A new aircraft at the North Otago Aero Club has brought an increase in training demand from future pilots.
The club bought an ICP Savannah S in January and it has been operating since February.
It is smaller than the club’s other plane, a Cessna 172, and burns a lot less fuel.
This has allowed the club to drop the price of flying by $50 an hour which has contributed to the increase in demand, North Otago Aero Club chief flight instructor Sven Thelning said.
"It’s been a real success.
"It’s very fun, easy to fly, very controllable."
The demand has risen so much that the club is looking into hiring a third instructor.
Mr Thelning and senior flight instructor Holly Lyttle are the two instructors at the club.
The new plane also allows them to expand upon what they are able to do.
"We’re probably going to use it more for landing in paddocks and things, which it’s really good for.
"It’s particularly good [as a] short take-off and landing machine, which is why it expanded what we can do," he said.
It cost about $220,000. The club received a mix of grants and loans as well as leftover funds from the sale of an old plane two decades ago, Mr Thelning said.
"It had just been sitting there, not actually achieving anything, in [the club’s] bank account, so it was better to put it back into another aircraft."
