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READY TO FLY: Captain Aaron Hillier at the Whyalla Airport.
IF the pioneering spirit of Captain Aaron Hillier and his wife Sheree are anything to go by, the move of Becker Helicopters to Whyalla is going to be more than just exciting.
Aaron and Sheree didn’t hesititate when asked by company directors Mike and Jan Becker if they wanted to be the first Becker people on the ground in Whyalla as the company embarks on a massive relocation to South Australia.
This is no surprise from a man who made his own running to become a pilot and from Sheree who has taken time off to be a mum from her profession as an executive account manager for major overseas companies like Nike and Billabong.
The couple accepted the advance-party mission when Sheree was seven-months pregnant with their first daughter Chloe. With plans for another child, when she does go back to work Sheree will be just as happy to "drive a truck or something at the mines" if she can’t find work in her sales field.
"In January we found out there was an opportunity with the company to move down to Whyalla and we jumped at it," Aaron said.
"We just packed up and moved everything down, we knew nothing about Whyalla but saw it as a great opportunity and we have not regretted it for a minute.
"This is a beautiful part of the world and I don’t think we’re going to run out of things to explore very soon."
FAMILY LIFE: Sheree, Aaron and Chloe Hillier making Whyalla home.
With a shared loved of the ocean, Aaron and Sheree spend plenty of the time at the foreshore, fishing around Point Lowly and travelling up and down the Eyre Peninsula coast chasing their other love of surfing.
It’s all part of a greater adventure for the couple.
Aaron is a self-made pilot in the very real sense. The former student from Upper Beaconsfield in Victoria wanted to be a pilot since his school days but had to approach it from a different angle when the costs of training threw up a giant barrier.
"I was working three dead-end jobs to try and get the money to train and was getting nowhere so my dad suggested I join the airforce," Aaron said.
"I wasn’t keen at first but I’m glad I took his advice."
Aaron didn’t learn to fly with the airforce but instead landed an apprenticeship as a mechanic and went on to work on the RAAF’s C130J Hercules for five years. This included four deployments to the Middle East where he worked in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Afghanistan.
TURNING BLADES: Captain Aaron Hillier surveys the landscape over Whyalla during a recent flight.
Earning enough to get his pilot’s licence, Aaron discharged from the RAAF and moved to America when he landed a job flying around New York for the rich and famous along with some mercy duties.
Aaron was cutting his teeth flying over New York with billionaires, NFL stars and A-List celebrities. Going on to work for a helicopter company in Baltimore, but still flying in New York, Aaron can boast passengers like the owners of the Baltimore Ravens NFL franchise, the Prince of Dubai, US Senators and a host of NFL players.
"I once got a call to fly a NFL star to his mother’s for mother’s day," Aaron said. "It was a $10,000 flight, we left at 11pm from New York at night and I returned at 11am the next day.
"Sometimes I was taking off, flying over the Statue of Liberty, down to the George Washington Bridge and then back to Wall Street to pick up the rich and famous."
Even more exciting for Aaron was the life-saving organ harvesting missions. He would pick up doctors from a hospital and fly them to another hospital to recover organs that would eventually save another life.
"New York is the busiest airspace in the world and all the while you’ve got a live heart, lungs or skin sitting in an esky next to you ready to save someone’s life," Aaron said. "It really was a pressure cooker situation but exciting."
After four years it was time to come home and a short stint as a flight instructor before the chance came up to work for Mike and Jan Becker on the Sunshine Coast. It’s now been nearly three years with the company and Aaron has quickly become a popular face of Becker Helicopters in Whyalla.
"Mike and Jan are great, they really look after you and that’s part of the reason we had no hesitation in moving to Whyalla for this role," Aaron said.
"It’s a new experience in a community that has been so accommodating and welcoming.This is a great chance to advance my career and do something really exciting in a great place for a great company."
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http://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=730&c=55354
http://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=730&c=55280