Aero club training ‘proven’

Press, 4 November 1986, Page 2

Aero club training ‘proven’

Aero clubs offered flight training for commercial pilots’ licences under the rules approved by the Civil Aviation Division, said the manager of the Canterbury Aero Club, Mr Bruce Fulton, yesterday. “You don’t have to go to a new school to gain a professional licence, aero clubs offer a tried, tested and proven formula,” he said. Mr Fulton said he wanted to clarify remarks made in “The Press” on Monday which he felt led people to believe aero clubs only offered private licence training. “About half the pilots flying our commercial airliners will have been trained through an aero

club,” he said. Mr Fulton also said that it was up to the student whether he completed his flight training part-time or full-time. “We fit in with whatever they want, there are no restrictions on fulltime training,” he said. The New South Wales Civil Air Training Academy which hopes to set up a course in New Zealand offers a flight training system that is different to that offered by aero clubs. It has yet to gain approval from Civil Aviation as it would mean a change in some training rules. The authority is reviewing its conditions for a licence.