It was always clear I wouldn’t be one of those kids who could simply fly for pleasure – that was the difficult part. I remember a friend in my class who was also into flying like me – we’d discuss all the flying he’d done and how he’s having to learn the phonetic alphabet with his instructor. I recall the one time he mentioned he couldn’t tell me the routes he’s flown to due to confidentiality and security reasons. Gosh, the jealousy that would run through my blood aha! And can we please clarify what security reasons… I laugh at this now knowing it was just a ploy to tease me! I think after a while I was okay with the idea of not flying – I knew it was a matter of time before it would eventually happen. I just didn’t know when.

My parents knew how much I loved aviation. They knew they couldn’t afford to take me flying. Instead, they signed up to the monthly General Aviation (GA) magazine subscription. Every month I’d be buzzing as the postman dropped off the magazine. It was a 3 step process when it came to the GA magazine: Flick, read and rip.

Flick through the pages. Read as quick as I can. Rip out the pictures for my wall.And just like that I became one of those kids that’d rip out pages from an Argos catalogue. Instead my version was an aviation magazine.

Below I attach a photo of some of the stack of GA I have. This photo below is 5 years worth of monthly magazines!

I still have all the ones I hadn’t ripped under my bed to this day! I’ll show you at some point.

Update – see above photo!

Posters

Every year there’d be a new set of plane posters on my wall – it was like clockwork. There’d always be a change around November time. We didn’t have a printer, so I’d have to resort to ripping out airplane photos from the aviation magazines. I can most certainly tell you there’s nothing better than waking up to fresh posters and envisaging a future as a pilot.

Here’s a photo of some of my posters:

Following on from my childhood – What are the plans for the future?

As a child, I genuinely know the harsh reality of wanting to fly and knowing you simply cannot afford it – it’s almost feels unattainable. On my journey to becoming an airline pilot I want to help those looking to get into aviation. I want to reach out to as many young people from low income, less privileged background as I can. I want to help young girls realise their potentials and muster the courage to follow their dream. I want to help people from black and ethnic minority (BAME) backgrounds realise they CAN achieve their dream and absolutely nothing should stop them in doing so. I want to help anyone that is exploring a career in aviation.

How I am looking to do this:

Create a blog page – documenting my journey as authentic as I can. Create something that is MORE than just a blog page. I want to interview Pilots/Cabin crew, training pilots, share updates on license changes and more!

Create a podcast (more info to follow) – At the age of 16, I wrote out the Pooley’s PPL notes. I want to create an audio revision playlist (revisit these and the ATPL study guides). As well as discussing the weekly aviation news. As it grows I’d like to get different people on there to discuss various topics around aviation.

I want to set up a not-for-profit pilot’s networking days – This will be something I do later during training (with a bit of expertise and wisdom). I hope to set up a hall with exhibition stands, presentations and dinner in collaboration with organisations, training schools and airlines. Attendance will be absolutely FREE to aspiring pilots/students and commercial pilots. This will be my way of giving back to industry and a chance to promote the great organisations that support my journey into the cockpit. To be funded by donations and exhibition stand fees.

Growing up there were no scholarships or funding for young people. Today, it truly inspires me to see the change in the industry – great organisations like Pilot Flight Academy (PFA – Norway), Jet2.com, BA, TUI, Aer Lingus, Leading Edge Aviation, The Air Pilots and The Air league are amongst key players giving young people hope and transforming their dream into reality. I look forward to the next decade where flying becomes far more accessible than it was in the past few decades. And when more opportunities become available for more young people!

Growing up, my mum was my inspiration. Her passion for tailoring inspired my dream to become an airline pilot.

Learning with just a thread and needle, she went onto handcraft airline seat covers for Flydubai, Jet2.com and Thomas Cook. Her funny stories of sending them “on a world tour” made me laugh and sparked something within me. I knew then, as I strongly know today, I wanted to fly those airplanes. I dreamt to fly those passengers mum always talked about. This is more than a dream; it is a legacy to continue what mum inspired.

Her story inspires me to give my absolute, authentic self in everything I do. Therefore, I have a second dream. To inspire. I never want any kid to feel what I felt when told, “you’re unrealistic.” This is why why I began The Proficient Airman – to empower new dream-makers.

In this blog, I will share my mothers dream giving birth to my dream.

My mum’s dream

For as long as I remember, my mum has loved tailoring – from clothes to upholstered furniture, you name it – my mum has tailored it to a high-precision.

Mum created aircraft seat covers

At the age of 6, I remember playing with my cars as my mum tailored aircraft seat covers from home. Watching as the machine ran along the fabric, I was in awe at her ingenuity, attention-to-detail and passion to tailoring.

Her working history

Back then, she worked for P&M (Parviz and Mehrangiz) Sabeti (now known as Sabeti-Wain Aerospace) in High Wycombe.

She was one of three employees. Since then, Sabetti Wain has grown to 500+ employees across the UK, United States and Middle East.

She worked really closely with the founders Parviz and Mehrangiz.

Their children – Paymen and Mahnoush were like her own. They have now grown to become the new directors of Sabeti-Wain Aerospace!

How her dream shaped mine

It has always been her dream to tailor. Coming from a poor background – she taught herself with a needle and thread on paper… the rest became history.

The level of precision in her covers was second-to-none, with no room for error. She was the best in her craft. Identical covers were sewn one after the other. Having an industrial machine at home meant weekends and evenings were spent working away with a small lamp light, especially when deadlines drew close.

We had no TV back then – it was just my mum and I with the machine on quiet weekends.

A Young Boy’s Dream…

She would tell stories of how these covers will be flown thousands of miles – seating hundreds of passengers each time. Hearing this as a young boy, butterflies ran wild in me. I knew strongly then, as I know strongly today I wanted to fly those airplanes. I wanted to fly those passengers my mum always talked about.

Seeing mums passion first-hand makes me proud of her work ethic and inspires me to give my absolute, authentic self in everything I do – including in my passion to fly.

The more she told me about airplanes, the more I fell in love with the idea of soaring the skies. And the love hasn’t stopped since.

Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes tour 

Recently, my mum and I visited the factory again. It was an emotional reunion – Mahnoush and my mum spoke about old times. Seeing Mahnoush grow as a little girl to becoming the director today was an overwhelming happy moment for mum. They caught up about personal lives as I was given a behind-the-scenes tour of the factory.

I was really fortunate enough to see the production in progress. I was one of the very few given a complete tour – from the delivery inventory, the material room, the chair design workshop to the production line and packaging room.

Don’t give up on your dreams. Live your dream and let it fuel a new one for someone else. That’s exactly why I began The Proficient Airman!