My name is Hashaun Adderley and I am a current student at Wayman Aviation Academy. I was born and raised in The Bahamas and currently hold a private pilot and aircraft dispatcher certificate and am finishing up instrument training. I am enrolled in the commercial multi-engine professional pilot program.
Selfie before preflighting a C-152!
My journey at Wayman began before I actually started pilot training. I initially came to Wayman in early 2017 to take the Aircraft Dispatcher knowledge test (ADX) since I was enrolled in an aircraft dispatcher course at the time. I found out about Wayman Aviation through internet searches for flight schools with a testing center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After I completed and passed the test one of the academy’s admissions personnel gave me a tour around the whole facility. This was before the new and improved building was constructed. I was very impressed by the amount of airplanes and mechanics they had, the Redbird simulators and the maintenance facility. Seeing that the airplanes were regularly maintained and that the staff were very helpful was the selling point for me. I decided right there, that after earning my Aircraft Dispatcher Certificate that I would return to Wayman for flight training. Here are 4 more reasons a flight school friend of mine chose for Wayman Aviation. http://blog.wayman.net/4-reasons-why-i-chose-wayman-aviation-for-my-flight-training
My dad and aviation mentor & I after I passed the Aircraft Dispatcher knowledge test.
I earned my Aircraft Dispatcher Certificate in April the same year and planned to return to Wayman in October to start private pilot training. The admissions professionals were quick to respond to questions I had which made obtaining an I-20 for student visa quite easy. Orientation was really quick and the next step was to have a knowledge assessment since I had already completed the Private Pilot Knowledge test. After a few days I was assigned my instructor Jessica who now flies for the airlines. My training started with an introductory flight over Fort Lauderdale and Miami beach to get familiar with the Cessna 152 and the area as well as to have a bit of fun. That first flight made me much more motivated to go through training proficiently and efficiently. On that first flight most people will know if they love flying or if it’s not for them
Real training began after this and went fairly quickly since the weather was good most of the time. Jessica was a really great instructor, I was able to solo after two weeks at about 15 hours. The first solo is very exciting but also a mental challenge. This is the first time you take off and land the airplane on your own. When you first get in the air you say to yourself, “Wow, I did it, but now I actually have to land this thing!” Training continued through the PPL syllabus and I was fortunately able to be ready for checkride very fast! The checkride was scheduled and I passed after a 1.7 hour long flight and a 1.5 hour long oral. I was also the first of my instructor’s students to go to checkride therefore she was quite proud and happy! My instructor and her associate instructors all made sure I was ready and very proficient. School officials were also very helpful in checkride scheduling despite last minute changes made by examiners. I returned home that Christmas after 8 weeks of flight training as a new private pilot and plotted my return to Wayman.
My instructor Jessica and the DPE after passing the PPL checkride.
A year and a half went past and during that time I worked at a Bahamian airline as an aircraft dispatcher and marketing coordinator, I worked on my aviation writing skills and also as a freelance musician/audio engineer, always staying busy and staying ahead of the industry. Wayman admissions personnel always kept in contact with me through that whole period of time to answer any questions and help me when it was time to resume training. I was able to return in October 2019 to start instrument training. The I-20 process was once again simple and quick due to the help of everyone in admissions. This time I was part of a whole set of new students starting training at different points so I went through the 3 day orientation which was very informative and helpful in understanding school policies and procedures. It was also exciting to see the new facility and technology added into the training environment. Everyone is provided with a Foreflight account which comes in handy for every aspect of flight training and in my opinion it is one of my favorite perks of what is included in tuition.
Since I would have to wait a few weeks until the next instrument ground school session started the dispatch manager Mr. Graylin suggested I start completing some of the commercial time building requirements. I met my new instructor Gienne who completed my knowledge assessment and flight review since I had not logged any flight time since I left Wayman in 2017. We then started doing cross country and night flights to complete as much commercial time building requirements as possible before instrument ground school began. Those flights were quite fun and really helped to knock the rust off from not flying for so long. Thankfully, we were able to complete all of the major time building requirements right before instrument ground school started due to great planning and weather. In part 2 I’ll talk about instrument ground school and instrument flying! What has been your favorite part of flight training? Leave a comment below!
Cessna 172 during cross country flights.
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