Boys want to be pilots, girls want to be flight attendants? Rachel Button left that old-fashioned stereotype for dust! Her goal was only ever to be firmly in the driving seat. From accompanying her dad on his flights all over Canterbury when she was a child, to solo White Island tours – this Rotorua-based pilot shares a story of her childhood dream coming true.
When did you decide you wanted to be a pilot?
I always wanted to fly. In high school, I took a couple of lessons on a plane. I guess I expected it to be the most amazing thing in the world but surprisingly… it wasn’t! And after five or ten hours I thought, ‘Damn, is this really what I want to do?’ Then I went on a helicopter flight with my dad and it was way cooler than a plane. I went that way and trained to become a helicopter pilot in Christchurch. It took me just under a year. When I got my first job in Taupō, it was time to say good bye to Canterbury, where I grew up.
And how did you end up in Rotorua?
In Taupō I worked with Tim Barrow, who then bought Volcanic Air in Rotorua and invited me to join the team. That was three years ago. Since then I’ve been taking tourists to White Island and Mount Tarawera – the home to one of New Zealand’s largest eruptions. We have exclusive landings on Mount Tarawera; pretty exciting! And being a pilot and a guide at the same time, I’ve become quite an expert in these areas. We also do flights around the town and local lakes, and can bring people from Auckland to Rotorua or to nearby lodges – Huka Lodge in Taupō, for example.
What do you like most about living in this area?
Being close to everything! You can get to Taupō, Tauranga, Auckland in an hour or so. I’m really into paddle boarding and we have so many lakes right by our doorstep. I also love hiking and can jump into the hills at any time. Compare it to Canterbury, where you have to drive an hour to reach a good mountain biking spot, or even more to find a lake for paddle boarding. Canterbury is my home, but being such an outdoor person, I enjoy my life in Rotorua.
Do you work all year round?
I only do summers with Volcanic Air and in winter I explore new destinations. This year a really good friend of mine invited me to Canada, where he was crop spraying with the helicopter. I hadn’t done anything like that before and didn’t have a clue what to do! But he promised it would be fun so I grabbed another friend of mine and went over. That’s how three New Zealanders ended up spraying crops in Saskatchewan. And it was really cool! I was literally in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny town of 120 people with massive farms, flying all alone above the flat fields. It was such a different experience from being with people the whole day.
How challenging is it when people are afraid of flying?
We do group tours and sometimes get people who don’t like flying. They suddenly want to go back when we’re already half way to White Island. But we can’t! There are five more tourists on board who have also paid for the tour and expect to see the volcano today. We talk to them, keep them relaxed and comfortable. That’s what makes the job exciting!
You get to see the world from a different angle. What was the most memorable place you saw from above?
I will never forget the views of Mount Ngauruhoe in Tongariro! On the South Island, we have those rugged mountains, like Arthur’s Pass, where I was flying with my dad. But here you suddenly see this picture-perfect stratovolcano. And then Mount Ruapehu with the crater lake. They look incredible on a clear sunny day, although they are equally spectacular in winter, with all the snow. Mountains in New Zealand are so beautiful – not surprisingly, our country is known for them!
Are there a lot of female helicopter pilots in New Zealand?
There are three of us working at Volcanic Air. When you go to a conference or training, you might still be the only woman with a hundred male pilots but there are definitely more and more women coming into aviation.
Do you also do the maintenance?
Usually aviation engineers carry out the maintenance and any repairs. Of course, you still have to fuel the helicopter and do pre-flight checks in the morning to make sure everything is in order. Being a pilot is mostly about flying and working with people.
How can one start a career in aviation?
It can be quite hard to get into this field but if you’re really focused, you just have to make it happen! To begin with, take lessons with an instructor so you’re not intimidated by the other pilots at training school. It’ll also help you understand if it’s really something you want to do. Trust me, it’s pretty awesome once you get flying. You get to see amazing places that you’ll never see just driving around.
