Pilot girlfriend Hilary Swank

Apr 11, 2010, 9:30 GMT

Hilary Swank surprised her boyfriend by giving him a lift during one of her flight lessons.

The actress - who recently portrayed aviator Amelia Earhart in 'Amelia' - took a detour during her training for her pilot's license, cancelled partner John Campisi's flight and took her plane to pick him up instead.

She said: "I absolutely love flying. I picked up my boyfriend from a meeting in Las Vegas. I said to my instructor, 'Can we pick my boyfriend up?' and he said, 'Sure.' So we flew to Vegas and showed up at the airport. John said, 'You cancelled my flight and I'm getting in that plane?' And I'm like, 'You'd better - we flew all this way to get you!' He white-knuckled it the whole flight."

The 35-year-old actress - who had to learn how to fly for her role in the film - claims she wasn't frightened by her lessons and loves trying out new and "exhilarating" dare-devil stunts.

She said: "Not many things make me nervous. Flying, skydiving and bungee jumping are exhilarating: a reminder that you're alive."