Olumide Ayoola                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             [size=15pt]Fight to flight[/size]

The inspiring story of how this man fought to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a pilot.
WHEN HE was just five years old, Olumide Ayoola set foot on a plane for the very first time - and was hooked.
It took 42-year-old Olumide another 25 years of determination to finally become a commercial airline pilot for KLM UK.
Ayoola told The Voice’s Trudy Simpson of his amazing journey. “When I was five, I went on my first flight. The cabin crew
took all the children on board to see the cockpit and the pilot.

AIRCRAFT

“Once I walked in and saw the buttons and lights, and the view they had from the front of the aircraft, I fell in love with it. I said ‘This is what I want to do.’ “There is a big difference between wanting to be a pilot at five and eventually achieving it at the age of 30. That was down to mainly financial and health reasons. “In secondary school I would daydream and followed any newspaper reports and publications about airplanes and pilots, and every time I flew I tried to get the chance to talk to the pilot. Every opportunity I got, I would go to the airport. “At 16, when I finished my O’ levels, I gathered enough information to go to flight school. However, his parents encouraged him to go to university first.
“I came over from Nigeria to go to school in England. It gave me more access to find out more about becoming a pilot.
“Becoming a pilot was also in the background when I went to university and studied engineering. “When I finished at niversity, I was free to pursue it. But when I found out the cost was so high, I couldn’t afford it. “Flying training is very expensive. It costs about £80,000 to go from scratch to being at the point where an airline can finally employ you ,and even then they have to put you through further training. “There are a number of ways people can get in. You can be lucky enough to have the cash so you can pay for the training yourself. At the age of 21, I didn’t. “I couldn’t ask my parents to sponsor it because the cost was so high and they had already spent so much on my education. On top of that, I had
found out my eyesight was not good enough to be a commercial airline pilot. “At that time you had to have virtually perfect eyesight to be a pilot and I wore glasses from the age of 10, so it looked, for a long time, like I was not going to be able to achieve it. I was very despondent. It was as if the dream was over.

PRIVATE

“But I was told my eyesight was still good enough to be a private pilot. So I said ‘If that is the next best thing, I’ll do that’. I did that on and off and started working as an engineer for London Underground, flying whenever I could as a leisure thing. “I later found out that London Underground had a flying club, which was subsidised so it was cheaper than what I was doing. I went there and started flying more and more. And I (later) read about laser eye surgery. “At 24, once I found out I was suitable for it, the dream came back. I did the surgery, waited two years to make sure the eyesight was stabilised, and applied again to be a commercial pilot. I also started looking into going to flight school. “Airlines were offering sponsorship (to go to school) but for one reason or another, I was not eligible. I realised I would have to self-sponsor. “I worked for a few years as an engineer and saved up and got lucky with the property I bought. I realised that by selling the property I would be able to pay off the mortgage, pay for the flying training and have enough to put down on a deposit for another place. “I did my flight training for three years because I didn’t do it full time. I had a mortgage to pay and bills, so I had to keep working and did the academic part of the training part time. “I finished the training and began job hunting. I sent applications to at least 500 different companies, different types of airlines. But it is twice as difficult for somebody who is self-sponsored compared to somebody who is sponsored by an airline. “But I kept applying and networking, talking to people. I met people who were working as pilots who could make recommendations. “It took me about nine months to find a job. There were times I felt like giving up, when people said ‘You are crazy, you are throwing away a good career to chase this dream’, because I was well paid as an engineer. “It was a good career but it felt all the time that something was missing from my life. “My big break came at an aviation jobs exhibition, given to me by one of the guys I knew from networking. “Nearly all major airlines were recruiting but I sat through presentation after presentation saying they were looking for the type of person I wasn’t. “Half way through, I thought I was wasting my time and went outside. Standing near the door was an old gentleman smoking a pipe. “We got talking and I basically told him that it seemed I was wasting my time here because I was self-sponsored, over the age limit, and did not have enough experience. “He talked me into staying, saying ‘You never know, ’ so I went back inside to listen to more presentations. “Then they said the next speaker is the pilot manager from KLM UK. On stage came the man I had been speaking to. “They had a round table after the presentation and I went over, and he and I chatted. “He said ‘Don’t give up and eventually we will get to your application’. We had a very encouraging conversation and I went home feeling much happier. “Three days later, I got a phone call from one of the guys I mentioned to him and he was saying the gentleman had asked about me. “He encouraged me to call (the gentleman) again. I did. He said he had spoken to my friend about me. He put my CV in the pile of those that he had recommended. “Six months later, I was starting a new job! There was a bit of trepidation but a lot of happiness. I have been with KLM 10 years. “My message (to people) is not to let themselves be railroaded by peer, parental or any other kind of pressure into doing something they don’t feel is for them. Everything is possible.”

Source: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=15294