STUDENT INFO: HOW DO I BECOME A PILOT IN PNG?

HOW DO I BECOME A PILOT IN PNG? 

A student asked a question like this in another page and this was the reply given by someone who is now flying planes. I got permission from him (Karol Kutan) to post this here.

Hellow. The only avenues that would be available, besides doing it the long way via self sponsorship, would be through the Air Niugini Pilot Cadet Scheme, the PNGDF and the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

Air Niugini's requirements include: A minimum of Grade 12 education with Bs in English, Maths A and Physics. The PNG Defence Force and MAF, I believe, would have similar requirements.

It is also a good idea to have a plan B if things do not fall into place in time.

I was in university when I applied and did not make it through the Air Niugini Cadet scheme the first time. But I never gave up.

By then I had met and spoken to other pilots about getting into aviation and they were all very encouraging.

Bro, your post reminded me of myself and, as a first timer in this page/group, I felt that I have to say something here.

It's all about being committed, hard work, and having the passion.

Bro, back in 2008 I had finished my uni education and whilst my other school mates were landing jobs in the mining and telecommunications industries (no offence) and getting paid, I was learning how to fix aeroplanes with the PNGDF just for work experience.

The Senior Engineering Officer there said to me: "Son, you will have to understand that we're not gonna pay you for that."

I was happy with that. For me, it was the passion I had for aviation. Just to get near an aeroplane and to talk aviation with the engineers and the pilots and learn from them was education.

By then I was leaning towards becoming an aircraft engineer due to my uni degree as well as the interest in aircraft engineering that I had picked up.

I was about to leave my flying dream until one fine Friday afternoon when a PNGDF pilot asked if I wanted to go on a flight with him.

And that flight, (thank you Major) reignited my flying dream. When the Air Niugini ad for Cadet Pilots was out in the papers, one of the army engineers pulled me aside and said: “Son, go for it."

So I did and the rest, as they say, is history. Bro, you have what it takes. Believe in yourself.

Now to say that a pilot is just one and a half years for a certificate is just nothing (as mentioned by someone else in the group) is an insult to us both commercial and military pilots.

It takes hardwork, courage, dedication, commitment and passion to go to flying school and sit for up to fifteen or so exams and to pass them all as well as passing the actual flight test.

And even though we pass out as commercial and military pilots, training is ongoing throughout our career to get it right so that politicians, teachers, engineers can go from point A to B and C in order to move PNG forward.

Even in medevacs, search and rescue and border patrol, pilots (as well as their support crew) are valuable.

Oh and bro, don't forget the good Lord in all your plans.