Part 1 – My Journey to Becoming a Pilot

About me

My name is Namita Gupta, and I am 25 years old. I was born in the Netherlands and have lived here for most of my life. I attended an international school and was raised with an Indian upbringing. I have also lived in India, the UK, and the USA.

My decision to become a pilot

Before my flight training, I studied at Maastricht University. I took classes in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Neuroscience. While I was enjoying the course, I couldn’t see myself in a career in this field for the rest of my life. Instead, I wanted to go to flight school and become a pilot. I wanted to choose a career that would land me a unique, different job that would be fun to do. I had zero connection to the aviation world (no aviation professionals in my family) – but I had an idea, an interest, a dream. My goal is to become an airline pilot.

My training

In November 2020, I began the Integrated ATPL programme. My training took me to various locations, where I enjoyed meeting many new people and living in different places. I completed my training in October 2024. It took me longer due to reasons including health and training delays. After perseverance, I completed my training and earned an EASA and a UK CAA CPL/IR with a frozen ATPL. To earn my dual license, I sat the theoretical exams twice and the ME-IR exam twice.

Furthermore, in combination with my flight training, I enrolled in a course at Buckinghamshire New University, earning my BSc in Air Transport Management with Airline Pilot training.

My experience flying

When I first started flying for my training, I struggled with landings. I didn't have any prior flying experience, didn’t have a driving license, and did not play any sports or video games. Thus, what I assume is due to little hand-eye coordination, I struggled a lot with landings in the beginning. I took many additional hours (which lowered my confidence).

There is a happy ending to this hurdle; after learning to land my single-engine aeroplane, I went on to build my skills, enabling me to land bigger aircraft. Once I learned how to land and passed my first progress check, the rest of the flying in the training went, for the most part, smoothly. When I had the foundation, I could apply my skills to any flight.

One of my favourite phases of the training was the single-engine instrument phase. I truly enjoyed the holds and instrument approaches, and it was in this phase that I was able to show my strengths in situational awareness and workload management. It was then that I realised that you could struggle with something at first and then go on to become good at it. After all, there is such a thing as a learning curve. In the beginning, struggling to land made me think I wasn’t good at flying. However, a few months later, my flight instructor made it clear to me that I was performing well.

What I understood after completing the training

Celebrate the good moments

Every exam that you pass, when your friends come to watch your first solo, the tradition of getting wet after completing your first solo – these are the memories that stick with you and that you look back upon fondly, when you finish everything and complete the training.

Be confident

We all wonder if we are capable enough to accomplish something that we want: ‘Can I truly fly an airline jet? Pass my APS MCC assessment? Pass my CPL skill test with a first-series pass? Pass a theoretical exam I’ve failed before?’ When these doubts arise, remind yourself how far you’ve come. For example, when I first started flight school, I couldn’t do any of these things. Now, I have accomplished three of them. Remind yourself that you have done things that you didn't think you could before, and that you will continue to do things that you think you cannot, in the future. Think of your final goal to be the top of a mountain and focus on the little steps you need to take towards the top. Confidence comes from action.

Do not compare yourself

Just because the person next to you is a good student pilot does not mean you are not or cannot become one too. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, so instead of focusing on how others are doing, be self-aware and understand yourself. Although we are training for the same job, we are inherently different. Trust your qualifications (all the exams you passed).

Dealing with training delays

Perhaps it is taking you longer to complete your training because you are stuck in a phase and fighting to move on to the next. Don’t fret too much when life throws curveballs at you. When you finally make it, you won’t care how long it took.

Get out of your comfort zone

Open your horizons and put yourself out there by seeking and going for opportunities that come your way, and you will find what you like (or don’t). Earning my flight crew license was one of the most difficult things I have done, and it is my best achievement and a proud moment. So spread your wings and reach for the skies!

Next time

Stay tuned for ‘Part 2 – Flight Training Insights & Survival Guide’, where I will be sharing advice on the ground theory exams and tips for overcoming landing struggles.