Qantas captain hangs up his hat after a career spanning 50 years with the airline

Retiring Captain Phil Ogilvie has lots of stories about his time in the clouds - and he’s not finished flying either, with plans to fly his wife and co-pilot in life across the outback.

Time to hang the hat up as Phil Ogilvie retires after 50 years as a Qantas pilot, many of those as a captain.

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AFTER nearly 50 years as a pilot, retiring Qantas Captain Phil Ogilvie knows the power of that famous ­uniform.

“I used to come home and hang up my clothes and change into my daggy old shorts and a T-shirt,” he said.

“No one notices you at the shops. But in a uniform people nod and smile as they walk by.”

The Bilgola Plateau resident, who’s flown celebrities such as the Spice Girls, did his final run on Thursday

Finally some time to catch up on reading.

It was fittingly heralded with the traditional water cannon salute and a ceremony put on by Qantas to mark his stellar career.

He began working for the national carrier at the age of 17, as a cadet and completed his training to become a pilot in July 1969.

Phil Ogilvie on the right when he became a cadet pilot in 1966.

“When the Americans were landing on the moon I was flying a Boeing 707 to London and back,” he said.

He was all of 21 at the time. In 1986, he became a Captain on the Boeing 767.

“I’m a Boeing man, and I flew 707s, 747s, 767s,” he said. “I retired from international flying in 2013 and spent the last few years flying domestic in the 737.”

Phil Ogilvie in the cockpit.

Among all the celebrities he’s flown over the years, one of his favourites was magician Uri Geller who showed off his trademark spoon-bending trick on some of the Qantas cutlery.

“I told him quite firmly not to touch anything else on the plane made with metal,” he joked.

It is a profession many envy but Mr Ogilvie said it is one that requires dedication. Assisting him in this, however, is what he calls an “absolute love” of aviation.

Even though he’s retiring from commercial flying, he still plans to spend plenty of time in the clouds.

He and his “co-pilot” in life wife Susan are members of a single-engine (light) aircraft syndicate

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Phil Ogilvie with wife Susan.

“We’re just about to take a 10-day outback safari to places such as Bourke and Tibooburra,” he said.

And while he’s lost count of the number of countries he’s visited, he has no doubt what his favourite place is.

“It always comes back to the northern beaches and Pittwater,” he said.

Mr Ogilvie said he was extremely proud of being a part of Qantas.

“When I started in 1966 there were 520 pilots,” he said. “Today there are a couple of thousand,” he said.

“I’m very proud to be part of that history, and part of the Qantas family.”