Leon Fenemor’s on the aviation fast-track, and it could get a whole lot quicker with a commercial pilot licence (CPL). Picked up by the 18-year-old on 19 December, Leon’s now an email or call away from his dream job in the skies.
“I wanted to be a pilot and then a commercial pilot since I was little, so it’s pretty cool to finally be at the age that you can get it done,” he says.
“After heaps of study, it’s nice to finally achieve it and see all the hard work pay off.
Now I just try and get myself a job… I’m handing in my CV and meeting skydive and charter flying companies, so they know of me, and then I’ll just continuously build [flying] hours, because the more hours you have, the more likely you are to get the job.”
Keen for no delays in his journey to become a pilot, the Nayland College graduate’s flying introductions took off at Nelson Aero Club in 2017.
He qualified to go solo on the day he was the minimum age required to do so at 16, and he’d already passed his theory exams at just 15 years of age. He earned his private pilot licence on his 17th birthday, making him one of Aotearoa’s youngest pilots - before even obtaining a restricted driver’s licence.
Clocking up the 200 minimum flying hours and 18 ‘laps around the sun’, cleared his CPL eligibility for takeoff.
Sky-high prices associated with testing were navigated by working at McDonald’s Richmond to pay the $15,000 for his private licence, and baggage handling at a more familiar environment, Nelson Airport, to get him over the $45,000 CPL obstacle.
“From the get-go, as I started working at 15, I put aside all the money to my flying account and was really strict about it,” he reflects. “All my money is only spent on flying, it’s a bit ironic because I don’t really like spending because I have such an expensive thing to spend money on. But when it’s for something like flying, which is helping me have a career, it’s not so hard.”
Twelve days after earning his new aviation stripe, Leon got his full driver’s licence on New Year’s Eve.
An 11-year-old Leon first landed in the headlines with a painting of one of Alan Beck’s helicopters fighting the Pigeon Valley Fires in 2019. And was there again in 2024 for another talent, playing guitar with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder at their Auckland show.
