Tyler Perry has obtained a pilot's license so he can personally fly his pals to his private island in the Bahamas.

The actor purchased his own getaway in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a few years ago, but getting there proved a problem -  he realised he would have to board a single-engine seaplane, because the retreat has no airport.

Perry decided he'd feel more comfortable making the trip if he was at the controls, and started taking flying lessons.

The producer says, "I think that's the way we should be in life, whatever you're afraid of, once you realize it, once you conquer it, you're like, 'Oh, what the hell was I afraid of?'"

Perry's private plane was in the news recently - he loaned it to Whitney Houston's family so they could use it to transport the soul star's body from Los Angeles to New Jersey on the day after her autopsy.