No Roads Needed

Entrepreneur DATO’ JAMES GREAVES had a dream to fly. When he realised his dream as a helicopter pilot, he wanted to share the joys  of taking to the skies with others and saw a business opportunity. He speaks to TIEN CHEW on his high-flying venture

- Tien Chew

The morning was still somewhat cool and sunlight not yet at its brightest as we were poised to hop on-board the back seat of a Robinson R66 Turbine helicopter. Our host and man of the day, Dato’ James Greaves, seemed excited and well in his element as he removed his blazer, stored it in the back compartment of the chopper and beckoned for us to enter the aircraft. For the three of us from the Tatler team, this would be the first time we would take to the skies in a whirlybird. And boy was it an experience unlike any other.

Greaves wrote down on a piece of paper that he had wanted to learn how to fly a plane as a personal accomplishment, when his business got to a certain size. While he was on holiday with his family in the UK a few years later, that goal changed from flying a plane to flying a helicopter after witnessing something rather eventful.

“I was at the playground in a place called Swan Hotel with my son when I saw two couples fly in with a helicopter, they got out, had lunch at the riverside and then got back in and flew off again,” he fondly recalled. “I thought to myself, that was the coolest thing that I had ever seen. I went home, scribbled out the plane and changed it to a helicopter,” he added with a chuckle.

A self-professed go-getter, when he sets his mind towards a goal or on achieving a new benchmark, Greaves tells me that he has to make it into a reality. He received his helicopter training at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport at Subang Jaya, arriving at 6:30 in the morning and clocking in 40 hours over a period of two to three times a week before going to work. Committed, he soon acquired his pilot’s licence.

“There’s this amazing feeling of freedom when you’re in the air. I always wanted to fly like Superman as a kid. Helicopters give you that complete freedom, and this is a beautiful country to fly in,” he expressed.