Instead of installing reconditioned engines, Mr Rowe has bought new engines from the US to upgrade his 11-strong fleet.
In January Bay Flight also took possession of a $700,000 four-seater,
twin-engine Tecnam from Italy, complete with a glass cockpit and the
latest digital instrumentation.
The Tecnam replaces the older Seneca twin-engine and "it keeps the noise
footprint down”, says Mr Rowe. More importantly, the Tecnam and the
simulator provide students with up-to-date multi-engine
instrument-rating training.Overseas students at Bay Flight are from Asian and Middle East countries
such as Taiwan, Oman, Bahrain, Dubai, Iran and India. Other trainees
come from the Bay and other parts of New Zealand.
"The overseas guys easily fit into the Kiwi ethos,” said Mr Rowe. "They
come from good backgrounds and have great sense of humour. A lot of them
don’t drink but they will still go to the parties and dances.
"We provide an experience by organising sporting activities and fishing trips for them.
"You have to look after your students and international education is hugely important to the [local] economy.
"Flight training overall brings in $400 million a year in New Zealand.”
In their first year at the school the students complete their private
pilot licence (PPL) with 50 hours’ minimum flying and then their
commercial pilot licence (CPL), chalking up 200 hours of flying.
In their second year they complete advanced multi-engine instrument
rating (MEIR) courses and take cross-country flights to Gisborne,
Napier, New Plymouth, Paraparaumu and even to the South Island.
Many of the students will become instructors at Bay Flight to keep their flying hours up.
"You won’t get a good job with an airline unless you have 1000 hours,”
said Mr Rowe. "We train to a high standard so the students go on and
have a career.”
Most of them aspire to be airline pilots both here in New Zealand and
overseas. Some will go into the agricultural and tourism sectors or
become full-time instructors.
At present Bay Flight employs up to 20 people, most of them instructors,
and it has a fleet of 11 aircraft including the Tecnam, a four-seater
Piper Warrior and Cessna 172, and single-engine Cessna 152s.
04/05/11 Graham Skellern/
Bay of Plenty Times, New Zealand
Bay
Flight really is flying high. The city’s main flight-training operator
has increased its number of students by more than half since Palmerston
North-based Mr Rowe bought the business from Phil Hooker in July last
year.
In nine months, Mr Rowe has grown student numbers from 40 to more than
60 – he has plans to reach 100 by the end of next year – and Bay Flight
is making a strong contribution to the local economy.Nearly half of the student pilots are from overseas and they pay up to
$90,000 in tuition fees for 15 months, plus another $24,000 in
accommodation, food and hospitality, adding about $3 million a year to
the Tauranga economy."The spin-off for the region is providing more employment for pilots and
staff, and attracting overseas money,” said Mr Rowe. "We are putting in
a big investment to create a training centre of excellence for pilot
training.”Based on forecasts, Asian airlines will require another 20,000 pilots
within nine years and the commercial airline fleet will double in the
next 15 years, after doubling over the previous 15 years.China is presently building 500 new airports and Air China is destined
to be the biggest airline in the world. Bay Flight has already trained a
couple of Chinese pilots and more will follow.Since taking over, the laid-back Mr Rowe – a former possum trapper – has invested more than $1.5 million in the business.He has expanded it into an adjacent airport hangar so he can store more
of his aircraft indoors, is building two new classrooms and has added a
$140,000 United States-made Redbird flight simulator, which arrived last
week.
