The Best Cadet

Sembek Zaliyev, who graduated in August from the flight school in the Spanish city of Jerez (FTE) as part of the Ab-initio pilot training programme, was awarded the Derek Smith prize as the best student on the course. The FTE summer school offers awards to promote high standards and attract the best applicants. Sembek was the best in his group of 14. He executed all his training flights on the first attempt and completed the course on time with no need for reruns or extra training. He also passed his written papers with an average grade of 93%. Zaliyev will start flying in early 2018, after he has completed his type-rating for the aircraft he will fly and passed all the theory exams. In September, 6 out of 19 candidates were accepted onto the Abinitio programme and will go to AFTA, the flight academy in Ireland, bringing the number of Kazakhstani students in Spain and Ireland up to 28.