60 Penampang pupils make field trip to Sabah Flying Club
KOTA KINABALU: Sixty primary six pupils from SK Kibabaig, Penampang visited the Sabah Flying Club yesterday.
According to their accompanying teacher, Judith Edwin, the field trip was part of the school’s activities for pupils who have completed their primary six Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination.
“This is something we do every year, but we carry out field trips to different areas,” she said.
The aim of the field trip was to expose the students to various types of careers that would be available to them to pursue once they completed their studies.
Meanwhile, Sabah Flying Club president, Leonard Chin, hoped that the visit to the club will help trigger an interest to take up flying as a career or a career related to aviation, such as aircraft engineering, aircraft design or air traffic control and in flight operations.
He also said that the Sabah Flying Club was initiated in 1963 for the purpose of teaching residents of Sabah to fly recreationally, and is accredited by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to teach members to attain a private pilot license (PPL).
“Thereafter, they may pursue a commercial pilot license (CPL) and work as commercial pilots, either with the airlines or in general aviation. Some may branch into the specialist field of helicopter flying and hopefully even one day become astronauts,” he said.
He added that the role of the flying club is to promote aviation to young people and where possible, facilitate their career pathway.
“The club operates at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport and so the flying members must observe all the traffic rules and strict procedures no different to the airlines or other general aviation activities, such as cargo and chartered flights. As such, the training headed by the Chief Flying Instructor, Captain Fong Shau Fah, a CAAM Accredited Examiner is of a very high standard,” he said.
Students, who initially learn up to PPL level at the Sabah Flying Club will take on the Commerical Pilot License Programme with ease after a very strong basic foundation, he said.
He also said that the club is committed to provide assistance by way of flying subsidies to try and reduce the cost of flying as much as possible even though to operate the two Cessna 172 light aircraft is very high due to maintenance and fuel costs.