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He also did air ambulance work for
about seven years, before beginning a
two-decade career flying corporate jets
for a large Australian company.
And Brookes says he would not
have had it any other way, describing
the early days as something of an
“apprenticeship”.
“You don’t become a boss
overnight. You’ve really got to work at
it and get some good solid experience
behind you out in the bush and scare
yourself shitless on a dark and stormy
night with single-pilot IFR and all that
sort of stuff,” Brookes says.
“That’s basically what they were
really looking for in corporate pilots
who came knocking at the door. Their
background has got to be very solid.
“These days guys can have 500
hours and they are in a King Air
screaming around the place. A lot of
stuff has really changed that way.”
Brookes says part of the joy of being
a corporate jet pilot is the variety of
the work. Rather than being rostered
on to do the same destinations over
and over again as at the airlines, the
next destination can always surprise
as executives sniff out business
opportunities around the globe.
“We’re not doing ‘shark patrol’
Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane,”
Brookes says. “One day we are in
the southern most city in the world
and the next day we are in Dubai or
somewhere it is stinking hot.
While he admits that being away
from his family for long periods over
the years was at times hard to deal
with, the “good outweighs the bad”.
“It’s very hard work, it is a 24 hours
seven day a week business with no
roster,” Brookes says.
“I’ve never been able to plan to take
holidays and things like that because
you are there for the boss. When they
want to go, that’s it, you go.”
Currently, Brookes is helping a
friend and former Cathay Pacific pilot
enter the world of corporate jets with
a second-hand Global Express that he
has just brought to Australia.
The aviation consultancy work
is something Brookes has done
throughout his career to, in his words,
assist owners find the right aircraft for
the job.
“I actually go to the company and
talk to the owner and executives
about what they want to do with the
aeroplane, not only now but in the
future,” Brookes explains.
“I work in conjunction with a
couple of sales people and we can offer
them two or three different types that
might suit their needs and we can
whittle that down.
“I’ve set up probably eight different
corporate flight departments over the
last 25-odd years here and through
those corporate flight departments
some of them are probably on their
third or fourth aeroplane.”“Unlike airlines we don’t have the
opportunity to review airports that we
are going into and practice landings
dozens of times in a simulator. You’ve
got to do the homework before you go
and even then when you rock up for
the first time, it can be quite daunting.
“I think that’s where good training
as a bush pilot and charter pilot comes
into it because you always expect the
unexpected.”Biz jet set
Clive Brookes enjoyed a two-
decade career flying corporate
jets for a large Australian
company.Corporate jet pilots do get to
see the world, wherever and
whenever their bosses choose.
CLIVE BROOKES