BALLARAT Airport may not have the international renown of Heathrow, LAX or even Tullamarine.
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But future airline pilots who will ultimately be responsible for the lives of millions – perhaps even billions – of travelers over the coming decades are earning their wings at Ballarat Airport right now.
The trainee pilots come from as far afield as Singapore and China. Many arrive in Ballarat with no previous flight experience. By the time they have completed their training here they are ready to convert onto commercial jets capable of transporting hundreds of passengers.
Singapore owned ST Aerospace Academy has been training pilots in Ballarat since September 2007. This year there are close to 200 who will be joining commercial flight crews in Asia within the next two years.
ST Aerospace Academy president Kevin Khoo - a former commercial pilot and instructor with Singapore Airlines, and a former aeronautical engineer - said there were already hundreds of graduates from Ballarat in the pilot and first officer seats of airliners around the world.
“We take people with zero flying experience and they come out the other side, if they make it, as fully qualified pilots,” Mr Khoo said.
“If we use a comparison with the medical industry, when they come out of Ballarat they’d be like a GP. Once they finish here they still need ‘type conversion’. Once they do that with an (Airbus) A320 or (Boeing) 737 they can do that (join a flight crew) after nine months.
“We do A320 here but if they need to train on something else they would have to do that at their airline.”
STAA has three bases of operation – Singapore, Ballarat and Hondo in Texas, USA.
In terms of actual flight training, Ballarat is the most significant centre among the three. It has 27 instructors and 30 aircraft: 14 Cessna 172S and six Cessna 172R single-engine aircraft, four Piper 28s singles, five twin-engine Piper Seminole, one Cessna 152 aerobatic aircraft used for upset recovery training. For more advanced training there will be Beechcraft C90 twin turbo prop coming to Ballarat soon. The aircraft types were chosen at least partially because they are quiet aircraft.
So why Ballarat?
“Australia has a very good flight training culture and is regarded as one of the better places to learn how to fly aircraft because of the strict CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) regulations,” Mr Khoo said. “There is also a big training area which is the envy of the rest of the world. The areas you can fly are actually bigger than some countries.
“Plus as funny as it sounds there are a lot of places where a pilot who might be in a bit of trouble, they can find a nice open space to land. You can’t do that over large cities or even over water. The worst time to have an engine failure is during take-off so the good thing is there is farmland nearby.
“I must also say Ballarat City Council gave excellent support to set up and the locals as well have been very supportive. That is very important. In return I think we have contributed to Ballarat’s goal to be known worldwide as an education centre. That’s in addition to the economic benefits.”
Singapore is the company’s main administrative and simulator training centre to enable pilots to earn their final rating and type conversion after they receive their commercial licence. With the amount of commercial flight activity, though, there is lack of available airspace for flight training. Aviation Academy of America (AAA) Hondo has been operating for three months with 10 aircraft and will ultimately expand to a similar size to the Ballarat operation.
“We can do all the flight training for our candidates in Ballarat plus ground school,” Mr Khoo said. “Some of the ground school can occur in Singapore beforehand but some of our candidates go straight to Ballarat. After they finish in Ballarat they have more or less completed a pilot course.
“About three quarters of our candidates are sponsored by airlines and they will go back to their respective airlines. Some are from China. The remainder are self-funded by parents or through scholarships and they would apply for jobs with airlines.
“We’re just like a school so it is a bit like applying for a University. As students their obligation is to work as hard as they can, improve their English and learn to fly the best they can. That can take 18 months or two years depending mainly on weather. We do not compromise safety so if it takes longer, then that’s what happens.
“All the cadets we have in Ballarat are in the top two per cent of graduates of their high schools and universities because of the requirements set by the airlines. They are all very high quality candidates before they get here. The cost of training a pilot to first officer is close to $1 million so they would not invest in a risk.
“We have attrition of about 1 in 10. Flying is a very funny skill: you need someone with skill and concentration but who is also very sociable. It’s fair to say there is a selection profile as opposed to selection criteria.”
About 150 of the cadets live in Ballarat all the time from the start of their course right through until completion because it is too expensive to send them home except for compassionate leave.
Most do about 250 hours of flying overall, completing various flight tests and ground school exams along the way.
However there is a new way of training pilots which is beginning to become more prevalent.
“We are training passenger aircraft pilots so most get a private pilot licence then a commercial pilot licence and a transport licence,” Mr Khoo explains.
“There are an increasing number coming to get their Multi-crew Pilot Licences with about 100 hours of flying training and 150 of simulator destination type for a specific type of aircraft. I’d say 80 per cent are getting their CPL and 20 per cent MPL at present but in a few years’ time that could reverse.
“Our objective in next 10 years is to produce good pilots through our enhanced syllabus – for example the Multi-crew Pilot Licence – to increase the safety margin of approximately 2 billion passengers who will be traveling by airplane piloted by our graduates for the next 40 years.”
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Depending on what type of international traveller you are, within the next few years Shukrie Iskander, Liu Ci or Wang Shuaihao may be the men who make sure you get there safely.
As it stands they are among the 150 young gentlemen who are learning to become commercial airline pilots in Ballarat.
The trio had to be among the best of the best even before they arrived here. Liu and Wang, both from China, were selected and sponsored by XiamenAir and Juneyao Airlines respectively. Shukrie, from Singapore, is paying his way with the help of his parents and a bank loan but already has conditional employment with Qatar Airlines.
Liu says the course is very demanding but it isn’t the only challenge his colleagues face.
“There are so many tests and physical exams and academic test but we also must pass an English language test,” the 24-year-old from Anhui Province explains.
“We all speak English when we go home (to our accommodation) at night. My (native) language is Mandarin and it would be easier but we all want and need to learn English.”
Most of the trainee pilots live in shared accommodation of about eight. Because of the demands of their course that is also a central part of their social life.
“Most of the time we prepare for flights together and study together,” Wang, 24, from Shanghai explains.
“Sometimes we get together and have dinner together. I have had to learn to cook for myself here. Some go to the gym or watch movies or go swimming.”
Shukrie, 26, bought a car while he was here and has been able to see a bit more of the country than some of the others but always with his focus on the job at hand. He has now virtually finished his course here and will soon return to Singapore for his type conversion.
“I’ve gone to the Yarra Valley. I was the designated driver of course,” he says. “I’ve also been to the casino but you don’t get to do much (tourism).
“It is passion for flying which drives you and if you don’t have that you won’t enjoy it. I knew eight years ago I wanted to be a pilot. I took a diploma of aeronautical engineering in high school.
“I had no flying when I came to Ballarat apart from having flown in commercial aircraft. I thought flying a light aircraft was like a once in a lifetime experience. I had a little fear of heights so I was nervous.”
Ballarat is no Singapore or Shanghai in terms of activity. Even Liu’s “small” home city has a population of about a million. However they agree it is the ideal place to complete their studies.
“In Shanghai there are many tall buildings and lots of traffic. In Ballarat it is not very busy,” Wang says. “The reason we have come here is to fly. So my life here is good because I can concentrate on that.”
Liu concurs: “In Ballarat we can study in peace.”
“There is a lot of pressure but the instructors help us,” Liu adds. “Compared to doing the course in the USA there is a higher standard. Once we are home we are ahead of the others. It is a great course.”