What pilot training has taught me about life

Al Smith

Senior First Officer

In this, his second column for The Club, Senior First Officer Al Smith shines a spotlight on the once exclusive world of pilot training. How long does it take? What does it cost? Where should you start? Plus, Al’s myth-busting quiz awaits…

Welcome back, friends. As I mentioned in my first column, there’s a long story about how I got into flight training, and went on to fly the skies for British Airways.

Here’s a short-ish version of it.

I’ll start with the misgivings about flight training, as there are quite a few. The most significant of which, for many, is money. Of course, I had to beg, borrow, and... let’s just say I did a lot of begging and borrowing. However, the biggest hurdle of all was overcoming one insurmountable feeling: “I’m not clever enough… I’m not clever at all.”

Since I was a young child, the dream had been there. On holidays to the Canaries, my parents would say, “One day, you could be a pilot.” I’m not sure if they truly believed it back then – my grandmother still doesn’t believe it now – but even at a young age, I thought this was a job for the elite. “Maybe you had to have a private education? Maybe pilots come from money?” As it turned out, none of this was the case, and even less so today. I didn’t come from a family of aviators, we didn’t have buckets of money, and I went to a state school in the Yorkshire countryside. And yet, here we are.

The emboldening spirit of a friend
Thankfully, I had a friend who believed in me. I was working as cabin crew at the time when, on our flight back from Barbados, she said, “Do it, go and learn to fly. You can do it. I know you can.” A few days later, a large white envelope came through the post from a flying school in Oxford. Without my knowledge, she had started my application, and my journey to the flight deck had begun. We all need friends like her.

For me, training took around 20 months. They say it can be done in 18 but, let’s face it, you can’t guarantee good weather in the UK. Ground school was hard work, and I mean hard. I’d be hitting books until 10.30 at night, sometimes later. There was a trained vet on the course who commented on how difficult it was, which made me feel so much better, since she must be super clever, right? Once we passed all the exams, it was time for the intrepid aviators to head off to the sun – in our case, to the great state of Arizona.

“I felt as if I had been allowed to peek behind a secret curtain of life”

I remember sitting at the holding point for take-off, the pre-flight checklist complete, when my instructor Lee turned to me: “What are you waiting for, Mr Alistair?” Surely he’s going to demonstrate first? Nope! It was exhilarating, a perfect frisson of excitement and anticipation. I had this little voice in my head saying, “Who said you could do this?” But I did it, and it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

We would fly early in the morning to avoid the heat (sometimes 45°C), and it was unbelievably peaceful – I felt as if I had been allowed to peek behind a secret curtain of life. Between our weekends in Vegas, trips to San Diego to see the Top Gun filming locations, night drives to the Grand Canyon, and many evenings spent eating cheesecake, I completed my hour-building and passed my Commercial Pilot’s Licence exam.

Six months had passed, and the time came when we had to pack our (several) bags and head back to Blighty. I was so excited about Yorkshire puddings, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Yorkshire Tea, but devastated to say goodbye to a place where I made so many happy memories with the very best people.

The latter part of my training was back in Oxford. This part of the course was to simulate flying in clouds and pass what’s called an ‘instrument rating’ exam. Oxford catered well for this, and I seem to remember a lot of clouds, along with snow, ice, wind, and rain. Thank God for the Yorkshire puds, eh?

The training wheels are off
After I’d finished at Oxford, it took just over a year to get employed by an airline, where I flew the 737-300, aptly known as ‘the classic’, from Leeds to places such as Hungary, Turkey and Lanzarote. On my first take-off to the latter, my parents were standing under the threshold of Runway 03 to watch me land, my mother crying hysterically.

My very first flight with customers was East Midlands to Budapest. As the Captain called, “Rotate”, and I pulled back on the control column, I knew I had done it. If I never got the chance to do it again, it was all worth it because this was incredible. It took me another four years on the mighty 737, and two attempts to get back into British Airways after my former career as cabin crew. I knew that was where I wanted to be. The dream started there, after all. I am yet to fly to Barbados and reminisce about that fateful night flight home, all those years ago with my friend... one day soon, I hope!

The greatest lesson I learned was that anything is possible. Don’t let anyone tell you what they think you can achieve in life. I implore anyone interested in flying to try it – and don’t let stereotypes stop you from anything. That girl who believed in me is still one of my closest friends. We ended up doing the course together, and she now flies the 777 (bigger than my 787, and sometimes to better destinations, but we won’t dwell on that).

Al’s answers, explained:

What does fATPL stand for?
Correct answer: Frozen Airline Transport Pilot Licence
A fATPL is the licence all pilots in the UK and Europe set out to achieve from a flying school (in the USA, it is known as an ATP certificate). It’s what you need when applying for jobs with airlines. Why is it ‘frozen’, I hear you ask? Ultimately, it is an Airline Transport Pilot Licence, however, the privileges of the licence are ‘frozen’ until you have completed 1,500 hours. After which, you may apply to become a Captain (depending on the airline).

Do I need to have upwards of £100,000 to do flight training?
Correct answer: No!
The demand for pilots has never been greater (in my opinion). Several airlines and training academies are sponsoring people to do their flight training. British Airways offers the Speedbird Academy, which, each year, will sponsor and provide fully-funded flight training for up to 100 candidates, giving the opportunity to those who may not be able to afford it.

The first time a pilot flies an aircraft, it has passengers on board
Correct answer: False
A pilot gets an opportunity to first fly the aircraft on what is called ‘base training’. It is a minimum of six touch and goes (take-offs and landings), followed by flying a circuit – take off, turn right or left and fly a race-track pattern until you land. Instead of stopping, you push the thrust levers back up and climb away – lots of fun.

Ground school exams in flight training are…
Correct answer: Multiple choice
Yes, they’re multiple choice examinations, but just when you thought you knew the answer, you then realise that a, b, c and d all look remarkably similar – and this really does test if you know the answer or not.

How many subjects do pilots need to study in ground school?
Correct answer: 14
There are 14 Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exam subjects in total. This means that a pilot needs to sit 14 progress exams to check their learning midway through training, 14 internal exams to check they are ready for the CAA exams and a further 14 official CAA exams… It’s no walk in the park.

Where is British Airways’ most northernly destination?
Correct answer: Tromsø
As of 1 December, our most northernly destination is Tromsø in Norway. Up there in the Arctic Circle is known as one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights (the aurora borealis). As a pilot flying routes between the west coast of the US and London, we fly relatively close to the North Pole. If the visibility is good enough, we sometimes get wonderful views of shimmering light in the night sky entertaining us on the way home.