Jed Joven

Grade 2 Instructor

Jed grew up right next to the international airport at Cebu in the Philippines. When he saw an aircraft’s lights on final approach, he’d hop on his bike and rush to the airport fence to see the landing. He caught the aviation bug at a very early age, and also spent many hours on flight sims.

After moving to Melbourne at age 16, Jed spent as much time flying on weekends as he could whilst finishing high school, and then went on to complete the Swinburne aviation program where he obtained a degree in aviation. He loves the dynamic environment that being a flight instructor offers, and the fact that he gets to teach what he loves most.

8 years into his pilot career and as a flight instructor, Jed loves teaching others about what he loves most, and his future career aspirations include becoming a cargo pilot and/or flying turbo-props around the Philippines.

Brett Martin

Grade 3 Instructor

Grade 3 LTF Instructor Brett Martin was born and raised on the Mornington Peninsula, a beautiful coastal area south-west of Melbourne that he’s now lucky enough to fly over as part of his job!

After completing a Trial Introductory Flight at Tyabb Airport, Brett was immediately hooked – and once he had begun his studies to become a pilot, he simply couldn’t see himself doing anything else for a career. He hopes to work towards becoming a Grade 1 Flight Instructor, and would one day love to be flying airliners.

From Brett: “The part of flying I love the most is the feeling of freedom once you leave the ground. It’s something that will never ever get old.”

Kenny Won

Grade 3 Instructor

Grade 3 LTF Instructor Kenny Won is originally from Korea and grew up in Hong Kong, and was fascinated by planes from a young age. He still clearly remembers a visit to the cockpit of an Airbus A320 during a flight when he was about 7 or 8 years old, and making the decision that this was what he wanted to do in the future.

Kenny started flying in 2017 in the USA, and obtained his PPL training part time whilst also studying at University. Following Uni, he returned to Hong Kong and worked in another industry for a couple of years before a career in the sky called to him.

He came to Australia and completed his CPL and Flight Instructor Rating with us here at LTF in 2019, and we’re now thrilled to welcome him back as an Instructor. Kenny’s ultimate goal is flying with an international airline.

Nicholas Perrett

Student Recruitment Manager

Nicholas Perrett grew up in Brisbane and his first involvement with aviation was using his pocket money to buy a LEGO Airport set when he was 12 years old. Living under one of the Brisbane Airport flight paths, he often looked up in wonder at these giant engineering marvels cruising overhead and got his first taste of flying on a Qantas Mystery Flight to Sydney in a Boeing B767.

Nicholas studied commercial photography at Griffith University before taking on a career in property valuations that saw him travel extensively throughout Australia. Some 20 years later he has revisited his early interest in aviation and is currently studying a Bachelor Degree in Aviation Management, whilst also taking on the role of Student Recruitment Manager at LTF.

As well as looking forward to working with our student pilots, Nicholas hopes to start flying himself and achieve his own Private Pilot Licence in the near future. His long term career ambitions include working with a major airline like Qantas in a high-level management role or to procure the next generation of their aircraft fleet.

Stephen Kong

Training Manager | Grade 1 Instructor

Grade 1 Flight Instructor Stephen Kong was born in Malaysia and grew up in Melbourne with a fascination for planes and aviation. He has been flying since 2013 and completed his flight training right here at Moorabbin Airport.

After completing his training, Stephen spent a number of years working as a Flight Instructor at Moorabbin. His instructor role saw him heavily involved in the training of airline cadets before he eventually joined a major Asian airline himself as a pilot.

As a pilot, Stephen loves the unique views of the world he gets to see from above. He’s looking forward to working with student pilots again, and we are thrilled to have his extensive aviation experience here at Learn To Fly.

Darren McPherson

Training Consultant

Senior Captain Darren McPherson has over 30 years and 18,000 hours of flying experience. Starting his career as an aero club boy, Darren is a great example of what can be achieved through perseverance and dedication.

His experience as an aviation career specialist has helped countless pilots to achieve their dreams of flying for major airlines around the world. We are extremely lucky to have his wealth of knowledge on board here at Learn To Fly as a highly valuable associate consultant.

Sarah Steele

Principal Executive Officer

Sarah Steele joins Learn To Fly as our Principal Executive Officer, she grew up in Townsville Queensland and was drawn to aviation through a love of maths and physics, as well as the fact that it looked like a fun and exciting career path.

Sarah obtained her CPL in 2012, adding a Multi-Engine Command Instrument Rating (MECIR) in 2018, and lists flying charters over to the islands off Townsville in a twin-engine Piper Chieftain as being some of her favourite moments in her pilot career so far.

As a previous IFR Charter Pilot, flying Chieftains in North Queensland, Sarah is passionate about supporting students throughout their study at Learn To Fly and providing career advice on their next step after graduating.

Joshua Best

Student Training Manager | Grade 1 Instructor

Josh started his flying training at age 16 but was born with aviation in his blood. He remembers flying around the Victorian Gippsland region in Cessna 172s with his grandfather as a small child, as well as regular trips to some of the larger airports to watch the “big planes” coming and going.

As a Flight Instructor, Josh loves the fact that every day there is something different to teach. He’s also a big fan of the fact that typically, every customer or student leaves with a smile on their face after flying.

Whilst Josh would one day love to fly in a domestic passenger transport role, his ultimate goal is to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Nick Harris

Head of Operations | Grade 1 Instructor

Originally from London, Senior Base Pilot and Grade 1 Flight Instructor Nick Harris has been flying for over 12 years. He tells us that it “seemed like a good idea at the time” to become a pilot, but we think that maybe it had more to do with growing up watching the Concorde take off over his house (um, that’s pretty awesome).

As an instructor, Nick loves seeing how excited students get after their first solo, or after passing their flight test.

He hopes to one day fly a Tiger Moth around Australia – and in fact, he’s actually building one at the moment to do just that!

Luke Wu

Flight Training Consultant

Luke Wu grew up in Singapore, where he obtained his Diploma in Aviation Management and Services before getting his Bachelor in Aviation Management (Hons) from Massey University in New Zealand. As a student, Luke always enjoyed delving into the inner workings of the aviation industry, understanding the many layers that encompass what we now see as a commonplace occurrence. 

Since moving to Melbourne with his wife and 3 dogs in 2022, Luke has rekindled his interest in working in the aviation sector whilst building on his passion for out-of-classroom teaching methods and student welfare management. Luke wants to help students realise their dream of becoming pilots, especially those from countries with more limited General Aviation opportunities.

Shuntai Tan

Singapore Flight Training Consultant

Shuntai Tan is our Learn To Fly Flight Training Consultant in Singapore. He initially completed his flight training here with us in Melbourne back in 2017, before returning home to Singapore.

Since his return, Shuntai has worked with us to help promote aviation in Singapore and to educate fellow Singaporeans on how to fulfil their dreams of becoming a pilot.

In his Flight Training Consultant role, he is able to provide valuable advice to future Singaporean pilots that are thinking about a career in aviation, or just wanting to fly for fun. Shuntai can assist you in organising both theory training onshore in Singapore and flight training in Australia.

If you are based in Singapore and you are thinking about learning to fly, get in touch with Shuntai by email [email protected]/en.

Roshan Thomas

Flight Training Consultant

Roshan Thomas is from Chennai in India. As a youngster, his godfather (who still works for Lufthansa) would take him to the airport to see the big Lufthansa Boeing B747s and Airbus A340s, and Roshan decided then and there that he wanted to be the guy flying those one day.

Starting his flight training journey in Australia in 2018, Roshan amassed more than 350 flying hours and mastered 4 different aircraft types (Diamond DA40, Diamond DA42, Sling 2 and Super Decathlon). He also completed 7 Licences/Endorsements/Ratings including PPL, CPL, MECIR, Formation Flying Endorsement, Tailwheel Endorsement, and the Aerobatics & Spinning Endorsement – all of them with us here at Learn To Fly.

Now back in India, Roshan is looking forward to being able to help and guide Indian pilots wanting to complete their flight training with LTF in Australia and successfully meet DGCA requirements on their return. He hopes to one day work in a senior management pilot role flying widebody aircraft with a major international carrier.