When film producers were looking for a pilot to fly a Percival Proctor Mark One plane like the one aviation pioneer Jean Batten flew for a film about her life, they found another aviation pioneer to do it. Guy Clapshaw has flown almost every kind of aircraft - from World War Two jet fighters to Fox Moths and 747 Jumbo Jets.
And he owns a plane that is almost identical to the one Jean Batten used to become the first person to make a direct flight from England to New Zealand. The 80th anniversary of that flight is next week.
Guy Clapshaw writes about his long and career flying for Air New Zealand, from the days when human beings did the navigation with the help of computers, not the other way around, to the era of the jumbo jet.
His book is called Tasman Echo Alpha.
Guy Clapshaw Photo: supplied
