Flying high for respect

By Owen Sinclair

Apr 28, 2025

You hear it before you see them: the resounding hum of aircraft motors, growing louder and louder as they approach.

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A moment later, they appear from behind the tops of trees in the air, arranged in a tight triangle, or perhaps a diamond.

If you’ve attended an Anzac Day service in the Cobram district any time during the last six years, chances are you’ve witnessed such a flyover.

It might have been a formation of three or four light aircraft flying low and in formation. Or, as at the dawn service in Cobram this year, it may have been a solitary plane at cruising speed.

But Tocumwal Airport pilots Jamie Mitchell, Matt Loffler, Mark Fraser, John Williams, Dick Gower and Harry Baker aren’t in it for the accolades.

“We do it because we love flying, but also because we love to pay our respects to our elders who gave us this privilege,” Mr Williams said.

For the group of men, completing the flyovers is an honour, and they refuse to charge Anzac Day organisers for their time and fuel.

Instead, the pilots do it all out of the goodness of their hearts.

Riding high, the flyover at the Cobram Secondary College service. Photo by Owen Sinclair

“It’s all about respect for our forefathers who died to give us the freedom to fly like we have done today,” Mr Williams said.

The week leading up to and including Anzac Day is a busy one for the team.

Their preparation and timing come to a head for just a few brief, but powerful, moments, as their Cessnas and Piper Warrior aircrafts pass the ceremonies below.

“For whatever reason, when you are over the top of a ceremony, it’s a very emotional situation, understanding what it’s for, on Anzac Day,” Mr Loffler said.

“It’s an iconic thing that, we think, is something we can do for somebody else.”

Flying in formation is no simple task.

With mere metres of airspace separating the wing tips of the aircraft, the pilots can’t afford to lose focus for a second.

Add that to a set of unpredictable winds, flying birds and the schedule of the ceremonies occurring below, and you’re some way towards understanding the skill involved in pulling off the flyovers.

One of the group’s most experienced pilots, Mr Baker, has taught pilots how to fly for more than 40 years.

He is one of two instructors, alongside Mr Gower, to have taught the younger pilots the art of flying in formation, and was proud of the younger pilots in staying in formation.

“They’ve done a very good job. They’ve certainly listened to what Dick and I have told them, and they’re very good at it, all of them,” Mr Baker said.

Before Anzac Day proper, the team completed a flyover for a service at Cobram Secondary College on Thursday, April 24.

Mr Williams doesn’t envisage anything changing, especially when it comes to getting young people involved in Anzac Day services and witnessing a flyover.

“I’ll continue to do what I’ve done today and yesterday for Kimberley [Tempest, Cobram Secondary College principal], while I’ve got a licence to fly and while I’ve got a breath in my body,” Mr Williams said.