NameHockey, PaulOccupationQantas EngineerPlace of ResidenceShellharbour VillageBiographyPaul Hockey was born at Port Kembla in September 1945 and lived with his parents and Grandparents at 6 Addison St, Shellharbour until he was two years old, at which time they moved to the family home at 75 Wentworth St, Shellharbour.
Paul attended Shellharbour Public School and then Kiama High School. Although Paul’s family had strong ties to the fishing industry, his grandfather and great-grandfather were professional fishermen at Shellharbour. Paul loved aircraft and would follow the local aircraft with keen interest, often riding his pushbike from Shellharbour to the airport at Albion Park to watch the aircraft flying.
School vocational guidance discussions revealed he would be suited to maintenance in the aviation industry. As there was no opportunity to pursue this locally, he applied for an apprenticeship with Qantas in Sydney.
This involved five years training at Mascot as well as attending Sydney Technical College at Ultimo. Living in Sydney during the week with relatives, Paul would rush to Central to catch the 5 pm train to Wollongong on a Friday night so that he could be home for the weekend. During his apprenticeship, Paul was given the opportunity to represent Qantas at the 1967 Apprenticeship Week display at Wollongong Town Hall.
After completing his training at Mascot, Paul was posted to Brisbane, Darwin and Perth, then, after further training in Sydney and Auckland, he was stationed in Fiji for five years. During this time in Fiji, as well as servicing Qantas aircraft at Nadi airport, Paul carried out the duties of travelling engineer on Air New Zealand DC8 aircraft travelling from Nadi to Pago Pago in American Samoa. As Pago Pago was a remote airfield, Paul was required to refuel and service the aircraft alone. This task was carried out on over 100 occasions.
In 1974 Paul returned to Australia and was based in Melbourne for the next 29 years. During this time Paul’s work while based in Melbourne saw him servicing Qantas and other airline’s aircraft. This consisted of inspecting aircraft for defects such as leaks, checking to ensure that the tyres were serviceable and carrying out refuelling of the aircraft. Engines were also checked for damage and oil levels checked (on rare occasions engines which had been damaged due to bird ingestion required replacing). Defects which had been reported by the crew had to be rectified prior to further flight. When all these functions were completed, Paul’s signature would be entered in the log book stating that the aircraft was safe to take to the air again. He also had short term postings in Adelaide during this time, and for several months, was on secondment to British Airways in Tokyo. Further studies found Paul in Seattle attending the Boeing training school prior to the introduction of the Boeing 747-400 into Qantas service.
Three years ago Paul retired after 40 years service with Qantas. His final position was Engineering Foreman at the International Terminal at Tullamarine. He has now returned to live on the same property that he grew up on in Shellharbour and can be seen regularly working as a volunteer on HARS aircraft at Albion Park Airport, working alongside other retired engineers, some of whom he worked under while he was an apprentice. Contributed by Paul Hockey 2006
Paul Hockey.