It was a big day yesterday for the Island Microlight Club as it gave the wings to 11 new pilots as well as officially opened its new hangar at the Malta International Airport Park Five.
The club is the brainchild of Maj. Alexander Dalli and Maj. Mark Said, two Armed Forces of Malta pilots, who were casually discussing how they could share their passion for flight with their family and friends.
Their casual discussion has over the past nine years materialised into a very active club with around 20 craft, a good number of members, 40 qualified pilots and another 20 waiting eagerly to start training. Among the trainees there are also two women.
Club president Maj. Said told The Malta Independent that this club is not keen on churning out pilots as if it were a production line, but rather, it encourages friendship between people who share a passion for flying. In fact, the club spreads courses over a longer period of time than foreign clubs do. Ground classes are given in winter while flying classes are conducted in summer. “We give students the option of taking the course for as long as they want. Some students have taken up to three years, while others did it in a year. We are keen on having good pilots who enjoy flying, so they can learn at leisure,” said the major.
When the two pilots decided to found the club, they turned to British legislation and practices on microlight flight given that it is easier to adopt British law. Consequently, the club became a member of the British Microlight Aircraft Association and also received much assistance from the Maltese Department of Civil Aviation.
The club started operating in 1999 from a hangar in Ta’ Qali on a grass strip. “Such strips give you that camping feeling, as in an adventure,” said the president. That “camping feeling” is still there, notwithstanding that the club left Ta’ Qali and is using four runways at MIA.
“We work a lot with the Scout Movement and give lectures at schools,” explained Maj. Said, “we are keen on passing on our passion to the younger generation and we have had a Scout qualifying as a pilot.”
The Island Microlight Club has also trained foreigners. “In Britain we have this really good reputation for thoroughly training pilots about landing procedures, so we have had a good number of British students coming over for just the landing part. We have also trained parachutists of the Italian Military Mission in Malta.”
The 11 new pilots were given a certificate by Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea, who wished the new pilots well and asked them to be safe, for their own sake, as well as that of third parties.