They flew their first solo flights at the age of 16 and this week Sevi Rust, Isaac O'Kell and Erin Carter will represent Tauranga in the National Flying Competitions.

The three young Tauranga pilots are making their stamp in the aviation industry – early – by all qualifying for the upcoming nationals in Tauranga on February 20-22.

Young pilots - Sevi Rust, Erin Carter and Isaac O'Kell. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Hosted by Tauranga Aero Club, it's the first time the competition has been held at Tauranga Airport in about 20 years, says club supporter and competition judge Aidan Campbell.

'The opportunity to host is very exciting for the club; I'm not sure of the exact date, but it's a good 20 years or so since it was last here.”

About 70 qualifiers from regional competitions in November will compete in the three-day event.

Among Tauranga's 18 or so entrants, are Sevi, Isaac and Erin – who have all received scholarships in the last two years from Flying NZ and are interested in a future in aviation.

'We're pretty rapt with the young ones, just because of their age and the fact all three of them qualified,” says Aidan.

Sevi is most looking forward to seeing who his competition is and trying to do the best he can.

'I'm excited for the prize giving, and just to see what the day's like. Hopefully there won't be much wind. I'm feeling okay about it, but I don't want to be too confident.”

Many young pilots end up with careers in the aviation industry, and that's where Erin hopes to be.

'I plan to do commercial piloting for a commercial airline, perhaps for Air New Zealand. It's a really good opportunity for travel; that's a perk of the job.”

All three students experienced their first solo flight last year. Isaac says the experience was 'pretty crazy”.

'At first I was really nervous but then it was all good. Once I took off it was sweet, it's hard to describe. But you can't feel the person who is normally sitting next to you, and that was weird.”

The competition is mostly for recreational pilots and includes formation flying, aerobatics, navigation, landing competitions, and more. This year Australia's national team will also compete.