Te Anau helicopter pilot and third generation writer Rod Hall-Jones has just published his first book titled You’ll never make it – a New Zealand pilot’s story, an autobiography describing his many missions, adventures and a few near-misses of his flying career.

Not only did Hall-Jones “make it” against the chief flying instructor of the Southland Aero Club’s acerbic prediction, but he went on to become a very successful pilot, well respected among the flying fraternity.

Having started his flying career in small aeroplanes, and later becoming a flying instructor, Hall-Jones switched to helicopters in 1977 at the age of 28 and never looked back. 

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He cut his teeth in venison recovery days flying in Fiordland’s mountainous terrain in its notoriously unpredictable weather conditions that can go “from diabolical to showing patches of blue sky in the space of 30 minutes”, according to Hall-Jones. It’s this school of hard knocks that landed him a job with Jacques Cousteau, when they were filming around the south coast of New Zealand and their American pilot could not handle Fiordland conditions.

He worked on Cousteau’s boat Calypso, flying “Felix” the N-102CS helicopter for six years between 1986-1992 in, among other places, New Zealand, Australia, central Europe, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Rod Hall-Jones returned to New Zealand to his beloved Fiordland, where he still lives and continues to fly helicopters. Reflecting on the dangers of flying in his book, he says: “In this game you should never stop learning, for to do so leads to premature death.”

Having been asked by many to write a book about his adventures, Hall-Jones decided to bite the bullet and have a go at it, but the process was painful and slow, dragging on for six years, until one day the words just started to pour out. Rod Hall-Jones has “made it” again.

The book You’ll never make it – a New Zealand pilot’s story came off the press at Craigs Design & Print in Invercargill on 22nd of October 2020. There was no official book launch; the author just started selling the books at the Labour Weekend market.

Books can be purchased online from Craigs or at Paper Plus Te Anau for $45.

Rod Hall-Jones pictured with 'Felix' in 1990.