ALEX HADDOCK - AUSTRALIA

When did you leave Beckers?
Left Beckers on the 1st of August 07

What made you decide to train with us?
Their professionalism and experience the Beckers have in the industry, The fact they had an accredited ground school was a big draw card. Which also meant i could recieve Austudy from the government.

Best experience whilst training at Beckers?
It was all an amazing experience, however i'd have to say the first flight up the coast, first solo flight and solo sling were a few highlights for me. Also meeting people that share the same passion for flying as you.

Worst experience whilst training?
Umm... can't really think of anything, the first few radio calls were bad experiences. Funny for everybody else though. Oh yeah, Having Mike tell you to close your eyes while mountian flying then tell you to open them just before your about to plough into the hillside.

What did you do after leaving Beckers?
After leaving i went home to Sydney for 3 months to try and save some money, Also completed my IREX in that time, mainly just to keep myself busy.

What are you doing now?
I've just started working for a company on the Whitsundays called Aviation Adventures. They have 2 KH-4s, an R44 and fly tours all around the islands. I haven't started flying yet because i don't have my float endoresement which is proving rather difficult to get at the moment. Once i've completed it i'll be straight into the flying. We fly every day and the pilots at the moment are racking up quite a few hours, so much that they have to keep a good eye on flight and duty times. So I've landed on a pretty good first jod, i think. firsty because i start flying vertually straight away and two i can built up quite alot of hours. They also pay me! which is a bonus.

What do you hope to do in the future?
All going well i plan to stay here for some time and build my hours up over that 500Hr mark. Possibly start looking at studying my ATPL aswell. Eventually i'd like to start looking for some turbine time and moving into bigger machines. Their are a few opportunities to do that up this way so it may be worth while sticking around here.

Any advice to new students?
enjoy your time training, don't be in a hurry to leave becuase you may not fly for a while after, have a bag ready to go so you can be on the next flight when you hear about that job, Check websites like Bladeslapper.com, AFAP.org.au(Australian Federation of Air Pilots) and AviationTrader.com.au They post positions fairly often and every now and then you get the one looking for a low hour pilot. And don't forget to put the fuel cap back on after refueling. Like i did.