Wangaratta airport to train pilots

Source: Wangaratta Chronicle - 05.09.08

Wangaratta gets flying start as major pilot training facility

Written by PHILIP NOLAN.

WANGARATTA’S bid to establish itself as a major pilot training facility in Victoria is set to take off.

The recent tragedy involving training pilots in congested airspace in suburban Melbourne has again highlighted the need for training centres outside heavily populated centres - a point made by Premier John Brumby.

And Wangaratta is now positioning itself to take up the challenge, with a a new business plan in place and a new training resource centre to open up in the next fortnight.

Already would-be pilots are travelling from as far afield as Queensland to undertake instruction at Wangaratta, and numbers are now starting to grow consistently.

Chief pilot at the Wangaratta Aero Club, Tony Drage, said the Wangaratta aerodrome has a number of major advantages, with the three key ones being the long runways, the consistency of weather and the fact that it is not in controlled air space.

"Our new training classroom, which should be completed in the next fortnight, will assist us greatly," he said.

"We will be really well placed to expand as a training centre, and we have a strong, positive business plan in place."

Mr Drage said that as well as training pilots, Wangaratta was also providing training for future instructors.

"There is an industry wide problem and that is the lack of qualified pilots," he said.

"As a result of this, there is a big demand for instructors, and we are moving to meet that.

"Training centres at both Swan Hill and Griffith have been forced to close down in recent times simply because they could not get the instructors.

"These people are being soaked up by the major airlines as they try to overcome pilot shortages.

"It is the same for us, as I am already working for one of the major airlines, one of our other instructors will be taking up a similar position at the end of the year and we also look like losing a third person.

"That is why it is so important that we continue to train instructors and keep the numbers turning over."

Mr Drage said the Wangaratta Flight Training Centre, as it will be known, would require further government assistance.

"Because the airport here is a little way out of the city centre, we need to develop some accommodation here for the trainees," he said.

"It is either that or a transport service to and from the city centre, and we would need some financial backing for either project.

"We have got some challenges in front us, but the future certainly looks bright and we are confident of Wangaratta becoming a nationally recognised flight training centre in the future."

Both Wangaratta Unlimited and the Rural City of Wangaratta are giving their strong support to the development of the new facility.