THE GUTS BENEATH THE WINGS
Flying is a test of nerves, as one honcho finds out.
He does not remember the bird’s-eye view or even if the sun was setting at that point. All Vijay Sethu had on his mind was that the airplane had to return to ground safely.
The 52-year-old was flying solo in a Diamond DA40 as part of his efforts to obtain a private pilot licence issued by the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) in the US, and the task at hand took up all his bandwidth.
“You have to take it seriously, simply because if you do it wrong, you can die,” he says. “When my instructor suddenly turned off the engine on one of my earlier fl ights – to simulate engine failure – I didn’t even have time to curse. I immediately went through the checklist of things we have to do if faced with engine trouble.”
Indeed, earning the right to fly an airplane is no walk in the park – although Sethu insists that he is enjoying the process.
“I decided a couple of years back that I wanted to be a recreational pilot, and from day one, I decided that I wanted a US licence because over there, they do things to a very high standard,” he recalls. “I want to get my licence where they are serious about safety.”
Work for the licence started even before Sethu – owner of homegrown fried chicken brand 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken – made the trek across the globe to the US.
He fi rst had to do ground-school work, starting with learning the theory of flying. And for that, he got in touch with the folks at Wings Over Asia, who guided him in the basics of flying. He also went for a local prep course that included instructional fl ights, ground school prep, video tutorials and tests.
Training in the US followed, whereby after clocking the required fl ight hours – this includes night flying with an instructor as well as flying solo – the aspiring pilot will have to sit for a fi nal test in a classroom under the supervision of FAA officials before receiving certification as a recreational pilot.
Despite the fact that he has yet to receive certification at the time this article goes to print, Sethu is determined to stay on the course – which he has been on for a year already (an aspiring pilot can get through the course as quickly or as slowly as he can manage).
Sethu has gone diving and sailing, but flying is a different kettle of fish – wildly different. “You could get licensed to dive in a weekend or two, but this takes serious work,” he says. “For a while, I had a fear of landing the plane, and while I’ve had to make two trips to the US, and will be making one more to hopefully get the licence, I wouldn’t do it any other way.”
Sethu still cannot quite remember the scene on the other side of the windshield on his fi rst solo flight, but what he does remember keeps him going.
“It was the challenge of actually flying a plane that I recall, having to follow the circuit pattern and all that. I’ve managed pretty good landings already, and I just want to make sure I don’t get cocky now,” he says.
“And no, I won’t be jumping out of a plane anytime soon.”