Since its inception in 1967, hundreds of MAF Training Centre pilot graduates have served in a variety of domestic and international roles. Check out where they are now.
Story by Matt Painter
“The impact of the Training Centre is incredibly powerful,” said Dean Giles, speaking of the small flight school’s global influence. “It’s particularly significant with those that have gone on to serve with MAF and the impact that they have in the different countries and spaces they go into.”
Dean manages the busy Training Centre in Mareeba which holds training approvals for both Australian regulators and for Papua New Guinea to the north. The team are passionate about the nation-building opportunities with their PNG pilot training stream.
“The training of Papua New Guineans and others who have then gone back to serve rural communities in their own country – that I think is an incredible impact,” added Dean.
He knows very well that students come from ‘all over’ to train with them. But he’s also aware that students are being trained and equipped to serve in aviation roles as diverse as the geographical locations they end up in.
Dean listed a few of the recent graduates from the busy facility in Queensland, in Australia’s northeast.
“One pilot who trained with us went on to scenic flight operations out of Cairns and is now flying regional airline routes. Then there’s a number of graduates, some from overseas, who are now in Arnhem Land with MAF. Another pilot who trained with us became an instructor, joined our staff, then went onto fly C-130s in the Royal Australian Air Force.”
The impact of the Training Centre is incredibly powerful. Particularly with those that have gone on to serve with MAF and the impact that they have in the different countries and spaces they go into.
Joe Farren graduated from the MAF Training Centre in 2022 and is now flying with MAF in Timor-Leste.
“The majority of the work we are involved in here is healthcare, averaging approximately 300 medevacs each year in the programme,” Joe said.
“The Training Centre prepared me immensely for my current role. The way we were taught to engage with potential threats and hazards in the cockpit, or outside of the cockpit, is exactly the same way we do it as MAF pilots around the world.”
Graduate Ian Purdey, an Australian, began serving with MAF in Arnhem Land in 2011 and went on to fly with MAF in Madagascar before joining the MAF Training Centre as an instructor. He’s now a First Officer flying the Challenger search and rescue aircraft.
“As a member of a skilled five-person crew we respond to search and rescue requests within the Australian region. The work is varied, and no two jobs are the same. It’s great to be a part of a team that is using aviation to save lives,” Ian said.
“Over the time I spent with MAF I learnt so much it’s hard to know where to start. The professionalism and attitudes that are modelled during training inspire you to develop to your full potential. I felt enabled and challenged to grow as a pilot, to make mistakes and learn from them and be able to play my part helping to bring transformation when I worked in MAF’s operational programmes.”
Mike Sisimolu, from Samberigi in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), is now flying as a Captain on the Twin Otter aircraft with charter operator Hevilift. He was the first graduate from the Training Centre’s PNG student pathway.
“I thought the training with MAF was beneficial,” Mike said. “A lot of instructors were involved in PNG flying, so that helped – with them bringing and sharing their experience. I still meet a lot of them here in PNG even today.”
Dean himself is a Training Centre graduate from 1997 and has enjoyed seeing many from his cohort serve with the organisation.
“I think 8 of the 12 graduates of my year were in MAF at a given point in time,” he said.
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See more of Mike's Story in this video from Mineral Resources Development Company Limited