This week our Aviation Sales Manager Gerald Harrex sat down with expert TracMap user Bryan Beck, discussing his 52 year career as a pilot.
Bryan is the former owner of Beck Aviation and now flies for Heli-Farm Limited, based in Clinton. He’s clocked an incredible 25,000 hours in the air has has been using TracMap since 2006. We were proud to hear he still rates TracMap as his stand-out GPS aviation and job management system of choice.
Bryan’s inaugural training flight was at the Taieri Airfield back in 1967 where he first flew fixed-wing aircraft. He has since spent 11,000 hours flying a variety of fixed-wing models over the course of his career. His first job was for Central Aviation as a topdressing pilot, spending 6 months in Mossburn, 10 years in Naseby and 10 years in Alexandra before coming back to where it all began. Returning to the Taieri, Bryan founded Beck Aviation just south of Dunedin, providing rescue, agricultural and fire services to the surrounding region.
Beck Aviation specialised in both fixed-wing and helicopter services, with well renowned pilot Graeme Gale initially training with Bryan. Bryan then started Helicopters Otago (now Heli Otago), which Graeme took over in 1995 and has since built up to be one of the largest helicopter operations in New Zealand. In more recent years, Bryan flew for Central South Island Helicopters, before joining Heli-Farm.
In 1980 Bryan was first offered the chance to fly helicopters and is grateful for the many opportunities this afforded him. It was a difficult decision at the time, as when the offer arose, he had only just purchased his first plane, a Fletcher Mike Alpha nicknamed EMA. It ended up being a welcome switch, with Bryan’s helicopter jobs making up well over half of his flying time and providing him with what have become his career highlights.
Bryan has had many unique experiences over the years. From working in Antarctica to landing mid-pitch at Carisbrook for the Bledisloe Cup. Flying helicopters in Campbell Island, MacQuarie Island and South Georgia are stand-out moments in Bryan’s career, aiding the recovery of these islands to remove the impacts of human activity.
“TracMap is by far the best system we’ve ever used.”
– Bryan Beck to TracMap Aviation Sales Manager Gerald Harrex
In his 25,000 hours of flying time, Bryan has piloted a wide variety of aircraft, for numerous services and applications, trialling many new systems and technology along the way. As an avid TracMap user and supporter, Bryan told us TracMap is the best GPS aviation system he has ever used. The team at TracMap congratulate Bryan on his legendary time in the sky and thank him for his long service to the aviation industry.
