{"id":240444,"date":"2026-01-19T02:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240444\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T02:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:40:10","slug":"from-fighter-jets-to-mauao-swim-air-new-zealand-pilots-70th-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240444\/","title":{"rendered":"From fighter jets to Mauao swim: Air New Zealand pilot\u2019s 70th milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although he\u2019s swum around Mauao before, the birthday milestone idea was sparked by a recent achievement made by one of his two sons, well-known NZ comedian Rhys Mathewson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ran the New York Marathon, and I thought, \u2018Well, if he can do that, I can train up and swim around the Mount on my 70th\u2019,\u201d Mathewson said.<\/p>\n

50 years in the clouds <\/p>\n

It was a fitting way to celebrate retirement. He finished up with Air New Zealand on December 18 after 30 years with the airline, following 20 years flying fighter jets with the Air Force.<\/p>\n

Mathewson joined the Air Force University Cadet scheme at 18 and subsequently gained his Air Force wings in 1978. While his career coincided with a relatively quiet international period, he flew in what was then New Zealand\u2019s offensive air combat force. \u201cWe trained for combat,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was our role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" John Mathewson in the cockpit of Fighter Jets NZ\u2019s L39 Albatross. Photo \/ David Hall<\/p>\n

During his service, New Zealand had the option of sending fighter aircraft to support the Gulf War but ultimately chose not to deploy them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was just the way it went,\u201d Mathewson said. \u201cWe were ready to be involved, but those decisions are made at a government level.\u201d<\/p>\n

He trained at bases including Wigram and Ohakea, completed overseas postings in Australia and Malaysia, and flew Skyhawk fighter jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also commanded a Skyhawk squadron in Australia,\u201d he said. \u201cThose were standout years. The Skyhawk was our fighter, we were going to replace it with the F-16s, but the deal was cancelled and Air Combat Force disbanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Career highlight<\/p>\n

He said four years of display flying in the A4 Skyhawk were a career highlight. He also flew and instructed on the Northrop F-5E and F-5F Tiger with the Royal Malaysian Air Force for two years.<\/p>\n

\" Captain John Mathewson with his A320 flight crew just before his last flight with Air NZ, flying Adelaide to Auckland. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Transitioning into commercial aviation with Air New Zealand, Mathewson flew both short-haul and long-haul routes in Friendships \u201cback in the day\u201d, as well as 737s, A320s, and eight years on Boeing 777 aircraft.<\/p>\n

He moved to Tauranga from Auckland in 2015 as part of what he calls an \u201cadvanced retirement plan\u201d, drawn by friendships with good mates like two well-known former policemen, Peter Blackwell and Greg Turner, the beach, and the outdoor lifestyle including rounds of golf at Mount Golf Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I like doing is here,\u201d he said. \u201cI love the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" John Mathewson with Fighter Jets NZ\u2019s L39 Albatross at Classic Flyers. Photo \/ David Hall<\/p>\n

Now retired, he swims, cycles, goes to the gym and plays golf \u2013 a game he has enjoyed since he was 8 years old.<\/p>\n

Gym, swim, or spin <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you spend 20 years in the air force, especially doing fighter flying, you have to be pretty fit for that kind of flying. I\u2019ve stayed fit, and, of course, work gets in the way, but now work\u2019s not in the way, so I\u2019ll do something every day, whether it\u2019s gym, swim, or spin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathewson also flies for pleasure, piloting L-39 jet aircraft with Fighter Jets NZ at Tauranga Airport and said he had no intention of giving up flying altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe L39 operation at Fighter Jets is top shelf. All our passengers love the experience, and it is quite neat to see the big smile on their faces when they hop out of the jet.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his wife, Linda, Mathewson is planning an \u201ceternal summer\u201d, splitting time between New Zealand and the United Kingdom each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although he\u2019s swum around Mauao before, the birthday milestone idea was sparked by a recent achievement made by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[141549,68,665,109555,9459,128955,177,19102,33842,71,141550,33843,5126,141551,80560,3259,3025,117,111,43,139,69,384,81,110848,61,102,80],"class_list":["post-240444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-70th","tag-air","tag-around","tag-birthdays","tag-cake","tag-candles","tag-celebrate","tag-chose","tag-fighter","tag-from","tag-jc","tag-jets","tag-john","tag-mathewson","tag-mauao","tag-milestone","tag-most","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-people","tag-pilots","tag-swim","tag-to","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}