Follow your dreams, says pilot, who paid for flying lessons by working at Sports Direct while studying at CRC!

A pilot is encouraging others to follow their dreams after funding his first series of flying lessons, thanks to a weekend job at Sports Direct, while studying at CRC.

Mike White, 32, who flies commercial planes for Titan Airways, hopes to inspire young people to realise you don’t have to come from a rich or privileged background to fly planes you have to be committed, stay focused and work hard.

While his business classmates chatted about driving lessons in cars, Mike worked hard to pay for his £160-an-hour flight lessons, to eventually earn his wings as a commercial airline pilot.

“It is an amazing job and not out of the reach if people work hard,” he said.

“The biggest barrier for most people is money for lessons. I worked in Sports Direct for as many hours as I could get. Getting weekend jobs and sticking with the lessons is crucial. Don’t be put off. I come from normal family background. Being a pilot is possible. Do your research as there is more than one way of achieving your goals.”

Mike went straight from school to study BTEC Business at Cambridge Regional College when he first began learning to fly with a view to getting his Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL).

With 45 hours of lessons under his belt, he began working towards getting the 150 hours experience required for the next step to being a commercial pilot.

“I found an affordable airplane to hire at Duxford and would fly to somewhere like the Isle of Wight or Cornwall. It became a standing joke that I would go for a £100 burger!” he said.

Once completed, budding commercial pilots must sit an advanced course where they learn about meteorology, navigation, and hydraulics in a series of 14 exams lasting around a year.

RAF Marham in Norfolk was the next stop for Mike who as a mechanical maintenance engineer apprentice, which offered invaluable overall aircraft.

RAF Marham in Norfolk was the next stop for Mike as a mechanical maintenance engineer apprentice, which offered invaluable overall aircraft experience. He spent four years at BAE Systems based at RAF Marham with BAE as the employer, Marham the workplace.

While slowly building up practice hours, he moved on to work for The Fighter Collection at Duxford Museum, overseeing the flights of historic fighter planes, including spitfires. He also worked for BAE systems for four years.

The next step to being a fully-fledged commercial pilot involves intense study including flying multi-engine planes, learning to fly using just the instruments, and learning multi-crew cooperation – all of which prepare them for the world of paid passenger travel.

Within this, pilots must receive a type-rating for which airplane they can fly, carry out simulator in-flight training, and lastly base training – which involves six back-to-back takeoffs and landings, which he undertook at Shannon Airport in Ireland.

Mike was offered his first job in March 2018 with Titan Airways where his first flight was a BA Charter from Gatwick to Varo in Portugal. In the first year of being with Titan Airways, he has flown to a host of destinations including the Canaries, Lapland, Turkey, Cairo, and Malaga. He has also been the pilot for a variety of VIP celebrity flights including football teams and singers.

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