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Merel - A319/20


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

I wanted to become a pilot when I was about 14 years old, but dropeed it because it was so expensive. My backup plan was biomedical sciences, but then the year after high school I met someone who was doing his pilot training and it just started itching again. I decided to try it and haven't regretted a single second of it!

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

I did my training at CAE Amsterdam Aviation Academy. The groundschool was in Amsterdam, most of the flight training in Arizona, the ME-IR (multi engine instrument rating) in Belgium and my MCC JOC in Oxford. In total it took me two years to graduate. My flightschool doesn't exist anymore. My instructors in Belgium and Oxford were brilliant, but Arizona not so much, as they were mainly trying to get their 1500 hours so they could fly commercially.

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

PA29, DA40 and the DA42.

4) What was your hardest part of training?

Passing all of the exams in groundschool, you have to do 14 exams in 8 months, so two modules of 7 exams. They scheduled those 7 exams within one week, so quite hard work to stay focused and perform well on every single one of them.

5) What advice would you give to aspiring pilot?

Research your flightschool well and try to find a sponsorship. It's a lot of money if you need to take out a loan like I did and if you can't find a job afterwards it's even more. It took me 1.5 years to get started with an airline and I was the fourth one in my class to get a job.

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

That's difficult, there have been so many! First time in the air was amazing, even though it lasted short because of a sudden sandstorm coming up. First solo was amazing. I flew once from Phoenix to Las Vegas and back over the Grand Canyon, freezing cold, but amazing view. My base training in the A319 was another high. Just so incredible that I was actually flying a 50 ton aircraft!

7) What is your favourite destination to fly to?

I think I have to go for Amsterdam (EHAM), been there a bunch of times and it feels like going home.

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

That it's really exciting. Most of the flight we're staring ahead, chatting, drinking tea or coffee and seemingly doing nothing. It's our job to monitor and keep it boring, because as long as it's boring, it's safe. The views are amazing, but at the end of the day you feel tired even though you haven't 'done' that much.

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

I wish I would've known about the possibility of sponsorships. I only looked in my own country and didn't really want to look over the border. My training might've been better if I would've done that and it might've saved me some money as well.

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