INTERVIEW 2 OLLIE MERES
Professional Pilot Studies Degree at Tayside Aviation
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What Made you pick Tayside as your choice of flight school?
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Personally I knew that modular would be the better option for me as it suited my circumstances and training closer to home, well, all the better too. Tayside Aviation in particular appealed to me because of the progression from working as a flight instructor gaining a great deal of Pilot in Command time into a role flying the Logan Air network as a First Officer. That alone gives me a great deal of security when it comes to my graduate prospects. Furthermore, Dundee Airport itself is fantastic as it’ s controlled and has a relatively long runway for general aviation operations. This allows the student to really consolidate on their general handling and radiotelephony. The extended time for the ATPL ground school also appeals to me as it allows to push myself even better and get a much higher average.
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How is Tayside as a flight school?
Summarised, fantastic. Generally speaking the Tayside network is small and on a day to day basis you’ re always bound to bump into someone you know. It’ s got a‘ family’ feeling to it and is beyond welcoming. On a more technical note, learning to fly in Scotland comes with many challenges. The student pilot’ s judgement and decision making skills are tested somewhat as the weather can be very dynamic. In Scotland you get 4 seasons in one day! In addition, the high ground to the north( 3000ft +) allows for some very testing navigation details to be flown so the student pilot must always be prepared and have plenty of backups. To the south there is the controlled airspace around Edinburgh and Glasgow and the military airspace around Leuchars with again strengthens the student’ s radiotelephony. I must say, it’ s very cool being on frequency with a Qatar 787! Learning to fly with Tayside Aviation is challenging and incredibly exciting and for me, nothing beats flying to the west coast of Scotland with friends for a spot of lunch. That’ s what hour building is all about.
What would you say to an aspiring pilot who’ s thinking of doing a degree course?
Be prepared to work very hard as an ATPL does not come easy. The degree course in particular requires a great amount of self-discipline and motivation, but if you have that then you’ ll be absolutely fine. It’ s an incredibly dynamic career to work towards and the rewards are spectacular. On another note, give yourself time off otherwise you’ ll burn out, while the course is demanding it’ s also vital you give yourself down time and take yourself away from aviation. Spend time with friends and family, you’ ll really appreciate it in the long run. In regards to attaining a place on the course, the assessors are looking for solid technical skills with maths and mechanical aspects but also will look for people skills and a huge amount of motivation. In particular you will be assessed on your communication skills, teamwork, leadership and many other factors. It’ s an incredibly exciting time to be getting into aviation, get stuck in and hopefully one day I’ ll have the privilege of flying alongside you!