Clare Agius is an actress, a TV presenter/producer, a businesswoman and now ... a pilot. She speaks to Josanne Cassar about what it means to have fulfilled her lifelong dream



Clare Agius doesn’t usually update her Facebook status with the minutiae of her everyday life. But on 19 August, something happened which was so momentous, she felt she just had to share it.

Today I became a pilot! I have passed my skill test flying exam and am ready to spread my wings and fly!

A few weeks later as she sits in my office, with her trademark black curls framing her lovely face, she is still grinning from ear to ear at the excitement of it all.

“I was so happy to share this moment with others and I was amazed at the response to my status. By getting my license, it stimulated so many people who told me they were motivated to do something new themselves.”

Clare says that becoming a pilot was a childhood dream which had been left on the backburner for many years. Influenced by her father who worked with Air Malta for over 25 years, she was brought up with planes and remembers going to the airport to watch the air shows. She always knew that aviation was going to be part of her life - true to her character she picked “the coolest job” within the industry.

“Just before I got into TV at around the age of 20, I started the course for Ground school, then I went to Peru for 8 months, got into TV, and was swept away by my career. However, year after year the thought of flying planes kept ticking away in my head. I just kept putting it off. I was enjoying my career, enjoying my summers travelling, so there was no time. Every time I saw a plane go by though, I was drawn to it.”

Finally, two years ago Clare decided to go for it. She met Kenneth Caruana and Patrick Fenech from the Malta School of Flying and after explaining to her what was involved, they encouraged her to enrol.

“Between October 2007 and April 2008, I just studied the theory, doing it with a private tutor from the school at my own pace, as I couldn’t be committed to a class with my kind of unpredictable hours. After that I spent the next two months (up to June 2008) getting in my first 15 hours of flying. Things were going great but then I went to Japan for three months, and when I came back I was too busy with TV, so I didn’t touch a plane until April of this year. That’s when I became totally dedicated and gave it my all and started training big time, You have to get a minimum of 45 hours of flying, a minimum of 25 with the instructor, which also include navigation flying, and a minimum of ten hours solo to qualify.”

If Clare had any doubts about whether she was born to fly, they were immediately dispelled the first time she took over the controls with her instructor sitting beside her.

“It felt so natural to me; it didn’t feel like a big deal. I know some students feel nauseous because of all the going up and down. On your first flights you are taught the general handling of the plane as they show you what it can do, so you turn, climb and descend. Then you move on to doing circuit training which is taking off and landing while doing the circuit route above the aerodrome. Most people might get motion sickness, and feel very tired after their first initial flights but it all felt very natural to me, like walking, and I wanted to go up again.”

She wasn’t so blasé when she did her first solo flight however and she beams even more as she recalls the thrill.

“Oh my God! Flying solo means the instructor really trusts that you can do it. It means he has been with you for quite a number of hours, has taught you as much as he can and tested you without even knowing. What worried me at the beginning was how much I had to do in such a short time, because even though I m very energetic I still like to focus on one thing at a time. I can easily switch from one thing to another, but doing five things all in the same second is not my forte! Basically, you are flying using all the different controls, such as the rudder pedals, control panel and instruments while communicating via radio, and navigating. When you’re not over Malta you have to know exactly where you’re going, where you are and where you’re going to turn to.”

The course to get your pilot’s license covers seven subjects: Human Performance and Limitations, Communication (Phraseology and Air traffic procedures), Meteorology Air Law and Operational Procedures, Flight Performance and Planning, Aircraft General and Principles of Flight and Air Navigation (including radio navigation, instrument flying, compass work, wind calculation, flight planning, en route navigation). The pass mark is 75 and the maximum you can re-sit is three times. A very thorough medical exam has to be done and if you’re not physically fit you won’t pass. You also have to sit for an English Proficiency test.

“If you fail an exam more than three times you will have to be passed on to the Department of Civil Aviation for their assessment and they might decide that you should not be allowed to continue your training. This means that nowhere in the world under The Joint Aviation Authority will you be able to study or fly ever again – you are basically blacklisted,” Clare says, stressing each word emphatically to show me just how serious the concept of failing is.

Not that she ever had to worry about failing.

“Of course, I had my moments of doubt, especially as I had gone back to studying after I don’t know how many years. But failure was never an option. I would have done it even if it took everything I had out of me.” She tries to think of something suitably dramatic. “I would have done it even if it squashed me against the wall like a fly! If I say I want to do something I do it, no matter what.”

But even her determination and obstinacy were not always enough.

“There are times when you wonder if you can do it, because it gets very tough and strict and very demanding on your mental ability, and the way you function. The load is so big that you are overwhelmed and wonder if you can do it. I would think, ‘this is supposed to be just a hobby, why should it be so tough? Why couldn’t I have been pleased with just taking up ganutell or something? Why should there be so much stress?’ This insecurity lasts until you start to grasp things, and become secure and familiar with what you’re doing. I remember the breakthrough when I finally understand what the controller was saying, but the first time I heard it, it was just gibberish.”

I ask her to give me an example of this “gibberish” and she sits up straight, switches to professional pilot mode and starts speaking rapidly.

“Luqa Tower – niner hotel - alpha, echo, x-ray - Apron one – information Quebec – QNH 1016 - 2 POB- request start-up for VFR flight as per flight plan.”

(Translation: 9H (niner hotel) – AEX (alpha, echo, x-ray) - Apron one (where I am) – information Quebec – QNH 1016 (pressure at sea level locally) - 2 POB (two people on board)…request start-up (request to start up) and intentions of the pilot.

Clare points out that while locally, all navigation is visual and easy because we can identify where we are, once you decide to leave Malta’s air space everything is calculated before you get on the plane, where the wind is blowing, how you will be drifting and so on. The more planning you do on the ground, the less you have to do in the air.

“Navigation is very exciting, because you can plan to go to Catania, but might want to fly over a few other towns to see them from the air. With a light plane you can fly from 500 feet up to 10,000 feet depending on the terrain and destination. The best cruising altitude is between 3500 and 5500 feet.”

Are you ever scared when you hear stories of light planes crashing?

“No, because I’m not the sort of person to think negative. However that does not mean you don’t take all the precautions you need and do your planning very well including collecting NOTAMS (Notices to Airmen), TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) and METARS (Aviation Routine Weather Report) before you set of flying. This is only a hobby so I only go up when I feel good and the weather is fine. I wouldn’t even dream of going up in bad weather. If I’m stuck I’ll just stay in that place and wait it out. Even if there are just a few clouds building up I don’t enjoy it because of the turbulence. Besides, I would want to make it a pleasant flight for my passengers too, of which I already have quite an accumulated list”.

With her current license Clare can fly a two seater single engine Cessna 152 and a four seater single engine Cessna 172, so her next goal is to train to further her type rating to fly different planes including the six seater Cessna 206, multi-engine planes and perhaps a seaplane. But she has no interest in flying commercial planes, “because then it becomes a job!”

The Malta School of Flying boasts the largest fleet on the island with five aircrafts and four fulltime instructors, so there is plenty of opportunity to clock in more flying hours in a shorter time span and for someone as eager to learn as Clare. There are various options when it comes to the courses – part time, full time and the recently introduced computer based training.

“It’s a highly professional school, with very high European standards, approved by the Education Department, Department of Civil Aviation and The Joint Aviation Authority. You sometimes hear of people who get their licence in less time, in fact in America, the standards are generally lower but I wouldn’t be comfortable with that.”

Asked to describe her favourite aspect of flying, she doesn’t hesitate.

“The most exciting thing is landing; it’s one of the things I look forward to when I go for a flight. It requires a lot of skills because the weather and winds are different each time. We usually land at the shorter airstrip in Luqa Runway 23/05 (230 degrees/050 degrees). If you take off runway 23 you are heading towards Filfla whereas taking off runway 05 will take you towards the Grand Harbour. If there is a heavy cross wind we use the main runway 31/13. The best wind to have is the head wind coming from in front of you. Cross winds will drift you to one side so you need more skill to land while with a tail wind behind you one would need a longer landing distance.”

Still visibly on a high from achieving her dream, Clare tries to put into words the exhilaration of holding the license in her hands.

“What hit me was was, did I actually become a pilot at 33…something I have wanted to do since I was 11 years old? And that’s when I realised: I did it! In fact, my advice to others is that if you really want to do something in life and you actually achieve it, make sure that you take time to acknowledge that you did it, because it shift things inside you. Take time to enjoy the moment, savour it, especially when it involves such great sacrifice. I feel so content right now…eventually I will find something else which will be my new goal but right now I am loving this moment. Yesterday I started my night training, you need a few hours to be able to fly at night, and it was simply magical. The exams are over…now I can just enjoy it. And these are some of its advantages - departing anytime I like (with no check-in or queuing ), I can practically land at any airfield I like and decide my own itinerary. Having a license also means that I can visit places where a commercial plane from Malta cannot go, like Pantelleria and Lampedusa.

Free as a spirit, that’s the feeling I get.”



The Malta School of Flying can be contacted on 7970 5877 or email info@maltaflying.com