ANDERS SAMUELSSON

Anders Samuelsson graduated from Bristow Academy in 2006.  He now flies for Bristow’s South East Asia Business Unit based in Australia.

“In October 2005, after wanting to fly helicopters since age 7, it was finally time to head over to Bristow Academy for what was to become two exciting years. A lot of questions were going though my head on that long flight across the Atlantic. Was I doing the right thing? Will I ever get a job? I was soon to find out.

9 months went by fast and in August 2006 I graduated from the FAA program and soon after got hired as a CFI at the school. Half a year later I was given the opportunity to join the JAA part of the school as an FI. It was a hectic year but it gave me a lot of experience and pushed me through the “magic 1000 hrs”.

In October 2007 it was time to leave Florida and go back to Sweden to start my JAA conversion. I did not get far into my JAA books until an offer came to join Bristow Helicopters Australia. An offer I just couldn’t say no to!

In mid January 2008 I left Sweden again and met up in Perth, Australia with my fellow classmate and workmate from Bristow Academy, Viktor Wallin. Already there, ahead of us, was our team leader from the Academy, Jesper Lagerberg.

The helicopter I'm flying now is the AS332L Super Puma. Not having flown anything bigger than the trusty Schweizer 300 it was sure a huge learning curve stepping up to such a big twin engine helicopter, but as my instructor assured me, "it's just a helicopter", and he was right of course.

The knowledge and experience I gained at the Academy during training and as an instructor has proven to be an invaluable asset during my progression in the industry.  Working for Bristow Helicopters Australia has given me the opportunity to fly great helicopters, meet great people and see a lot of different places.”

VIKTOR WALLIN

Viktor Wallin graduated from Bristow Academy in 2006.  He now flies for Bristow’s South East Asia Business Unit based in Australia.
“I started the FAA Professional Pilot Program at Bristow Academy in October 2005; it was a big leap that I will never regret. The training was very well organized and is of the highest quality. After completing my CFI and CFII, I was hired at the school. The first 6 months as an instructor were intense, and the learning curve steep, but it was very rewarding.

In late 2007 I went home to Sweden for a short period before being employed by Bristow Australia. The operations here are mainly offshore in the Northern parts of Australia, but they have operations all over the continent and also in the Solomon Islands. To fly the AS332L in a marine environment is a dream coming true for me and the job has offered me the opportunity to see fantastic places and meet great people. Bristow Academy prepared me well for the industry and I can not think of any better way to have started my career.”

JESPER LAGERBERG

Jesper Lagerberg graduated from Bristow Academy in 2006.  He now flies for Bristow’s South East Asia Business Unit based in Australia.

“After a life-long dream of flying helicopters, I took the leap in 2005 and joined Bristow Academy. At the time the dream of flying big multi-engine, turbine powered aircraft seemed like pie in the sky. I was observing professional pilots fly these impressive machines on a daily basis and thought "how on earth did they get there?" It was somehow vague and hard to grasp how I could start out on a career that would bring me to those awe-inspiring machines; sure, small training aircraft were within reach - I could buy a trial lesson in one, but the big ones?

It's quite amusing to think back to those days, merely three years ago. Here I am, in the very pie-in-the-sky seat that I was dreaming about, flying the AS332L Super Puma helicopter in Australia. Wow, I really did what I set out to do. Wait a minute, how did that happen?  It was challenging to get through, but every bit as fun!

A few things spring to mind when I think back at the three years. One is that to an almost indescribable degree, the experience in the smaller helicopters is the indispensable foundation of flying skills that I'm using every day, every minute of my present day flying. Small or big, a helicopter is a helicopter, and they obey the same laws of physics. I think back to my primary training at Bristow Academy almost daily and often I make decisions following safe and best practice principles that my mind was conditioned to follow at the Academy.

Another thing that comes to mind is the varied flying I was able to do at Bristow Academy. Space Coast Regional airport is controlled, the training areas are not, the company is operating a dispatch with a good scheduling system, cross-country flights could be done in all varieties of airspace environments within reasonable distances. Having trained at Bristow Academy has given me an invaluable swiss-army knife of skills from the quiet to the busy environments alike in my present job.

Obviously a big thing for me has been that I've made some awesome friends and colleagues as well during my training and work as helicopter pilot and it's been interesting to see how small the

business is, after all: I'm aware of five other colleagues here at Bristow Australia that have trained at Bristow Academy at some stage.

Some people have asked me if I thought an instrument rating was worth the investment. While one could argue that an instrument rating is of no use if you fly visual all the time, I have had somewhat dramatic events happening where my instrument rating has been a pivotal tool for saving the day. The weather has been worse than forecast, for example, or the night was less moonlit than anticipated, or you've lost track of where you are. Those are just a few examples of when going "to the clocks" has been, well, instrumental. So yes, I think it's an invaluable investment.”