Ciaran’s eye on the sky
CIARAN Barker is unlike most high school students.
Most weekends he can be seen thousands of feet above Townsville flying a small AP22 LS4 Foxbat plane.
Ciaran is part of a growing number of teenagers looking to get a jump in the aviation industry.
The 17- year- old Deeragun local has been flying since he was 15 and took off on his first solo flight a year later.
Now he has passed his pilot certificate and is on his way to landing his commercial pilot licence.
“A lot of my family was in the RAF ( Royal Air Force) in England,” he said.
“From a young age interested in flying.”
But the Year 12 Townsville High School student has no immediate intention of starting a career in defence.
He wants to get his private licence, moving up to a larger plane and developing his navigational skills further.
“I’d like to continue in the general aviation side of things,” he said.
“There’s a lot of opportunit- I was ies in the aviation industry. It’s a thrilling career. It’s like a bond, flying. When you’re flying solo everything is down to you.”
Ciaran is a student at Cleveland Bay Aviation.
He had to balance air cadets and flight training to achieve his certificate and did this by spending his weekends in the air and weekdays in the books.
Cleveland Bay Aviation instructor Adrian Norman said he had noticed more school students joining the flight school in recent years.
“At the moment there’s approximately 30 students,” he said.
“We’ve had school students.”
Mr Norman warned parents of the responsibility young students faced when balancing school life and flying but believed an early start could be beneficial for those wanting to get their wings. a couple of