WONZ 343 – Flying Boat Month – Paul Dalley
From The Wings Over New Zealand Show by Dave Homewood
January 31, 2026 · 3h 53m
About this episode
Paul Dalley shares his aviation adventures and experiences as a flying boat pilot.
Guest: Paul Dalley, aka Seaplane Paul Hosts: Dave Homewood Recorded: 10th of January 2026 Released: 1st of February 2026 Duration: 3 hour 52 minutes 49 seconds In this extra-length Wings Over New Zealand Show “Flying Boat Month” episode Dave Homewood speaks with Paul Dalley, who grew up with aviation around him thanks to his grandfather Ian Henry, a well-known propeller maker. Paul talks about learning to fly, his adventures flying his Piper Cub in Japan while running a language school there, and flying air displays there with fellow Kiwi pilot Robert Fry and others. He talks about flying in Australia where he’d planned to buy a tourism flying business and how things changed. And flying in Papua New Guinea. And then he ended up purchasing a Lake Buccaneer in New Zealand and he took it up to Vanuatu and achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a flying boat pilot in the Pacific, just like Jake Cutter in one of his favourite childhood television shows, Tales of the Gold Monkey , and the 1992 film Porco Rosso . Paul has some wonderful adventure stories and ells of some seriously scary moments in the air, in Japan and in the…
People in this episode
Host: Dave Homewood
Guest: Paul Dalley
Topics covered
- flying boats
- aviation adventures
- seaplane flying
- Pacific flying
- air displays
- personal stories
Keywords
- flying boat
- aviation
- Piper Cub
- Lake Buccaneer
- air displays
- Japan
- Vanuatu
- adventure stories
- seaplane
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Tales of the Gold Monkey, Porco Rosso
Places: Japan, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Vanuatu
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