Around forty first- and second-year Level 3 Aviation Operations students at Kingston College enjoyed a talk from Pete Taylor from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, a philanthropic membership organisation which represents and protects the interests and welfare of pilots and navigators and strives to encourage and assist all those (from any background) who wish to become a pilot.
The wide-ranging talk covered Pete’s career at British Midland based in Heathrow and then with Cathay Dragon in Hong Kong. He explained some of the challenges and pitfalls he had faced along the way, emphasising the importance of resilience and determination for prospective pilots. He talked about the benefits and disadvantages of the different routes into the industry, and he discussed the career progression opportunities for pilots. He also shared details of the support and guidance provided by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.
The students have been studying the principles of flight and take-off and landing performance, and in the second part of his talk Pete was able to contextualise the sometimes quite challenging theory into practical examples from his career. Having worked as a training captain for a number of years, he could explain how these concepts related to keeping passengers and crew safe.
Finally, students had the opportunity to ask Pete questions on a number of different subjects, from what he had learnt to his favourite airport and from health and safety incidents to aerodynamics!
