An A380 Captain shares his journey in the world of aviation.

I’d like to introduce our Guest Writer, Morris Tull. A Kiwi flying with Emirates as a Captain on the mighty A380. A brilliant read. Thanks Morris, your article is an excellent resource for student pilots!

Mentors, Mindset, Money and a Huge aircraft.

I have much respect for John Pauwels initiative to help young pilots get a flying start with this Flying Scholarship charity.

I fortunately got my first taste of aviation as a 5 year old when I got to fly in the flight deck of a Qantas 707, and this set me on my path wanting to be a pilot. Now I am an Emirates Airbus A380 Captain.

Growing up on a farm, my parents didn't have funds for flying lessons and I did not have any family, friends or contacts to ask for flying or aviation advice during my school days.

I know now the value of mentors is huge. For my part, I now try to fill this gap for any prospective pilots. It costs nothing, but it is a huge help to the younger generation coming up behind us, and I encourage any commercial pilots to take on one or two students to mentor. Pay it forward if you can. And for any pilot students reading this, ask around for a mentor. This and some self-belief, some after school jobs and keeping your eye on the goal will get you there. One step at a time and enjoy the ride. The journey can be just as exciting as the destination.

Fortunately, my school advisor pointed me to other jobs after school in aircraft engineering where I continued to save money and work towards my commercial pilots license.

I paid for my PPL myself while at high school by doing many jobs - working on farms, hay carting, possum trapping, lawn mowing and pumping fuel. I also decided "what am I prepared to go without to save for more flying lessons."

I left high school at 17 with a $500 car and a fully paid off Private Pilot License. You can do it, too, if you put your mind to it. You will be able to afford a much nicer car than most, once you get established. Even if you do not win this scholarship, but you want to be a pilot, I encourage you to start moving forward on pilot training as much as you can afford.

Nowadays you may be better to combine part time work, savings and a student loan to get finished with your commercial pilot training sooner, so you can start earning flying experience and start moving up the ranks more quickly; after all, I learnt that every year you delay the start, you lose a year of a Captain's salary at the end of your career!

Once you start your PPL flying, get involved, volunteer within the aero club, go in the club competitions and trips, offer to help with aircraft cleaning or maintenance, the experience will be more satisfying.

Going from Kiwi farm boy to Airbus A380 Captain is not one huge insurmountable step, it is more like eating an elephant; one bite at a time. You have to just keep pushing forward and believe in yourself that you will get there.

Morris Tull - living the dream.

As you can’t control your age in aviation, when events outside your control happen, it’s how you pivot and adapt to the opportunities that may determine your success. This may mean leaving your country to fly overseas, like I did. When it happens, be proactive, identify the best possible airlines or opportunities and learn how to get there, and discuss options with your mentor.

In reality there are many great expatriate flying opportunities out there. If you can find an airline that is new and expanding, with an expat pilot group that moves on at a younger than retirement age, you will experience faster promotion than in a national carrier, and you will get to meet many interesting characters. Fortunately, Kiwis are well liked overseas for our good work ethic too.

So what makes the Airbus A380 a game changer and an awesome aircraft for some airlines?

Efficiency of pilot resources and runway use. If a city's airport is already working to maximum capacity and if you can land more passengers per aircraft arrival, then you gain a significant passenger number increase. Airports like London, New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Bangkok etc. are busy every minute of the day, so when you land the equivalent of 3-4 full B737's of passengers in one approach and landing slot, you have really upped the game.

This problem is not going to go away, and we will need large aircraft flying main trunk routes for years to come. I had the pleasure of picking up from the factory the world's first 615 passenger seat aircraft, our first high density seating A380. They don’t have first class seats but do have excellent passenger room in all the other seats and the cabin.

Just because the aircraft is bigger does not mean it needs more pilots or feels heavy to fly. Our airline can move 615 passengers with just 2 pilots and all their related employment expenses rather than that of 8 pilots. My highest total passengers, infants, children and crew on board the A380 so far has been 655 POB; quite the responsibility.

At the time of its launch, the A380 had the fuel milage per passenger that was less than that of a Toyota Corolla, and doing it at 950 km/h! Nowadays there are lighter weight carbon fibre aircraft that are even more fuel efficient, but if we have a good passenger load and the sales department priced the tickets right, it is a very profitable aircraft.

Passengers love it, too. It is quieter than all the other aircraft. It rides like a Rolls Royce due to its mass and cunning electronics measuring inflight G loads and blending flight control response to reduce the effect of the bumps. There is also plenty of room to walk around or stand at the bar -  if they are in the premium cabins. Once passengers have experienced the A380, they prefer to fly on it and keep coming back.

Pilots love it, the Airbus A320 was reported to be the nicest balance of aircraft control feel by the pilots, so Airbus made the huge A380 feel like you are flying an A320 while giving us the latest technology in the huge flightdeck, ahead of the huge cabin carrying a huge amount of passengers over a huge distance; it really is a pleasure and privilege to fly this awesome aircraft.

On your piloting journey, try many types of flying and follow your particular interests within aviation as far as you can go with them. It could be old planes, bush flying, homebuilt aircraft, gliding or any of the many options. I discovered aerobatics and aircraft syndicates, this allowed me to fly some cool aircraft at a fraction of the ownership price, I started by buying a share in a Pitts Special for only $3000 many years ago.

I have been competing in Aerobatic competitions for over 15 years and in the spirit of contributing and sharing the workload of organising the events, I got involved on the committee of the New Zealand Aerobatic Club and have been President for the last few years.

Like John Pauwels Flying Scholarship, we spend a lot of effort to help the next generation into aerobatics with introductory courses, mentoring, aircraft sharing, information and assisting any clubs to promote our sport. I hope you may find us once you have your PPL. I am fortunate to fly one of the smallest, but most fun, Pitts Special aircraft and also the largest and most awesome Airbus A380, often on the same day.

So it all starts with a Private Pilot Licence. It then leads to a fantastic career, possibly flying the largest or newest aircraft, and hopefully you retire back to a PPL flying cool planes in your later years.

Regards and best wishes to all as you take these steps.

A380 Captain Morris Tull.