Andrew Kube inherited a love of planes from his father, a flying padre.
Story Katrina Weatherly Photos Georgie Mann
In the family archives, there’s a photo of Andrew Kube with his siblings, perched on the wing of a plane, squinting into a dazzling sun. Planes have been a presence throughout Andrew’s life, a tradition in the family, with Andrew and his 2 brothers all flying aircraft. There are few areas of Australia Andrew hasn’t viewed from up high.
His dad Don Kube grew up on the family farm near Jeparit, Vic, when they still used horses. His secondary schooling was at Nhill where the RAAF base, with its endless planes overhead, captured the young boy’s imagination.
In later years Don qualified as a commercial pilot, studied for the ministry, and was a flying padre with the Uniting Church’s Frontier Services, initially with the Murchison Patrol at Meekatharra, WA, and later the McKay Patrol out of Cloncurry and Mount Isa.
Andrew remembers flights with his dad to collect chickens from Mount Gambier. “There were boxes of 100-day-old chickens chirping in the back,” he says. “As we got higher the chirping grew quieter!”
This story excerpt is from Issue #153
Outback Magazine: Feb/Mar 2024
