“But I thought the last thing they’d want is an old bugger like me.”
However, his skill and experience – he has flown RAF Jaguars, Hawks and Buccaneers and also flew in the first Gulf War in the early 1990s — were exactly what the team valued and Squadron Leader Harrison now flies in the number five position in the display formation.
The relaxed lifestyle, beautiful countryside and good work-life balance pulled Squadron Leader Harrison to a life in New Zealand, arriving in the country in early 2020 just as the Covid pandemic hit.
Now a regular commuter between Nelson and Manawatū, the experienced Air Force pilot is an instructor at the Central Flying School at RNZAF Base Ohakea, and is a key member of the aerobatic team, the Black Falcons.
For a variety of reasons, he never applied to join the RAF’s equivalent the Red Arrows, however Squadron Leader Harrison discovered that young instructors here were mostly required to fly the “frontline aircraft”, leaving a small unit of older and experienced instructors to fill core positions on the aerobatic team.
“I was lucky enough in 2024 to be selected – there are just two of us in the current team with previous experience and that was a deliberate decision in order to retain experience.
