A MAN has fulfilled a 30-year dream by landing a full-time job as a pilot.

Lee Davison, 51, of Northallerton, had a desire to fly when he was 21 but a change of career meant he served several years working with various ambulance services.

In 1989, Mr Davison trained in Doncaster to fly as a private helicopter pilot.

But it was not until later life, that he put his efforts back into training to gain a commercial pilot’s licence instead.

Mr Davison said: “I am grateful for a role that I could only dream about from my early twenties when I first started flying.

Mr Davison, who had a career working with the ambulance service for 25 years, spent ten years of his life as a clinical supervisor for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

He said: “I started a part-time job with the North Yorkshire Ambulance Service in the emergency control centre.

“I thought this would just be for a short while to fill a gap until I could get flying again but things developed and I was offered training to become a paramedic in 1998.”

But towards the end of 2007, Mr Davison, originally from York, approached a private aviation company – Multiflight – which would eventually offer up his dream role.

He said: “When I was working on the Air Ambulance as a clinician I was based at Leeds Bradford Airport.

“This is how I got to meet Mark Griffiths, Multiflight’s chief helicopter pilot.

“I studied to pass my exams and flight test for my Commercial Licence in 2007 and 2008, and then took my CV to show Mark in the hope of getting some pilot work.”

In 2008, Mr Davison began flying part-time on a freelance basis, in between his ambulance duties.

He had done minimal flying beforehand owing to a lack of money to fund the training costs of his Commercial Pilot’s Licence.

Ten years later, Mr Davison was told he had been offered his first permanent, full-time role as a pilot.

He added: “Mark has been inspirational for me in the last ten years in helping me achieve my goal of becoming a professional pilot.”

Speaking about his training over the past ten years, Mr Davison said: “I can safely say that it has been the hardest course I have ever done but very rewarding and a great achievement.”

A spokesperson for Multiflight said Mr Davison’s story was “inspirational”.