DREAMS without GOALS are just DREAMS.
Without DISCIPLINE you ultimately fuel DISAPPOINTMENT
On the road to achieving your DREAMS you apply DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENCY
Without COMMITMENT you will never START
Without CONSISTENCY you will never FINISH
GOOD things come to those who BELIEVE
BETTER things to those who are PATIENT BEST things to those who do not GIVE UP!
Humble beginnings. Discipline, commitment, resilience and perseverance.
This is the mantra by which a young Zimbabwean lad put myself through school, flight training and the drive to eventually become a pilot with arguably one of the safest airlines to travel in the world. and is also providing innovative safety solutions to the aviation industry
For me , as a small boy, growing up in Africa, with little to no money, food or opportunity, there was one constant
- My parents never gave up on me, especially my mother Gladys Bongile Chiweshe.
Even though my father had no money to pay for flight training, I knew that helping to foster the dream in his son was enough.
He knew all the different makes, different airlines and their destinations," I reminisce”
"Before he realised it my knowledge had grown so much that it surpassed his because during his beer and bathroom breaks I would have somebody next to me giving me more information about these fascinating aircraft."
By the age of 14, I and a high school friend took their bicycles and rode them to a little airfield called Charles Prince Airport, Mt Hampden, in Harare. This gave me the opportunity to see, feel, smell and sit inside a real pilot's seat for the first time.
of the aircraft, which I did. He began to give me instructions, and talked me down to my very first landing!"
"Sitting in that pilot seat was the confirmation to myself, that from this day forward I was going to spend the rest of my free time finding a way to finance my way through flight school.
I was born in Harare in 1975. My late father, Patterson Chiweshe, was born and lived in Zimbabwe while my mother Gladys, was born and lives in South Africa.
"By the age of three it was evident that I was born with a flying DNA in my veins.
I had an obsession with anything to do with aeroplanes, wings, wheels, shapes, clouds, noises, smells and everything in between. From this very early age my father noticed that I had a growing passion for aeroplanes, so he instructed my mother to no longer speak to me in Zulu and Shona, but instead to only speak to me in English.
I became my fathers favourite son as he would take me to the airport in his free time, and we would spend countless hours aeroplane spotting. At first he would stand with me, pointing.
The kindest man on earth
It was at Charles Prince Airport that he met someone he describes as the "kindest man on earth."
"Hugh Mundy was a flight instructor, examiner and pilot, basically a sky God in my eyes. He asked if we wanted to go on a shake down flight in an aeroplane that had just come out the maintenance hangar. Of course we said yes, We went up in this little aeroplane, a Cessna 175, took off and did some touch-and-go's take off and landings. Then before our final landing Hugh asked me to take the controls
fried chicken at Chicken Inn (similar to KFC). This enabled me to pay for my school tuition to the end of high school.
I had nearly dropped out of school, but somehow found the strength to work part time, and pay for school as well. time in weyein almost a beard and a I-Shirt with Fly The Piper Cub, Mashonaland Flying Club" written on it. When I read his T-shirt I asked him if he knew Hugh Mundy, then he started laughing because it was him - it was Hugh Mundy in the flesh, with a beard!
He asked me if I was still interested in flying, then said he would bring me some membership forms to fill out, as the flying club was looking for a man to fill a job answering telephones over the weekends, monitor flying accounts and take care of the general well-being of the front desk."
Opportunity to learn
This opening gave me the chance to learn a great deal about aircraft while chatting with flying students, instructors and engineers, all of whom passed by my front desk. I used this time to learn the language of aviation, as well as hands on aspects such as refuelling and pre-flight checks. The money I earned paid me enough for three flying hours a month and, as determined as ever, he saved up for three years, finally managing to complete his PPL after 55 hours, with further financial assistance from a very good friend. With PPL in hand I began my CPL - commercial pilots licence.
"I was blessed enough to be hired by a man named lan Dyson who owned Pegasus
Flight Training School which had a sponsorship programme going all the way to completion of the CPL after which time I signed a two year contract binding you to the flight school while you were paying back the sponsorship tees. I signed tor two years but did four and after this I progressed onto flying twin engined aeroplanes, in a tie, suite and gold stripes - for the first time I felt like a real pilot." A year later Gerald joined Air Zambezi, a small commuter airline operating twin turbo prop aeroplanes into the big safari airport hubs in Zimbabwe. A stint with DHL Southern Africa, operating aircraft doing night cargo flights followed. A short while later I received a call from the National Airline of Zimbabwe to attend an interview for a job on a B737.
I remained with the airline from June 2003 to May 2012 when the economic and financial difficulties facing Zimbabwe caused me to leave my homeland and head for Dubai, arriving on 15 May 2012.
I interviewed for a job with the national airline of Afghanistan and during this time applied for a job with an airline operating in the United Arab Emirates. Before I could have any interview, with the Middle Eastern airline however, I had to loose 20 kg in order to pass the medical check as my BMI was too high. Not an easy task but I determination and dedication that had seen me fight for my PPL and every following qualification, again came to the fore and I managed to drop from 118 kg to 94 kg for the interview.
It was a verv happy pilot who was able to announce "Guess what.........I got the job". I joined the UAE airline in 2014.
"1 am happier than ever. They have gave me the opportunity not only to fly and work for the best airline in the world, but they have nurtured me, taught me and trained me to be among the best pilots in the world."
This journey that I have had to travel to achieve all of this, has been long, treacherous, exhilarating and rewarding.
"I not only dreamt it, I saw it, a tiny contrail in the sky. I not only imagined it, I not only wished it, BUT I have achieved it having worked super hard for it. I have never given up and have renewed my focus every second of every dav. I want to be better although I have achieved more than the goal I set for myself in 1978 at just three years old.
Determination and a dream to become a pilot carried me through years of training, much time working for African airlines before taking up a position with Safi Airlines the national airline of Afghanistan.
I have been blessed to fly most of the BOEING family:
B737-200
B737-800
B757
B767
B777
B787-9
B787-10
The dream has not ended for as I am super determined to do more, to prove to youngsters that achieving any dream is possible.
"If you want it, go get it. I not only accomplished my dream, but I now fly a Dreamliner to destinations all around the world."
Most importantly, the things that last come from: consistency, discipline, spirit, strength, a dream, a goal, planning. truth, belief in oneself, character, manners, constant prayer, and overcoming failure. The rest is history.
Over the years I have made his mark in many ways. I was the first black pilot to be employed at Pegasus Flight Training School in Zimbabwe, and one of few pilots selected to fly Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe around the world for many years.
I was also the first black pilot in Safi Airways, Kabul, Afghanistan, and he holds the honour of being the first pilot to fly the B787-10 into Schipol Airport, Amsterdam.
Those scary and difficult moments , but one I particularly remember was in Singapore one night when suddenly my cockpit window shattered. Sitting in the back was President Robert Mugabe!
Bad or negative talk only fuels my passion for aviation.
Sheer determination and an all-consuming love for flying and aircraft helped me overcome adversity.
"I simply had to make a decision
to live or die - I chose to live"
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