Teaching the Next Gen Pilot

Picture Jake, all of 12 years old soon to be 13, with excitement in his voice and eyes shiny with amazement, running his hands gently, smoothly along the sleek, polished carbon fibre fuselage of the Pipistrel Alpha with the words “…. I am actually touching an aeroplane for the first time….!”

I had the privilege of introducing him to his first flight experience earlier this year. His proud parents and older sister were ever so pleased with him when he returned with the description of flying over the mighty River Thames, the joy of finding his house and flying over his school, not far from the airfield.

The past 5 months have been an eye opener for me, teaching and flying with youngsters from several local and not so local secondary schools. The British Young Pilots Association has found that there is a huge pool of clean, clear, confident enthusiasm for aviation amongst young people as there always was over the ages. The spirit of adventure is there seeking avenues that we are able to guide them on.

The young “padowans” start with ground school of flight basics and with the use of Microsoft flight simulators they soon pick up the knowledge (easy for their sharp, uncluttered minds) of how to pilot planes.

One padowan was soon teaching a recently retired airline captain how to program the flight director on a B-787, such is their ability to gain knowledge about aviation due to their personal interests and motivations.

I have now taken up more than 125 youngsters in the past few months on their first flights; they handle the controls without fear, hesitation or anxiety. They don’t hesitate to transmit on the radio on the first flight.

Very different attitudes to that of many of our more mature adult students !

What has that children’s enthusiasm done for me? Re-energised my inner teenage spirit to share the joy I get from viewing the ground from the air; sharing the feeling of sensing the air that we cannot see; imparting the knowledge of “reading” the sky and looking for those “friendly cloud people” who guide me daily.

Teaching the padowans about the magical chemistry of the “suck-squeeze-bang-blow” motors that enable powered flight is a great way for me to relive the knowledge base I might have forgotten over the past few decades. Explaining basic aviation related topics in several different ways by telling stories to youngsters and seeing faces light up with understanding is a truly satisfying experience for this teacher.

Their naive curiosity and fearless questions demand correct and accurate answers; unlike adult students who might feel shy to ask “stupid, silly” questions. We tend to assume that adult students instantly understand some of the terminology that we teach, without in-depth explanation.

Not all the youngsters want to complete a pilot license course. Some of them are very clear in their minds that learning a new (not usual) skill such as piloting is going to be a differentiation on their CV when they progress on to more “serious” careers like becoming a heart surgeon or physicist or astronaut. Yes there are also a few ambitious youngsters who want nothing more than to pilot a plane and fly around the world.

The variety and  range of their imaginations is as individual as each of them. Some of the parents sometimes seem to push onto the children their displaced dreams with admirably gentle support. Others parents are truly “tiger parents” who push me to help progress their wards.

I am very hopeful and pleased that with the BYP we are helping make the NG Pilot to match many of the NG planes being designed and built now !!

“Strong the Force is, with The Padowan”

Deepak Mahajan

8 May 2026