PHILLIPPA BUTT LEARNS HOW TO FLY
Ever wanted to experience the thrills of flying? Journalist PHILLIPPA BUTT gave it a go
THE plane races down the runway, the white checks blurring into a constant line beneath. Then with a simple instruction to push the throttle, the nose of the aircraft lifts into the air and we’re officially flying. There’s a flash of exhilaration, before terror fills me as I realise what I’m doing.
I’m flying a plane. ■■ A MASSIVE pilot shortage across Australia has forced the Commonwealth Government to allow foreign aviators into Australia on two-year visas as a method to try and fix a growing shortage of local pilots.
The need is creating a hole that up-and-coming pilots are desperate to fill.
Flight Standards, a small training school in Darwin, has been inundated with pilots trying to get ahead with their training. Instructor Carrie Munro said there is “so much upward movement at the moment, people with minimum hours are being hired to fill gaps”. “Even small charter companies are running out of pilots,” she said. In January, Airnorth blamed a number of cancelled flights on the pilot shortage, saying it needed 59 pilots to run its flights as scheduled. At the time, it only employed 53.
“Airnorth, like all other regional and major airlines in Australia, is experiencing the impact of a pilot shortage that is preventing us from operating all our scheduled flights,” a spokeswoman claimed at the time. “The situation is not isolated to Airnorth or Australia, and is part of a global pilot shortage that is affecting the entire aviation industry and its customers.”
Currently, the airline is recruiting for between 15 and 20 positions.
Airnorth chief operating officer Peter McNally said part of the problem for the smaller airline was that it was a recruiting ground for major airlines.
“Regional airlines like Airnorth are where the major airlines source most of their pilots, so there is always recruitment throughout the industry,” he said.
“We expect there will continue to be some movement of pilots into Airnorth and also onto major airlines over the next year. We are continually reviewing the likely demand of the major airlines so that we can have replacement crew in place as soon as practicable.”
Flight Standards aviation and flight training only began about two years ago, but, due to the shortage, it already it has a large clientele.
Partly-trained and wouldbe pilots come to learn to fly, and train for the multitude of exams they need to become a commercial airline pilot.
At the small training school situated in the General Aviation section of the Darwin Airport, aviators can get four different licences, three operational ratings, two type and class ratings, specific type trainings and an English language proficiency level six. ■■ WE’VE not been in the air more than a minute when Carrie tells me to turn the control yoke towards the left.
The left wing of the Cessna 172 drops and we begin a slow turn towards East Arm.
We’re headed towards a small training airfield in Belyuen, on the Cox Peninsula.
It’s only a trial flight, so we won’t be doing too many diffi- cult manoeuvres. But even the slightest movement of my arms seems to make the plane change direction or altitude.
I’m gripping the control yoke with all of my strength but Carrie says to hold it gently. “Imagine you’re holding a mushy banana,” she says and elicits a nervous laugh from the rookie recruit. As we reach our cruising altitude — 2000 feet (610m) — we level off and the flight begins to become fun.
Now, since we’ve levelled off, the horizon line sits about four finger widths above the dash and I can take a second to appreciate the view from above. ■■ ROWLAND Richardson has wanted to be a pilot for as long as he can remember.
He’s worked in and out of the aviation industry, living in Doha for a number of years in the media relations team for Qatar Airways.
Now, moving back to the Top End, he’s finally pursuing his dream.
“I’ve always had a love for aviation,” he says.
“But life often gets in the way. When I realised the passion had never really abated, it put things into perspective. The sky is actually the limit.”
So far Rowland has only got about 15 hours of flying time, and he’s loving getting into the air. Each lesson he undertakes includes a pre-flight briefing — often done about a week before the flight to allow the new knowledge to sink in — followed by time in the air and then a post-flight debrief.
Although already 31 years old, he’s hoping to eventually be good enough to make a career out of being a pilot.
“The thought of being paid to fly is just the dream,” he says. “Life’s too short and anything less is not good enough for me anymore.”
It won’t be long before Rowland is flying solo.
According to Carrie, it’s an experience that sticks with a pilot for the rest of their career.
“It’s terrifying, it’s exhilarating,” she says. Darwin offers a
unique flying experience for pilots-in-training.
“Not a lot of training schools are at international domestic airports,” she says.
The airport is military controlled, so the General Aviation planes taxi past the likes of Qantas and Virgin aircraft as well as ADF Ospreys. And the Top End weather means pilots are trained in some areas much more quickly than in other places in the country.
“We have to teach people how to read a forecast from the first lesson because you really need to know up here,” Carrie says. “Storms develop and dissipate so quickly. The thing about the Top End is it’s spectacular, it’s beautiful but it’s also remote and you need to know how to deal with that. It really is the wild, wild North.” ■■ AFTER what seems like no time at all, we’re flying back towards the airport.
Compared to a jet, we’ve not been travelling very quickly the entire flight, but the lower we get to the ground, the faster it feels.
Winnellie is rising to meet us far too quickly for my liking, and I find myself closing my eyes before I realise I’m in control and that’s not a good idea.
Carrie rescues me, taking over the controls to do the landing. Suddenly we’re on the ground, the tarmac running beneath the wheels.
“I’ve only had one person who’s gone for a trial flight and come down having not enjoyed it,” Carrie says.
I stop and think about it for a minute. She’s right. While I was nervous throughout most of the flight, it was an incredible experience. I can understand how people get hooked. Carrie laughs. “I’ve never worked a day in my life,” she says.
And before I know it, a thought creeps into my mind.
I should do this again.