16 Year Old Organises Huge Charity Event for Rescue Helicopter Trust
Tuesday 2 March 2010, 8:12AM
By World Flight
493 views
Seventeen Kiwi celebs will captain jetliner flights in April and the co-pilot seats are being auctioned off to the public. The catch is that the jetliner they're flying won't leave the ground - it's a simulator flight and it’s all for charity.
Key Event Details:
When: 3rd, 4th; 10th, 11th of April
Where: Flight Experience in Takapuna, North Shore
Who is organising: 16 Year old Lewis Simmons
Recipient Charity: Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust
The event is the idea of 16 year old aviation enthusiast Lewis Simmons of King's College, who's love aviation since his toddler years. Ran in 2009, Lewis and his team managed to raise in excess of $6000 for the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and are hoping for a higher tally for this year's event.
The seventeen participants are: Renee Wright, Dai Henwood, Beth Allen, Ido Drent, Pippa Wetzell, Andrew Mulligan, Rodney Hide, Jono Pryor, Bryce Casey, Mike Puru, Toni Street, Paul Ego, Jeremy Corbett, Neil Waka, Roger Farrelly, Miriama Kamo and Clinton Randell.
Auctions are currently live on Sella.co.nz where the public can bid for the co-pilot seats in each flight. More celebrities will be added to the line-up over the next week and their auctions will go live when their time slot is confirmed.
“The winning bidder and the celebrity will each perform at least one take-off and landing each. After that anything goes! We’ll take them to places like Paris, London and the infamous Hong Kong” says Lewis.
“You can do barrel rolls or land with next to no visibility and gusting winds – there are endless possibilities”.
Private simulator flights are also up for auction where the winning bidder will not have a celebrity captain. These flights can all be purchased for a buy now of $200 which is a 20% discount on normal pricing. All of the proceeds from these flights will also go to charity.
Items such as a $200 The Rock pack, an ultimate Shortland Street fan pack and a day in the ZM Black Thunder vehicles are also up for auction along with the t-shirt from the 2009 that was signed by all the participants, including Prime Minister John Key.
People who simply want to donate to the worthy cause can also purchase donations on the Sella website or via the WorldFlight NZ website at www.worldflight.co.nz.
WorldFlight NZ is a charity event that was initiated in 2008 by (then) 14 year old Lewis Simmons. The event first took place in 2009 with John Key and others as participants. The event has since grown with interest from companies in Australia where a future event looks imminent.