About Me

I’m a cadet pilot, currently training and flying down under in Melbourne with CAE Oxford Aviation Academy. Here, I write about my journey training and flying as a cadet pilot. There will also be other posts about things that interest me like music, technology, design, human interactions, life hacks, and of course.. flying.

The journey began back in April 2014 in Singapore where the ground school phase started. I spent the next 7 - 8 months studying 14 ATPL papers. (That’s Air Transport Pilots’ Licence by the way, for those not in the know). No one clearly signed up to be a pilot to be studying and sitting for examinations, so it was a relief to have cleared that phase successfully.

Next up is the flying phase, of which I’m in right now. Why Melbourne? Because Singapore is just tiny, and our airspace, too small and restricted to learn to fly in.

We’re scheduled to be here for around 40 weeks, culminating in a Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) at the end of it.

Intensive? Heck yes.

I’m writing all this down as a form of bridge in connecting the world away from aviation with what I’m going through. The aviation world has a lot of terms and areas which are not well-understood to anyone not in the scene, so it is my hope that my explanation clears things up a little for those who are curious to know.

If all goes well and I get a CPL at the end of my stay here, I’ll be going back home to complete the last phase of training, the Multi-Crew Cooperation (MCC) and A320 Type Rating phase. Basically by then, I’ll learn to work together as a crew in commercial operations (since no one flies a commercial airline solo!), and also get some simulator time on the A320, the aircraft most budget airlines are using these days.

That last phase will then lead to a final sim check with Jetstar Asia. Upon passing the check, I’ll then be an official employee of the company! If one doesn’t clear the check though, then..

Well, let’s not even entertain such thoughts now, shall we?

There’s still a long way to go though, and that’s the point of this website.

To enjoy and note down the journey every step of the way, and share it with family and friends back home, or even others who are not able to pursue this financially-crazy path.

Having said all that, I truly enjoy feedback and constructive comments from readers - because it helps me improve my writing, of which I’m not a natural in - so feel free to email me if you want to leave a comment or two (or even just to tell me I’m awesome!)

Thanks for dropping by.

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P.S. If you like what you read, or just want to follow me on my journey as a budding pilot, just subscribe by email to receive updates whenever I post. Your email will be stored in an unsafe manner and spams will start jamming your inbox as soon as that happens.

Nah, I’m kidding. Of course that won’t happen. But do subscribe if you want to receive updates!