Francis Heffer was born and grew up on a family farm in what was then a sparsely populated area of NZ called Waikanae. He served in the RNZNVR, trained and flew with the Fleet air Arm Branch of the Royal Navy for four years. In 1983 Ben briefly returned to and enjoyed flying with the Tauranga Aero Club.  Ben and his wife Val reside in Mt Maunganui.