62 SA FlyerLEARNING TO FLY - JOHN WHITTLE
Ask any commercial
pilot if they have ever
considered any other
profession and very
few, if any, will tell you
another career path
crossed their minds.
A
career in
aviation is
one that,
more often
than not, is
decided upon
at a very
young age.
Right though
school I
always knew that I wanted to be a pilot.
The air force was my ultimate dream but,
not having perfect eyesight, I knew that
the likelihood of being able to join the
SAAF was very slim. This, however, did
not discourage me from persisting and
heading down the not too dissimilar path to
ultimately becoming an airline pilot. After
all, many SAAF veterans make the move to
civil aviation.
The South African Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) allows you to start your
Private Pilot’s License (PPL) at the age of
15, although a wiser choice would be to wait
until you’ve finished school. I was certain
that I’d chosen the perfect career, but I
hadn’t the foggiest clue where to start. I had
basically been pushed out of the nest and
told to fly.
One of the most important decisions
a budding pilot will ever make is choosing
a flying school for Ab Initio training. EveryMost pilots know they want
to fly from an early age.Choosing A Flying School
In this new series, newbie pilot, John Whittle, shares his
experiences of learning to fly, from Student to Commercial Pilot.
flying school I investigated had well-prepared brochures, informative tours, an ‘impeccable’
safety record and were never shy of hinting at being ‘the best’ flying school – for whatever
reason they felt justified that statement on that particular day. Only after travelling to
countless flying schools across the country did I realise that some are a lot better than others
and can convincingly claim to be superior.
What follows is a breakdown of the various attributes you need to consider when
deciding on a flying school:NUMBER OF STUDENTS
As with a good or bad restaurant, the more customers the merrier. A bad flying school with
a patchy safety record is hardly likely to have people queueing at the door. If a school is too
quiet then give it a miss.GOOD SAFETY RECORD
Many flying schools boast about a sterling safety record; however, it’s never a bad idea to
check up on any incidents they may have been involved in. If a flying school doesn’t even
mention their safety record, run!TRAINING FLEET
The backbone of any flying school is a reliable, well-maintained fleet of training aircraft.
On the reef, it would seem that, judging from the numbers of aircraft, Cessna 172s are
preferred, whereas at the coast, Piper Cherokees are the trainers of choice. Both are good,