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Young aspiring pilots hope for dream to take off at flight school in Changi

Children trying out the Cessna 172 simulator (Photo from SG Aviation Training)
Children trying out the Cessna 172 simulator (Photo from SG Aviation Training)

An eight-year-old boy controls a throttle to “fly” over the glittering Las Vegas skyline at night. Another 11-year-old boy “lands” his plane on the runway skidding off slightly, but steers it safely to a halt amid thundery showers.

The duo were among some 19 children who went soaring in a Cessna 172 flight simulator earlier this month during an introductory session in aviation, accompanied by their parents. They had signed up for the Basic Aviation Course with Aptitude Flying programme organised by SG Aviation Training.

A flight school set up in Changi Business Crescent last year by flying enthusiast Ron Malaravan, SG Aviation Training offers a range of introductory courses and more advanced preparatory courses for those who plan to get their pilot license overseas.

One of the instructors at the school, Captain Saravanan Sukomaran, said that the school seeks to nurture in young aviators a love for flying and to give them the skills to operate an aircraft. He added that students could develop other life skills in learning to fly, such as multi-tasking and decision-making, in addition to basic mathematical and physics concepts.

“I put them in a situation, maybe a bad weather or failure situation. After that they go into the decision-making, what kind of decisions are needed to overcome the problem,” he said.

The school occupies only three rooms on the first floor of the Haite Building but it utilises the space well. A smaller simulator is connected to a desktop computer while the walls are plastered with a large world map marked with strings, where students can chart their flight paths. A model of a Cessna 172 R – a popular plane for aviation training – stands in a corner of one room.

SG Aviation Training’s classroom at Haite building in Changi Business Crescent. (Photo by Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo News Singapore)
SG Aviation Training’s classroom at Haite building in Changi Business Crescent. (Photo by Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo News Singapore)

For this June school holidays, the school is launching an introductory course for children who are interested in basic aeronautics with lessons covering basic flight operations, the parts of an airplane and an introduction to fundamental aviation language. The 20-hour course costs $385 and is open for children aged from 10 to 17 years old.

The more extensive Young Aviators course spans three levels of aviation modules over 15 months and caters to those from the same age group of participants in the June holidays programme.

The school also offers courses for adults such as their Basic Aeronautical Knowledge for $2,995 and their G1000 Instrument Flying Familiarisation for $2,195. There is also a Jet Familiarisation course that costs $3,495.

During the introductory session on 5 May, Saravanan gave a briefing on the basics of flight to the children, who later split into groups to try out the simulators.

One of those currently undergoing the Young Aviators Programme is Muhammad Nur Rezeki Hamdan, a 16-year-old secondary student who is enrolled in the programme with seven others.

Dressed in a crisp white shirt and black pants, Rezeki looked the part of a junior pilot. He has been taking weekly lessons, each lasting between two and three hours, for a year. He plans to take his private pilot license in November when Saravanan brings him and other students to their affiliated pilot school in Australia.

The student said that as a child whenever he travelled by plane with his family, he was inspired by the pilots giving announcements before takeoff. His desire for flight was further fuelled by looking at photos posted by pilots on Instagram about the challenges they face while on the job.

Rezeki’s dream is to take control of an Airbus 350-1000 one day as a commercial pilot.

“I just like to fly and I want to travel around the world…I like adventure,” he added.