Doug Whitbourn is in his 10th year supervising Kilmore Primary School children to cross the road safely, but for 54 years prior he had an exciting career in aviation, piloting parliamentarians, Saudi Arabian royalty, and mega-stars such as Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Mr Whitbourn was raised in Melbourne’s outer northern suburb Ivanhoe, where he attended the local primary school.
Secondary school was a combination of the then-Macleod High School and Beaufort Higher Elementary School before he finished up in Year 10, after deciding to follow his father’s footsteps into banking.
His first employer was the Savings Bank of Victoria in Balwyn as a Junior Clerk and Bank Teller. During his employment, he took a trial instructional flight at Moorabbin Airport in a Tiger Moth circa 1936, and was ‘blown away.’
Mr Whitbourn signed up at the Royal Victorian Aero Club in Moorabbin, which he could get to quickly on his Lambretta scooter.
By the age of 22, Mr Whitbourn was a qualified commercial pilot and flight instructor. One of his early passengers was Victoria’s 38th Premier Henry Bolte.
In 1972, the Republic of Nauru advertised for captains and first officers based in Melbourne to operate the Fokker F28 Fellowship, an aircraft that was purchased for the newly established airline Air Nauru, to fly over Australia, Nauru, and the Central Pacific Islands.
Mr Whitbourn was appointed First Officer, and was promoted to Captain the following year where he was told by their Chief Pilot that he was ‘the youngest commercial jet captain in Australia at the time.’
He spent 16 years flying over the Pacific for the company, operating different aircraft, including a F28, Boeing 737, and Boeing 727.
In 1988, he was hired by Emirates, Dubai, as Senior Check and Training Captain B727, and flew the Airbus A310-300 and Airbus A300-600R over their vast network.
Mr Whitbourn spent eight years with Emirates before returning to Gisborne, Victoria, in 1997, where him and his wife had purchased a property from Susan Irvine, one of Australia’s best-known rosarians.
Over five years the couple restored the property, and it became one of the best-known rose gardens in Victoria. It even attracted the attention of Australia’s Home Beautiful magazine, and was featured in their June 1998 edition.
Later, Mr Whitbourn and his wife joined Australia’s Open Garden Scheme, attracting up to 800 visitors to their home each weekend.
During their second year in Gisborne, Mr Whitbourn applied for a position as a Captain Boeing 727 to pilot Saudi Arabian Prince and entrepreneur Al-Waleed bin Talal.
A week later, Mr Whitbourn received a call from a gentleman who introduced himself as ‘Director of Flight Operations,’ and an interview was arranged.
Needless to say, Mr Whitbourn was offered the position, and he flew the Prince all around the world.
In June, 2001, Mr Whitbourn was flying one of the most powerful Saudis in the world, Sheikh Fahad. He flew the Sheikh and his family all over the world for eight years.
In 2009, Mr Whitbourn returned home and thought he might retire, but was wrong. He instead flew as Captain Embraer Legacy for Southern Cross Airlines based at Essendon Airport, Melbourne, for the next 18 months, flying world leaders and celebrities including American singer Katy Perry and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2012, Mr Whitbourn went on to taking commuters to the mines in northwest Queensland, and took tour groups of people around Australia for Bill Peach Journeys.
In February, 2014, Mr Whitbourn took his last flight into Brisbane with over 23,000 flying hours in his logbook. It was time to retire.
His daughter encouraged him to move to Kilmore, and shortly after settling, Mr Whitbourn saw an advertisement for a position as a School Crossing Supervisor at Kilmore Primary School.
He applied and was successful, the job his new priority.
“Safety is my main concern. I have a great affinity with all who use the crossing, the motorists, most of whom do the right thing, and the police who give me a wave. Everyday, I enjoy going to work, spending an hour in the morning and afternoon doing something I love,” he said.
“There are about 600 students at the school. I would say I had about 300 kids to get across the road safely. They had a special day for all the kids to walk to school and the Principal led the team, and they had them all coming down from everywhere. The Principal looked at me and said ‘Doug, thank you very much’. That was my most memorable day.”
Beyond the crossing, Mr Whitbourn is also an avid writer, and is currently working on his latest memoir.
“I’m going to try to get down to Melbourne during the September school holidays to find a publisher,” he said.
