste of time flying for the last three years, having to start the process again under CASA, but I always tell them no. The experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met have been well worth my time at Heck Field, setting me up for a bright future.”

For Will, the journey from RAAus to Qantas is more than a career path — it’s proof that passion, perseverance, and grassroots beginnings can launch lifelong dreams.