Ian Gonsal's WA Warbirds provides top gun experience in Mandurah War Birds pilot Ian Gonsal says the business is a means to help him fund his passion for flying, while giving people a "sanity break" from the world.Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: The Sunday Times FLYING at nearly 400km/h above the coastline in a former military plane is just another day at the office for former fighter pilot Ian Gonsal. Mr Gonsal part-owns Warbirds WA, a tourism venture by two veteran RAAF pilots that provides thrillseekers with a unique experience over Mandurah. Denis Macneall, the other part-owner, met Mr Gonsal in 1971 and they have flown together for more than 40 years. Their passion for flying led to them coincidentally investing in identical Nanchang CJ-6As that were designed and built for China's People's Liberation Army Air Force. Unlike most businessmen who aim to make a profit, Mr Gonsal said the tourist flights were a means to help him fund his passion, while giving people a "sanity break" from the world. "The aeroplane was pretty much designed as my retirement toy," he said, adding that he still worked as a training captain. But now he hopes locals and tourists will want to get a little piece of hands-on history. "All the aeroplanes are ex-military and our pilots are all ex-military - that's significant because they have a military take on the whole exercise," he said. It means that we can, as much as possible in the civil environment, re-create the military experience from our point of view. It's nice to show them that, unlike the Hollywood model, this is a very serious business and we take the whole business of safety and efficiency very seriously. Flying most weekends the company has some big costs to cover, including hangar fees, fuel, insurance and maintenance. "We would need to fly 2 1/2 to three days a month to break even - that's just on the fixed and variable costs," Mr Gonsal said. The master plan is try to get one weekend day per week. Though the pilots were keen to keep it a weekend operation, Mr Gonsal said there had been interest from fly-in, fly-out employees on weekdays and they would work to meet those demands.