RAAF veteran Harry Barrett takes dream helicopter flight at 96

At 96, Harry Barrett who was stationed in Borneo with the RAAF during the Second World War finally took to the skies as part of the Calvary Sandhill I Wish program.

Sandhill lifestyle coordinator Karen Robinson said Mr Barrett's wish has proven so popular that when other residents heard about the flight the number of passengers went from one to 12.

"Harry was in the RAFF in Borneo for three years in the Second World War, but he never got to go up in a plane, so that's why we chose the helicopter ride," she said.

"When everybody heard that it was on, the families assisted with the cost to pay for their families to go too, and I Wish covered the rest of the trip."

Mr Barrett said he was excited to finally go up in a helicopter and share the experience with his daughter.

Mr Barrett's daughter Anne Maudsley said on the morning of the flight her father was the most excited she had seen him in years.

"He was up and dressed before everybody, even before breakfast, so was just so excited," she said.

Ms Maudsley said the family had been trying to arrange a flight around Flinders island for some time with no luck, so Wednesday's flight was a real dream come true for her father.

"We've talked about doing a helicopter flight around Flinders Island, which is where we come from, but we haven't got there yet, so this is exciting," she said.

The flight was chartered through Launceston based Helicopter Resources in Tasmania with Pilot Brin Watson treating the eager guests to a 30-minute flight aboard the AS350 Squirrel.

"It's going to be a 20 to 30-minute flight to give them a look over the Launceston area, down the Tamar and towards the Batman bridge," he said.

"We'll be at about 1000 to 2000 feet depending on the controlled airspace."

Mr Watson said Mr Barrett and his guests were not the first sightseers he had taken up in the widely deployed helicopter which has been used for a variety of purposes.

"They're really good utility helicopters, they've got good lifting capacity, fighting fires is one of the mainstays of our work and their use in Antarctica, which is our main contract, doing Antarctic exploration and science work," he said.

Before Mr Barrett went up in the helicopter he and the other passenger all watched a safety video with Mr Barrett joking afterwards he hoped nothing on his flight went wrong.