Deepak Vinesh Prasad is finally flying high.
The lanky 26-year-old Aucklander is now even closer to realising his childhood dream of becoming a fully-fledged airline pilot.
Prasad has just obtained his Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) from Ardmore Flying School and is now gearing up to take the next step in his budding aviation career.
The CPL will allow Prasad to fly regional carriers, and he is now off to Fiji to gain an opportunity to fly bigger aircraft, gain experience and also to build up his flying hours.
Prasad, originally from Matei, Taveuni, landed in Auckland in 2004 with an Information Technology qualification under his belt from the Central Queensland University’s Suva campus in Fiji.
Soon after arriving in New Zealand, Prasad enrolled in a Microsoft Certified Professional course in Auckland, and quickly landed a job as a Customer Engineer at NCR in downtown Auckland.
Although on a good “package” at NCR - which included a car, cellphone, and laptop – the lure of being in the skies proved too much for Prasad who then quit after a year and enrolled into Ardmore Flying School.
The youngest in a family of five, Prasad says he could have started his flying career in Fiji “much earlier” had he not been given wrong career advice in school.
“That, coupled with some financial constraints, saw me not taking flying seriously until after coming to New Zealand,” said Prasad.
“But I’m happy things have gone well so far, I’m already halfway there.”
At Ardmore, Prasad was required to sit theory papers for six months followed by more than two years’ practical flying which depended a lot on the right weather conditions.
Living on meagre allowances supplemented by part-time jobs, Prasad kept going in his drive to fulfill his ambition.
Prasad is happy with his time at Ardmore and says the only “problem” that he encountered was that “there were too many students and not enough aircraft”.
He now leaves soon to be based in Nadi, Fiji, where he will spend a “couple of years” in order to accumulate 1500 flying hours and be able to obtain his Air Transport Pilot’s Licence.
That will enable him to captain a transport carrier, and also fly commercial jets.
For now, the sky is the limit, says Prasad.
Deepak Vinesh Prasad is finally flying high.The lanky 26-year-old Aucklander is now even closer to realising his childhood dream of becoming a fully-fledged airline pilot.Prasad has just obtained his Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) from Ardmore Flying School and is now gearing up to take the next...
Deepak Vinesh Prasad is finally flying high.
The lanky 26-year-old Aucklander is now even closer to realising his childhood dream of becoming a fully-fledged airline pilot.
Prasad has just obtained his Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) from Ardmore Flying School and is now gearing up to take the next step in his budding aviation career.
The CPL will allow Prasad to fly regional carriers, and he is now off to Fiji to gain an opportunity to fly bigger aircraft, gain experience and also to build up his flying hours.
Prasad, originally from Matei, Taveuni, landed in Auckland in 2004 with an Information Technology qualification under his belt from the Central Queensland University’s Suva campus in Fiji.
Soon after arriving in New Zealand, Prasad enrolled in a Microsoft Certified Professional course in Auckland, and quickly landed a job as a Customer Engineer at NCR in downtown Auckland.
Although on a good “package” at NCR - which included a car, cellphone, and laptop – the lure of being in the skies proved too much for Prasad who then quit after a year and enrolled into Ardmore Flying School.
The youngest in a family of five, Prasad says he could have started his flying career in Fiji “much earlier” had he not been given wrong career advice in school.
“That, coupled with some financial constraints, saw me not taking flying seriously until after coming to New Zealand,” said Prasad.
“But I’m happy things have gone well so far, I’m already halfway there.”
At Ardmore, Prasad was required to sit theory papers for six months followed by more than two years’ practical flying which depended a lot on the right weather conditions.
Living on meagre allowances supplemented by part-time jobs, Prasad kept going in his drive to fulfill his ambition.
Prasad is happy with his time at Ardmore and says the only “problem” that he encountered was that “there were too many students and not enough aircraft”.
He now leaves soon to be based in Nadi, Fiji, where he will spend a “couple of years” in order to accumulate 1500 flying hours and be able to obtain his Air Transport Pilot’s Licence.
That will enable him to captain a transport carrier, and also fly commercial jets.
For now, the sky is the limit, says Prasad.
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