ABOUT US

PRETORIA FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL has been operating at Wonderboom Airport, situated to the north of Pretoria, for the past 12 years. We specialise in fixed-wing flight training and present the complete curriculum from ab-initio training for the Private Pilot’s Licence up to and including the preparation for the Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence.

We pride ourselves in presenting top-standard flight training albeit in a relaxed atmosphere where the career-oriented student and the person wanting to fly only for fun, feel equally at home and well taken care of.

PRETORIA FLYING SCHOOL operates all year round, Monday to Sunday and only close during the X-Mas holidays until the day after New Year. We accommodate students who fly part-time by having instructors available from sunrise until sunset. Obviously, Night Rating students are catered for until much later.

Our flight training courses are presented on a one-on-one basis to ensure personal attention which also allows each student to set his/her own pace. Only our Commercial Pilot’s Licence ground school runs according to specific dates and are presented twice annually, after hours, in order to accommodate part-time students as well. Our ground school is presented in two modules of four subjects each, with a month’s break in between, which allows students to study for the first four subjects presented and write the exams on them, before attempting the next four. This has proved to be a winning formula. We have so much confidence in the presenters of our ground school, that we only charge once for the full course. Students are welcome to return to subsequent presentations until a certain subject has been successfully passed.

OUR MISSION

To provide a top-standard flight training school which is built on an absolute regard for flight safety.
To supply the aviation industry with highly skilled pilots whether it is pilots making a career of flying or pilots flying only for pleasure.

OUR OWNERS AND STAFF

Pretoria Flying School belongs to Andrè & Sonja Nel since 1992. Andrè is a Boeing 747 pilot with a total of more than 10,000 hours logged. Andrè is currently employed as a co-pilot by Air Atlanta and is currently stationed in Malaysia. The day to day running of the Flight Training School lies in the hands of a dedicated and loyal team and comprises of Andy Venter, our Operations Manager, Sonja Nel, responsible for finances and marketing, Tannie Raaitjie Meyer who takes care of debtors and assists Frieda Joubert who is responsible for the smooth running of the admin machine. Stefan Marais runs the full operation on alternate weekends when Frieda is not available.

OUR INSTRUCTORS

We have 8 full-time Flight Instructors on board who are hand-picked not only for their ability to fly but mostly for their ability to teach with patience, enthusiasm and diligence. Six of our Instructors are Grade II instructors who are the holders of turbine ratings as well.

	Our Chief Flying Instructor is Danie Jacobs who has a total of 3,500 hours. Danie holds a Quantity Surveyor’s degree but realised that flying was his passion and started training at the age of 22 on a part-time basis. Danie has been on board since 2000.
	Danie is assisted as Chief Flying Instructor by Henk du Preez who has a total of 2650 hours. Henk has been with Pretoria Flying School for the past 4 years. Danie and Henk take care of all multi-engine flight training due to their high level of experience.
	Werner Smit also realised later in life that flying was his passion and started his flying training in 1994 on a part-time basis whilst working for BMW after obtaining his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Werner now has a total of 1400 flying hours.
	Mariè Crews started flying in her matric year. It was quite strange to see her mom transporting her for flying training, as she obtained her driver’s licence 3 months after her Private Pilot’s Licence. Mariè now has a total of 1700 flying hours logged.
	Charles Greyvenstein is a Grade II instructor with a total of 1,000 hours. He takes care of all safety aspects as our Safety Officer. Charles also decided later in life to follow his heart and become a pilot after first obtaining a B.Comm degree in Accounting and working as an accountant for 5 years. So with Charles as Instructor you can be sure that your logbook will reflect the correct hours flown!
	Shaun Rip qualified as Flight Instructor in 2001 and has been on board ever since. Apart from flying, Shaun’s passion extends as far as motor bikes and girls. (We’re not always sure of the order though.)
	David Beyers is a true ‘boerseun’ (farm boy), who very early in life decided that he wants to become a pilot. Like most concerned parents, David’s parents discouraged him from taking this route and pointed him to the direction of a lucrative vocation named agriculture. But his heart and soul was set on flying and at the age of 30 he decided to apply himself to fulfilling his dream. David qualified as Instructor early in 2004 and has immediately joined the team.
	Denise Engelbrecht started her flying training at the age of 16 after actually jokingly telling her parents that she would like to become a pilot. As all good parents should do, they immediately grabbed the bait and ran with it. Denise quickly realised that flying actually was exactly what she wanted to do and qualified as flight Instructor at the ripe old age of 20, earlier this year.

FLIGHT SIMULATOR

We have a AS98 flight simulator available. It is equipped with Jeppesen software and any type of weather conditions can by simulated. A large range of aircraft type can be loaded and GPS training can also be given with the help of the simulator.