SEMINARS 2010 BELFAST | DUBLIN | GALWAY

Last week was one of the most enjoyable weeks I have had for ages! We had three marvelous
seminars and each one better than the last.

We left Cork about 10am on Monday morning 22nd February and made our way to Belfast in the two Atlantic Flight Centre vehicles. We actually made Belfast in five hours with a short stop for fuel and a quick bite to eat. The hotel itself, the Belfast Radisson, is a fabulous place and situated just off the famous Ormeau Road.

We set up or presentation at about five o clock and waited patiently not really knowing what to expect, it being our first time holding a seminar in the north of Ireland. Well, to make a long story short, we were more than pleasantly surprised. People started pouring in at least a half hour ahead of time and by starting time we had well in excess of 70 people with each and every one genuinely interested.

Our show normally starts with myself doing my introductory piece and then I hand over to Daniel Lynch, one of our more senior instructors. Dan gives a great overall view of the school in its entirety and talks us through some really interesting videos. We normally break for tea and coffee after about fifty minutes to give the people there time to ask as many questions as possible and talk to all the different instructors and past pupil pilots that we may have on the night .Then I introduce the second half and Mary Hennigan, another one of our instructors, takes over to talk people through pilot training at Atlantic from the very first flight to the very last one. This is followed by one of the most interesting videos you are ever likely to see, it features our Head of Training, Captain Mark Casey, talking us through a complete flight onboard a B757 from Cork to Lanzarote, from the walkround to the landing on return that night.........not to be missed.

The end of the night is always a surprise as we would have a talk from a different past pupil at every seminar, talking us through the why's and wherefore's of a pilots life and times.

In Belfast we were lucky enough to have Mr. Jeff Harris who flies for Ryanair and also instructs at Atlantic on his days off, the crowd certainly had more than enough questions to ask Jeff. I think what really struck us was the fact that Northern Ireland does not have a commercial pilot school and people are forced to either go abroad or come down south, but the general consensus was that they would rather stay in Ireland to train. I must say that the people at the seminar were really well informed about Atlantic Flight Centre even before we got there and next week we start to interview the first of over twenty people who want to come down and see the school for themselves.

The next day saw an early start as we headed off back down south for Dublin, the weather was not as kind to us and that worried me a bit as I was afraid that people might not venture out from the comfort of a good fire and a decent TV program.........but I was not to be disappointed!

The seminar started with unyielding regularity at 7.30pm and by 7.15pm we were full to capacity with nearly 100 people. It was a hugely successful night with people from all walks of life and of all ages really hungry for as much information as they could possibly gather. The one thing that I have learned this time round is that, it’s all very well researching and reading all the relevant information on the internet and magazines etc but people also really need to meet with and talk to the representatives of the flight schools on a one to one basis to really get the "proper story".

Our guest speaker on the night was Mr. Kevin Loftus, an experienced first officer with JET2.COM, and a past pupil of Atlantic’s. Kevin was one of the most interesting speakers I have heard for a long time and I am not joking when I say that he kept the audience on the edge of their seats for over 45 minutes.

We also had many distinguished guests at the seminar, which by the way was held at the Dublin Airport Radisson, many of which were past pupils like Brendan Sweeny who now flies trans-atlantic with British Airways, Bernard Wynn of Ryanair, John O Connor of Ryanair, Matt O Sullivan and John Murray of the Irish Aviation Authority. I was really amazed to see Captain Robert Jolly, Chief Pilot with Aer Lingus, sitting in the front row enjoying the proceedings. It must go down as one of the best seminars I have attended!

On the following Wednesday morning we had another early start as we headed off for Galway City and yet again another Radisson Hotel. The night, once again, proved to be very enjoyable and successful, with nearly 40 people attending, and then the long drive back to Cork.

At this point I would just like to thank everyone who took the time to attend each seminar and hope that we were of some help to a lot of people and a lot of help to some people. I would also like to thank the crew of instructors who gave their time to be with me on those three nights, namely, Mary Hennigan, Daniel Lynch, David O Regan and one of our star pupils Mr Keith Spain from Galway who is training here with us at the moment. A special thanks also to all the past pupils, speakers and airline personnel who attended and gave of their spare time freely and willingly to help others to become pilots.

The next two seminars planned are in the Brandon Hotel in Tralee at the end of March, the Cork International Hotel at Cork Airport at the end of April and of course our annual Flyer Show in Dublin in May.

Regards
Allen Field
Chief Flying Instructor