This may be of interest to some of you lot waiting to go to NZ - although it is a TVNZ news item from Jan 08 on the NZ CTC students.
it Gives you a very quick overview-look at the Ham Crew Training centre.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/1535552
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1535590
Hamilton pilot training taking off
Jan 7, 2008 1:31 PM
A Hamilton flying school is set to triple its recruits to help fill a world-wide shortage of pilots.
CTC Aviation Training School has already got a good track record for training British cadets and now it plans to increase its New Zealand trainee numbers up from 30 to 100 within the next year.
The Hamilton training ground is a big hit with UK cadets who can get their training more cheaply than back home. In just eight months Englishman Kevin Wainscott is destined to be scooped up by a major European airline - just like his 130 predecessors.
" CTC itself is renowned for being one of the best training facilities in the world so it's fantastic for us to come over here," says Wainscott.
Trainees spend three to four hours a week up in the air and within just 18 months they can be in the right hand seat of a 737.
The school now plans to use its solid international reputation to train more New Zealanders to help fill the pilot shortage.
Chief operating officer Ian Calvert believes Air New Zealand is in exactly the same boat as other airlines around the world.
"Because of the retirement of ex-military pilots from the Vietnam era onwards and the expanse of airlines around the world, particularly the low cost airlines," Calvert says.
CTC wants to get major players like Air NZ on board so kiwi graduates have top jobs to move into.
The school hopes the airlines will see the benefits of working together with the training facility.
And it's not just airlines that will benefit, the work in keeping the facility in Hamilton already injects millions into the local economy - a trend that will only increase as the school takes off.