IT'S a bittersweet experience when Adrian Nisbet takes to the skies to fly seriously ill children to their place of care.
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But while not all of these stories have a happy ending it's the journey Mr Nisbet feels honoured to be a part of.
The Sydney pilot flew into the Royal Newcastle Aeroclub, at Rutherford, on Tuesday to help launch Little Wings, a service providing free flights from remote areas for children with life-threatening illnesses.
"It can be quite emotional being part of something like this because the experiences are very up and down and occasionally you get some really bad news and that's hard to deal with," Mr Nisbet said.
"But you also get to see the joy on the children's little faces when they get to ride in the helicopter because they think it's a great adventure, which is great."
Little Wings will also use a $50,000 grant from the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation to shuttle young patients and their carers from the airport to the John Hunter Hospital.
Mayor of Maitland Peter Blackmore said: "I know the people of Maitland will be very, very supportive of this service and I thank the Royal Newcastle Aeroclub sincerely for their part in this."
The new Little Wings flight program will provide 50 free flights from patients' homes to the Royal Newcastle Aeroclub, linked by the new van to the John Hunter Hospital.
"The Little Wings mission is to provide a free, safe, professional and high-quality flight service for children from rural and regional NSW suffering from serious illnesses to access specialised medical services," Little Wings managing director Richelle Koller said.
