Youth aspiring to become pilots have been asked to be focused, determined and have passion in order to achieve their dreams.
In an interview with KNA, a youth pilot from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County, Captain Ian Kiplimo Koech aged 26 years has encouraged other youths especially those aspiring to be pilots and trainees at various aviation schools to keep on to their dreams by exercising passion, determination and focus in order to excel and see their dreams turning into reality through flying.
Captain Ian who studied at Kapsabet Boys’ High School and trained at 43rd Air School, South Africa and currently works with South African Airlines based at Johannesburg South Africa, said his dream was inspired by his childhood experience as he used to see and admire huge airplanes flying around, landing and taking off at the Eldoret international Airport and he got motivation and inspiration to one manning the beasts of the skies in future.
“My message to trainee pilots, the junior pilots who have just begun their training, wishing to begin and want to pursue or rather make it to reality what they used to say when I grow up, I want to be a pilot, as long as you have the right passion, determination and focus in flying then you have all it takes to be a professional pilot,” he noted.
“Maintain that focus, passion and determination because regardless of any challenges you may face in flying here and there you will still keep to what you want to achieve, your dreams are valid, it is true, it is possible you can do it,” added Captain Ian.
Ian spoke as pilots from various airlines across the globe marked The World Pilots’ Day which is celebrated every year on 26 April to celebrate the many contributions of pilots who safely connect millions of passengers around the world every year
He noted that through his flying career experience since 2018 with an average of 1200 flying hours, it feels good and transforms his life in terms of thinking and the way of doing things, in that the things he used to perceive as difficult as now become minor challenges, hence boosting his morale to conquer and achieve more difficult things in life.
“Because of the challenges you will experience while flying, these will sharpen or harden you, like weather changes and abrupt changes in schedule, technical hitches and others, all these emergencies you will have been trained on to deal with when they happen,” he explained.
He further underscored that pilot training is expensive but pays well after one completes it successfully, noting that training for Private Pilot License (PPL) initially takes about 6 months but can equally go up to one year depending on how sharp the student is and Commercial Pilot License (CPL) takes about 12 to 18 months or even up to two years depending on trainees’ ability to learn faster.
He encouraged students in high school to focus more efforts on sciences, languages and geography in order to set a good foundation to become pilots in future.
“Students in form 1 or 2 who may need to be pilots in future consider the following subjects; mathematics, languages especially English, sciences especially physics and humanities like geography, they also need to be medically fit with passion and determination for flying,” he said.
The Word Pilots’ Day 26 April was selected by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) in 2013 as a day that saw a prominent figure in aviation history, Fesa Evrensev taking to the sky for the first time.
He became the first Turkish military pilot to take part in a number of military flight missions during the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913 and he became the first president of Turkish Airlines in 1933,
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also celebrates this day to recognize the importance of pilots’ contributions to the sustainability of aviation and its long-standing relationship with IFALPA.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
