UNLIKE many teenagers who can't wait to get behind the wheel of their first car, Oliver Carley, has never had a driving lesson in his life.

But the high-flying Ilkley Grammar School pupil feels much more at home with a bird's eye view of distant traffic jams as he sits at the controls of an aeroplane thousands of feet up in the air.

Oliver has become one of only a handful of 17-year-olds in the country to have gained a private pilot's licence. He has been a member of the 1224 (Wharfedale) Squadron Air Cadets since he was 13 and is obsessed with flying, explained his 43-year-old mum, Jill. "He lives and breathes aeroplanes and flying," she said.

People have to wait until they are 16 before they are allowed to take flying lessons and Oliver started as soon as he could but he could not fly solo until he turned 17 in October.

Because he was so determined to fly, Oliver and his parents paid half each for the lessons. Oliver has worked part-time as a waiter at the Cow and Calf public house, Hangingstone Road to earn extra money.

Once he began flying solo the only thing that delayed his qualification was bad weather. As part of his test he had to fly from Leeds-Bradford Airport to Newcastle Airport, then Teesside Airport and then back to Leeds-Bradford again, navigating all the way and liaising with air traffic control.

Mrs Carley, of Burley Woodhead, admits to being a little nervous when Oliver goes up on his own in the single engine Robin plane.

She said: "I can't bear the thought of watching - he flies right above us, and I think it's just amazing he can do that. But I am really proud because it is something he has always wanted to do."

But Oliver is not the only member of the family to have a pilot's licence. Four years ago his grandfather, Peter Wilson, of Eldwick, also qualified using the same flying school at Leeds-Bradford, Multiflight Limited. He was 61 at the time, one of the oldest successful students the company had.

At a special ceremony at 1224 Squadron's headquarters on Leeds Road, Ilkley, Oliver will be officially presented with his 'wings'.

Mrs Carley said because Oliver wore glasses for reading he would not be able to fly for the RAF, but he would be allowed to work as a commercial pilot. It is the career he has set his heart on.

Oliver told the Gazette: "I don't feel nervous at all - you are in control because you are flying it. If the engine stops you can just glide down and do an emergency landing in a field," said Oliver. To get his licence Oliver had to complete 45 flying hours with an instructor and ten hours flying solo. He also had to pass written exams and other rigorous skill tests. But the training does not stop now Oliver has his wings.

To realise his dream of becoming a commercial pilot he will have to take increasingly tougher tests such as night flying, more instrumentation and at the controls of multi-engined aircraft.

He says that friends have now got used to his high-flying activities and he has a long list of people waiting for him to take them up in the air.

Richard Cummings, who has been teaching people to fly for around 30 years, said Oliver was one of the youngest he had ever taught. He said that he was so keen he would have obtained his licence much nearer his 17th birthday last October if the weather in autumn had been kinder.