While most kids grow up playing footy, Flight Lieutenant Alex Christison learned to drive on a tractor and could pilot a plane solo at the age of 15 – well before he got his driver’s licence. Growing up surrounded by dirt bikes, farm machinery and cattle, he never thought as an adult he would be back where he started. 

Flight Lieutenant Christison is a true local Gippslander. He was born in Traralgon, grew up on a farm just outside of Yarram, caught the bus to the local school, and lived and worked from Sale.  

He developed a passion for flying and all things with an engine at an early age. He remembers his parents taking him to the East Sale Airshow in 1993, when he was just four years old.

“That airshow really made an impression on me,” Flight Lieutenant Christison said. 

“Mum even got a framed photo of a Black Hawk helicopter for me and a VHS tape of the Roulettes. I loved it – I watched that video over and over. It was over 33 years ago and I can still recall every bit of the soundtrack on that tape. And the framed photo went next to my bed.” 

The same year, his family went on a holiday to Queensland where they visited the Australian Army Flying Museum in Oakey. For young Alex, that family visit cemented his love of flying.

“I got to see and explore more of the Black Hawks and spent all day learning about Army Aviation,” he said.

'Performing the displays for our community [and] with my family watching is very special. I love doing all our displays, but this is literally my home and that makes it so much more personal.'

That early fascination, alongside his grandfather serving in the Army, growing up next door to an airfield that both his grandfather and father looked after, and with his father flying light aeroplanes, it was inevitable that he would dream of a career flying helicopters in the Army. 

After joining the Army in 2008 and graduating from the Royal Military College – Duntroon, Flight Lieutenant Christison went into Army Aviation. He got his dream posting at 171 Squadron, 6th Aviation Regiment, at Holsworthy to fly the S-70A-9 Black Hawk in support of Special Operations Command.

After completing the Qualified Flying Instructor course on the Kiowa at Oakey, he moved back to Holsworthy in 2017 as a Black Hawk instructor.

In 2019, he returned to Gippsland with a posting at RAAF Base East Sale to 1 Flying Training School as the Senior Army Officer instructing on the Pilatus PC-21. He transferred to Air Force in 2023, joining the Central Flying School, and is now on his second season with the Roulettes.

In his role as Roulette 2, Flight Lieutenant Christison performed aerobatic displays at the Anzac Week Airshow 2026, held from April 18 to 19 in West Sale. 

“Performing the displays for our community [and] with my family watching is very special. I love doing all our displays, but this is literally my home and that makes it so much more personal. This is where I live, work and where I come from,” Flight Lieutenant Christison said.