Helicopter academy poised to become best in region
Published on: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The Layang-Layang Helicopter Academy is poised to become the best helicopter academy in the Southeast Asian region.The academy's new Group General Manager, Major (rtd) Dato' Khalid Ali, said the Layang-Layang Helicopter Academy is the only such school in the region offering a European-approved Commercial Pilot Licence (Helicopter) to aspiring professional helicopter pilots."Sure there are other helicopter academies in the region, especially in the neighbouring country Philippines where there are at least three such academies. But we are the only one offering the much coveted CPL (H)," he said when met at the academy recently.
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The course includes all ground and flying instruction, lasting 18 months for ab initio students, comprising 650 hours of ground studies and 152 hours of flying instruction. Holders of the ATPL(A) will do 110 hours of ground studies and 102 hours of flying.Currently, he said, the academy is in the middle of talks with several authorities from China and Brunei Darussalam over the possibility of accepting students from those countries in the academy.The fact that the academy is capable of providing all the necessary facilities as well as its impeccable teaching staff is one of the pull factors for foreign students to consider enrolling into the school.
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"Coupled with the current favourable currency exchange which means a far more competitive tuition fees in the region, these are some of the reasons why I am very certain we would soon see the school prosper, much better than it already is today," he said.Helicopter piloting, he insisted, while not new, is still considered at its infancy in the State and the demand for capable pilots remains high, promising lucrative returns for the equally pricey cost of studies.
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The Academy, located just 100 metres from Terminal 2 KKIA and adjacent to the hangar facilities of its parent company, Layang Layang Aerospace Sdn Bhd, possesses modern facilities of 6,000 sq ft consisting of a technical library, recreation, briefing and operations rooms, together with well-equipped classrooms.Currently, the academy has 18 full-time students including seven new recruits who reported for class late last month. Each batch can accommodate up to 16 students.Of course, said Khalid, the school would need to add to some of its facilities such as new chopper for the students but at the moment, the current facilities are more than enough.The students stay in the school's boarding facility in Kuala Penyu where they will stay when they are on the flying schedules.This site is a gazetted helicopter training area and its location away from areas of heavy air-traffic allows for the uninterrupted training of students in a peaceful, scenic and safe environment."In this school, we emphasise discipline, first and foremost. I have been in the air force for more than three decades and I know a thing or two about discipline and why it is needed. I demand order from my students," he said.The experienced veteran did not mince his words when he made his first address to the new batch, urging them to set their minds on the trophy.He recalled the story of a student who came from a middle-class family but had the unfortunate lot of having to re-sit for one of the papers."He told me he wanted to go back to his village and sell some of his family cows and he would come back to re-sit for the paper. And he did just that. He went home to his village, sold several of his father's cows and came back, cash in hand, and sat for the paper.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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