Zululander youngest helicopter pilot in SA

MTUBATUBA teenager Estiaan Steenkamp, well-known in Zululand for his achievements in the off-road biking arena, recently achieved the status of becoming South Africa’s youngest helicopter pilot.

Having been involved in off-road motorbike racing since the age of five, engines and the outdoors have played a major part in Estiaan’s life.

It’s no doubt that helicopter pilot status will open doors for him in the future.

Achieving a top five ranking in the country is no mean feat and schooling could easily have taken a backseat.

As a result, home schooling became a necessity to attend the 25-odd racing events around the country each year.

Estiaan recently completed his final exams in the Cambridge College home schooling system and, as if that wasn’t enough, he successfully completed a further eight subjects, including aviation law to obtain his helicopter license.

His goal is to become a commercial helicopter pilot and possible lines of future employment pertinent to the Zululand area include that of game capture and anti-poaching pilot.

Estiaan’s father, Douw Steenkamp, has given him a time frame of two years to become a fully qualified commercial pilot and, as always, will support him in this endeavour.

In his early days of off-road racing, Estiaan was sponsored by Bell Equipment and mentored by former Director Ryan Blane.

And it was Blane who was responsible for getting Estiaan hooked on flying following a helicopter flip some years back.

Now based in North America, Blane is the person Estiaan would like to acknowledge as his biggest influence when it comes to flying. As if being in the top five off-road racers and the youngest helicopter pilot aren’t enough, Estiaan was South Africa’s youngest pilot under Bell Equipment to go solo, which he did at the age of 16.

For the time being, Estiaan plans to pursue his off-road riding career and has just confirmed sponsorship with Dustin Motzouris of FAST Power Sport in Richards Bay.

No stranger to motorsport, Dustin himself is a stand-up jet-ski multiple world champion and spotted Estiaan’s talent immediately.

While Dustin endeavours to support Zululand sportsmen and women where he can, it was the sheer commitment and dedication in someone so young that drew him to sponsor Estiaan. In Dustin’s opinion, Estiaan has the ability to be a top South African off-road rider and he hopes this sponsorship deal will help get him there.