The Eleebana Public School student was whisked away on Thursday afternoon when his dad, Dwayne, landed on the school’s football field.

The former RAAF pilot had organised with assistant principal Debbie Evans to visit the school in a chopper as part of a program aimed at sparking an interest in future career paths.

The date just happened to fall a day before Riley’s ninth birthday, so the lucky lad was given a chance to show off in front of his mates.

‘‘They’re all jealous, a lot of them say my dad’s pretty cool,’’ Riley said.

‘‘My mum didn’t want me to go up in the helicopter but I decided to do it anyway.’’

Excited kids surrounded the field, whipping out smartphones, cameras and video recorders to document the landing.

On hitting the ground Mr Sharrock was greeted with a massive cheer of ‘‘touchdown’’ and a huge round of applause.

‘‘It great to get a reception like that,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s good to see the smiles on their faces and hopefully it can inspire a few kids to go further with it and follow engineering or flying in their careers.’’

Riley’s class have been studying machines this term so many parents had presented talks on their professions.

Yet Mr Sharrock’s visit has taken first prize and the landing should stay in the minds of his adoring crowd for years to come.

As for what the father of three would like in return for father’s day?

‘‘Hopefully something more than socks,’’ he said.