Ben C - Jet2 - B757

1) Tell us what made you want to become a pilot?

It all started when my parents bought me a flying experience for my 16th Birthday after pestering for years, its something that I will never forget, a cold winters morning, the strong smell of avgas, and distinctive smell of a Cessna 150 cockpit! It was an hour of pure bliss, which seemed to only last a matter of minutes, from then on Id knew I caught the flying bug!

2) Where did you train and describe your experience training there?

I had a very varied training experience, without criticising a certain large training organisation, I had a very short lived time as an integrated student at OAA after being told I would not make an airline pilot and got cut from the training program. Moving on from that significant blow, I continued as a modular student. I finished off my ATPLs with ProPilot at Coventry which filled in all the gaps left by the previous place, and I opted to go to CTC to complete my BIFM, CPL, ME & IR all on the Diamond DA42, which I must say, was a brilliant place and couldn't fault it! I opted to go to Virtual Aviation at Cambridge to complete my MCC & JOC, and yet again, what a fantastic place & run by a fantastic group of people! (I also returned to these for a pre-airline assessment, top class!)

3) What aircraft did you fly during your initial training?

Having already holding a PPL from 17 I had already flown a variety of aircraft to gain my ATPL:

C150 Aerobat

C152

C172

Piper PA28 Warrior

Piper PA28 Arrow (Favourite)

Slingsby T67M Firefly

Diamond DA42

4) What was your hardest part of training?

My hardest part of training was the ATPL exams themselves, and at first the pace at which we had to take in the information. So when you are choosing a training organisation, choose one which you will think will match your style of learning!! although it doesn't look like a lot on here, 14 ATPL exams and the content you must study does take up a large part of you life at the start of training.

5) What advice would you give to aspiring pilot?

As you've probably seen from my first answer, it was a hard blow to take in after putting in so much hard work, to be told then I wasn't the ideal candidate to be a commercial pilot. I admit I wasn't the smartest in the class at school, I got 2x B's , 6x C's , 2x D's & a Solid 'F' ( D was in maths too! ) just so you know, I continued to pursue my dream because thats what I wanted to do!

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - Eleanor Roosevelt

6) What has been your best moment in the air?

...Base Training!... after months of training in a Hydraulic Box and the years of flying light aircraft prior to that, the first time you fly a Jet is such a feeling of accomplishment! I was also lucky at the age of 22 to have the 757 as my first ever type rating. We took the Ol' Bird up to Prestwick where I completed 6x Take Off & Landings to finish of my type rating.

7) What is your favourite destination to fly to?

My favourite destination so far, has got to be Kittila, Finland. This is because of the complete weirdness I had when operating into the airfield. The illusion of the runway from the distant Ski Slope when approaching from the south, gave me the impression of being far too low, this was due to the fact of low cloud covering the actual runway on the initial parts of the approach. But also stepping out into the -18 degrees to do a walk around on basically an ice skating ring, it was more fun that it sounds.

8) What is the biggest misconception that people have about your job?

I think many people have said this already, but planes don't just fly themselves without prior preparation by the flight deck inputting ever changing information into the aircrafts Flight Management Computer! all that said, the autopilot makes its money when the visibility and cloud base is poor, even if the landing is pretty hard...

9) Was there something you wish you did prior to starting your flight training that would be beneficial for aspiring pilots to do?

I've said this to many people before commencing flight training, research as much as you can, speak to pilots in different parts of the career path such as, other students, New commercial pilots, people who are captains etc. they will all tell you different things and different ways of doing them.

Pick a training organisation that suits you, not the other way around.

Integrated or Modular, they get you to the same place, flying licence in hand knocking on the doors of airlines looking for your first break!

#Jet2 #757 #B757 #Jet2