Finding the ‘why’

My ‘why’ kept me driven for eight seasons of racing and led me to seven race wins and 30 career podium finishes. Four of those were for end of season podiums, including the world championship I had chased for so many years. As a race pilot, I was intently motivated to keep pushing, keep improving as a pilot, to learn what I could do better.

More importantly, my ‘why’ aligned with others who wanted to help me achieve a goal. As a team we became better at engineering a fast plane, better at critically analysing what we did well and areas for improvement. We improved as a team with fans, with the media and with defining what we stood for.

Why we – not just me – were in the racing game was to win, and as a group we had a collective goal.

Of course, winning hasn’t been my only motivation to fly – I’ve been fascinated with aviation my whole life. I look at my race career and I see it as the most recent chapter of my life as a pilot. Before racing my focus was serving Australia to the best of my ability with the RAAF, and before that my focus was to learn how to fly.

Alongside my main career activities, I would say that I am constantly learning new skills as a pilot. Even when I am flying for recreation, I have a reason to be in the air. I’m always finding ways to improve something that I do, even when I take the Cub out for a flight with my wife, or cruise down the coast in my Piper Twin Comanche to visit family. There is always a learning opportunity.

It has been well documented that 2019 was my year in the air race. My year to win the championship and finally achieve that elusive goal that I set for myself so many seasons ago. Truth be told, we almost had our hands on that trophy three times before, but at the final bell, it wasn’t to be. So, becoming world champion resolved the doubt, both self-inflicted and externally projected, about whether or not I was good enough to be ranked number one.

There aren’t many forms of aviation where you are good enough to do the job, but then also have to prove to others – be it fans, commentators, industry people or media – that you are good enough to be the best of the best. In aviation, you’re generally either competent or not competent. In racing, you can be competent, talented and hardworking and still be considered not good enough. I’ll readily speak for every pilot that has had the honour of being a Red Bull Air Race competitor like I have and say that when you reach a point where your flying comes under that level of scrutiny, there is no doubt as to ‘why’ you are flying and focusing so intently on that goal.

But for those of you that have read my columns over the past two years, and even those who may be reading for the first time in this edition, it is evident that I have now achieved my goal. The ‘why’ has been answered and seemingly it is case closed now that Red Bull has pulled its funding of the series.

‘My ‘why’ kept me driven for eight seasons of racing’
MATT HALL

“What’s next?” is the most consistent question I have been asked since winning the world championship, and in the spirit of transparency, the future post-Red Bull Air Race is something that is still a work in progress. Since the series has ended, my calendar has been full as I make the most of the opportunities that have been presented to me. There have been endless media requests, I have travelled to a large number of organisations to present as a guest speaker (and there are plenty more to go before the year is out), I have performed air displays in my MXS-R at corporate events, displayed at air shows and flown a large number of joy flights. There have not been many days off but having the chance to meet and speak with so many people has been truly humbling.

Throughout all of this I have met a lot of pilots, who all know what their ‘why’ is. Remember what I said about pilots being goal oriented people?

So, what is my ‘why’? There has been Matt Hall the first-time student, Matt Hall the military pilot and Matt Hall the race pilot. In amongst that, learning and other goals have always been present, but these are the three key parts of my career so far. Hand over my heart, I can tell you that I still know why I race into the skies as a pilot. Our business at Lake Macquarie Airport is getting bigger all the time, especially our charter operations, which is something I am becoming more involved in.

I am still getting an aerobatic fix from flying displays and joy flights. I enjoy the challenges of running an aviation business well and using my learnings as a race pilot in how to be adaptable to change when it comes to challenges we face as an organisation.

Nevertheless, don’t think for a minute that these new goals and my recent championship win have extinguished my desire to be a race pilot, or be involved in racing. My ‘why’ used to be to win the world championship. Now, it is to win another – I hope it happens as a pilot. But first, we need to see the air race return in a new form. For now, the only knowledge that I have of any series return is the internal hope that someone sees the value of the air race. It’s not just as a racing competition, it has the potential to assume a position as one of the most awe-inspiring motorsports series on the planet.

For me, it’s full steam ahead building a strong business at home. The reason why I want to focus on that, is so that if the day comes that racing comes knocking again, I want to have the best team of engineers, tacticians and managers around me to achieve the highest levels of success again.
Smoke on.