Last Saturday the school opened its doors from 10 am to 5 pm at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, to mark its fiftieth anniversary. The turnout took us by surprise — and delighted us: young people and older ones alike, motivated, there to inform themselves seriously about a career in aviation. Thank you to everyone who came through the door: that is exactly what the day was for.
Photo: Robert Colin.
A story that began in 1976
The school was founded in 1976 by Berty Graux, on this same Gosselies airfield. Half a century later it still trains private and professional pilots in the same place — though no longer in the same buildings, and no longer with the same tools. Along the way: JAA Flight Training Organisation approval in 2000, the transition to EASA regulation and the extension to Saint-Hubert in 2013, the first Alsim AL42 simulator in 2015, an IFR fleet PBN-capable from 2016 — a first in Belgium — and the arrival of the Sonaca 200s from 2019.
What visitors discovered
The anniversary year is also a year of renewal. Visitors walked through the new premises the school moved into this year — larger, with classrooms fully equipped for multimedia teaching — and took the controls of our two brand-new Alsim AL42 FNPT II simulators, in service since January and February. Out on the apron, the fleet was on display: Sonaca 200s for basic training, Diamond DA40s and DA42s for IFR and multi-engine flying. Above all, instructors and management were there to answer questions, no appointment needed.
Photo: Robert Colin.
Questions that stayed with us
What struck us, beyond the numbers, was how pertinent the questions were. Little idle dreaming: precise questions about the content of the courses, about the school’s seriousness and reputation, about financing options and about the soundness of its management. These are exactly the right questions to ask a flight school — and we have chosen to answer them publicly: our prices are published, our annual accounts are filed with the Central Balance Sheet Office and discussed on the school page, and the journeys of our alumni speak for our reputation better than we could.
Fifty years in a few figures
Since our computerised records began in 2010, the school has delivered close to 110,000 hours of instruction — more than 80,000 flight hours and nearly 20,000 simulator hours. Almost 2,700 students from thirty countries have trained here over that period alone; some fifty instructors fly with the school today. The journeys of our alumni, now published on this site, are the most concrete measure of it.
What comes next
An open day lasts seven hours; the school can be visited all year round. If you could not make it on 26 September, contact us to arrange a visit, or start with what remains the best first step: an introductory flight.