Pembrokeshire businessman John Fisher recalls with clarity his stomach churning maiden flight as a passenger in a light aircraft. He was promptly sick. And his second, third and fourth flight all ended in a similar, sorry fashion. It would have been understandable, sensible even, if he had admitted defeat and found a hobby at ground level.

But by then John was well and truly hooked on flying. So much so that he learned to fly and gained his Private Pilot's Licence.

He is quite obviously a man who rises to a challenge, which must be why he decided to take to the skies in an aircraft he built himself.

John is proof that people who fly don't simply enjoy it; they are passionate about it. There are dozens of people living in Pembrokeshire who share that passion.

Take Haverfordwest businessman John Green. He was so terrified of flying that he decided to confront his fear by learning to take the controls himself.

He bought a five-seater Socata TB20 and now flies to England on business trips at least twice a week.

Just a stone's throw from his car sales business at Snowdrop Lane is fellow pilot, Richard Cole, of Snowdrop Bakery. He learned to fly 20 years ago and his sense of adventure has taken him to far-flung places like North Africa and Lithuania.

All three of these men are committed to flying but John Fisher's story is perhaps the most remarkable.

When he first flew solo he had shared ownership of a Cessna 150. The syndicate eventually sold the plane and he decided that buying another was simply too easy ... he would build his own. The aircraft took shape in a workshop behind his business at Lamphey Service Station.

This was to be his plane for the next 20 years, before he did the same thing all over again, this time ending up with a two-seater Vansrv 7A.

Mr Fisher is a bit of a daredevil whose days of reaching for the sick bag are long behind him. He enjoys indulging in a spot of gentle aerobatics and there is also his penchant for precision flying, or as he puts it, "rallying in the air".

In 1999 he represented Great Britain in the world precision flying championships in New Zealand, not in his own plane this time but in one hired for the occasion.

Not content with all these achievements, he has one major ambition. "I would like to fly around the world one day," he confides. "The most difficult leg of the journey would be India because of the paperwork, but it would be achievable."

For John Green it was fear rather than motion sickness, which had kept him on the ground.

"I was scared stiff of flying because of the movement and the noise, I was a very nervous passenger," he recalled.

His saviour came in the shape of his friend and commercial pilot, David Charles.

A few trial flights from Haverfordwest Airport gradually quelled his fear and he too decided to train for his Private Pilot's Licence. He is now a competent pilot who gets huge pleasure from flying. It has also brought advantages to his business, PMS Ltd.

"We are the biggest purchaser of used cars from HSBC so I fly to the Midlands at least two days a week," he says. "I can be there in the hour which means paying for a car in the morning, collecting it that day and having it back to the customer before the end of the day. It saves an inordinate amount of time and because of the sums of money involved it is financially viable too."

Owning a plane is something many an amateur pilot aspires to. But it is possible to regularly fly without the advantage of owning one.

Bakery owner Richard Cole notches up his flying hours by flight testing aircraft belonging to other people. Owners are barred from flight testing their own planes which means he is never short of requests to fly. He also takes to the skies by piloting a parachute aircraft from an airfield in Gloucester.

"There is nothing quite like flying, I just can't leave it alone," he confesses. It was a similar story for John Rees when he established the Haverfordwest School of Flying. His interest developed during the Second World War when Haverfordwest airfield was used as a service centre for aircraft. He farmed next to the airfield and occasionally hitched a ride in a Mosquito. When his elder son, Joe, developed an interest in motorbikes he was keen to divert that interest. And so the flying school was formed. This diversion tactic worked and Joe now divides his time between the family's 1,400-acre farm and the airline business.

A typical day for Joe might involve milking a herd of 600 Holstein Friesians before flying a high-ranking politician to a meeting in France.

Running the flying school is John's department while Joe has responsibility for the charter flights.

The business employs five full-time pilots and three instructors. Many of the flights operate from Waterford, Cork, Cardiff and Swansea to destinations including France, Italy, Poland and the Isle of Man.

Joe has had many odd requests but perhaps the one that stands out was an inquiry from an Italian convent. "We were asked to fly a nun's body from Italy to Ireland for burial," he recalls.

The airfield is owned by Pembrokeshire County Council and the people who use it are full of praise for the level of investment that has been made in upgrading the facility. John Green said the people of Pembrokeshire were very lucky to have the airport on their doorstep. "It is a terrific airfield, Pembrokeshire County Council should be applauded for what they have done up there," he said.