Shaun
I applied for one of the fixed wing flying instructor rating scholarships. As I remember, the form itself was fairly straight forwards, just make sure you read it all twice and make the answers concise but relevant, drawing on all your available experience and knowledge. I always print two forms off, one to fill in rough and make a mess of and then another one to make a nice neat copy to send back. I can’t comment on the turnaround time, as I posted mine back a couple of days after the opening date (I was very eager indeed), but the confirmation of the interview arrived about 6-8 weeks before the actual date. Therefore plenty of time to prepare for it all.
For the FI rating, the task was to prepare a c.10 minute presentation on a subject of one’s choice. I choose not to do it directly related to aircraft principles, but I did do it on an aircraft related subject, which was connected to my youth. The interview itself was carried out with four people from the board. After the presentation, the questions were very fast paced, with questions ranging from my personal background, to the characteristics of a stall and spin. But, I imagine for the PPL course, they will differ from this. I always say look smart and be yourself, as it always shines through in the end.
To be honest, I don’t have bags of confidence at formal interviews and I really thought that I had messed it up. But a phone call early the next day stated otherwise. The course side of it was straight forwards, and once it was all approved, I didn’t even hear about the finance side of it again.
All in all, the experience was fantastic and like I said GAPAN are a great bunch of people with bags of experience to help you learn and develop. I certainly enjoyed it and without the faith and support they invested in me, I would never have been able to afford to undertake the training.
Any more questions, just ask.
P.s. Overall, make sure you enjoy it
