Adelaide Biplanes: In the Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia

Aldinga, for some of us it means a nice southern, sandy beach or a hop along the reef. It's also part of our justifiably famous McLaren Vale wine region, embraced by the ancient Willunga hills.

Tucked away among it all is the Aldinga Airfield. It might be small but it's the scene of a grand and star-studded romance.

It's a classic country airfield and as you'd expect, the pace is pretty relaxed. There's the constant parade of student pilots practicing their "touch and go's" - that's landing without really landing. There's a myriad of aircraft types but there's also plenty of time to chill out or have a coffee and spin an aviation yarn or two.

But if you want a burst of adrenalin they can deliver that too… in a daring aerobatic flight.

Martyn Smith is Aldinga Airfield's new owner, the Chief Pilot and Managing Director but what he loves most is taking to the air and sharing his love of flying with as man eager passengers as possible.

British born Martyn is your quintessential aviation fanatic. His love of flying has seen him jetting around the world as a British commercial airline pilot and trainer for half his life.

Quite simply - he's in love with flying and that's where this strange love story really begins.

Next comes Martyn's daughter, Bonnie. At just 21 she's already an accomplished commercial pilot and she obviously shares dad's love of the blue yonder.

Enter mum, wife and co-star in our romance, Gaylene.

While Martyn and Bonnie do the flying, Gaylene runs affairs on the ground.

Together, they are Adelaide Biplanes - a new venture based at Aldinga where they share their love of the sky with anyone and everyone they can… through scenic flights, aerobatic joyrides and their new flying school.

Originally a Mount Gambier girl, Gaylene married Martyn and spent twenty-eight years in the UK. But even after all those years abroad - the draw of home was just too strong.

"The big sea change came when September the 11th happened," said Gaylene. "For us as a family it was quite shocking that Martyn was flying around the world and going to countries that were really quite dangerous. It was a realisation that Australia was probably the safest place for us to come back to."

The hunt for a new home was on and after a year searching around Australia, they found their version of 'aviation utopia'.

"We were flying around in our little light aircraft," explained Martyn. "We popped over the Willunga Hills and we saw this laid out beneath us and we just thought wow! Why are we still looking? Its here, that's what we want. We've got hills, we've got vines, we've got sea, we've got everything, so that was the end of the search."

When Martyn takes you up in one of his planes and you see the view from his office you can see why. Whether he's instructing, taking joy flights or simply flying a charter he reckons every in the sky is different.

If you want to see it all in a really special way, Martyn has the answer.

His pride and joy is a WACO - a stunning hand made half a million-dollar sports biplane that simply oozes charm. It's one of only three in Australia and it's the final part of this intriguing love story

The WACO is a modern day re-incarnation of a classic 1935 design biplane.

"As much as I love aeroplanes I would never have dreamed of going to buy this one," said Martyn. "It was Gaylene who saw it and fell in love with it and it was her that actually drove the purchase."

Gaylene describes the WACO as a beautiful, classic, stunning, sassy machine.

"It's rare in Australia and fantastic in this area," she said. "It suits this area. Someone said it's got 'shiraz' edges on it and it has!"

For me, there was only one thing to do - pull on the 'Biggles type leather helmet, climb into the cockpit and let Martyn take me for an unforgettable flight to sample the delights of the southern vales from the air.

It truly is a breathtaking experience… there's plenty of the 'wow' factor.

"Most people favour the coast," said Martyn. "But once they come up here and see the magical carpet of vines, fields and towns spread underneath them they love it."

It's romantic alright, there's room for two in the front and Martyn says the world always looks a better place through the wings of a biplane!

Try it for yourself sometime or just drop in for a cuppa and a bacon sandwich. You'll be made welcome.

For a chance to win a free flight follow the links from our Postcards website.

Adelaide Biplanes is based at the Aldinga airfield. They run scenic and aerobatic flights, a flying school, charter work and aircraft hire.

More info about Adelaide Biplanes

Adelaide Biplanes
Aldinga Airfield
Colville Road
Aldinga
Ph (08) 8556 5404
www.adelaidebiplanes.com.au