December 24, 2020 • 15 mins
In this episode
Planning for the new charter department takes shape.
I set off to the Uk for my King Air training and ferry flight, and after my return, I set about choosing staff and flight crew for my new department.
From all the crew at the pinkskypodcast, we wish you, your families and friends, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Here’s to a brighter, positive and hopeful 2021.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Enid Otun (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to season two of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Episode Seven. Hell yes,
she's a girl. I'm Enid Otun. Inthis episode, planning for the
new charter department takeshape. I set off to the UK for
my King Air Training and ferryflight back to Lagos. And after
(00:25):
my return, I set about choosingstaff and flight crew for my new
department.
(01:02):
I was buzzing. The opportunity Ihad been given by Bristow
helicopters had been a surpriseand out of the blue. It did,
however, show the company'sfaith in me and confirm the
support they had shown since Ifirst joined. For me, this
opportunity was huge. I may nothave known it then. But it
(01:23):
ticked so many boxes for mycareer, my future, and my mental
health. Coming so soon after I'dbeen promoted, gave me something
new to focus on. I prided myselfon doing the best job possible.
And here was the platform withwhich I could do it. A new
department, new aircraft and aclean slate. Arrangements had
(01:48):
been made for me to travel backto Redhill for some Beechcraft
King Air ground school, followedby the flight training. In a few
short months, I was back at theWhitehouse in Crawley, which had
served as my accommodation formy earlier training. It was
quiet this time around with onlya few students and residents for
helicopter training. I enjoyedbeing back at Redhill. It was a
(02:11):
vibrant place and always busy,mostly with helicopters. The
Beechcraft King Air which I wasto manage and operate for the
Lagos fixed wing unit, had beenwith the company for a few years
and its main task was to ferryexecutives between bases in the
south of the UK, with bases inScotland and the North Sea for
(02:33):
the oil industry. It didn't seea lot of flight hours, and so it
was decided that it would bebetter utilized elsewhere in the
organization. And that justhappened to be Nigeria. At that
time, Charter operations werebeginning to grow in the
industry, and for the most partutilized executive jets like the
(02:53):
Hawker Siddeley HS125 incountry. Even bristows had one,
although that was designed forferrying executives
internationally from the UK.
Whichever way you looked at it,the time was ripe to expand
operations outside of just theoil industry, and look to
harness lucrative new contractsin other industries across the
(03:14):
region.
I started my ground school inthe same classroom, as I'd been
in for my Rolls Royce jet enginetraining course. As I entered
the building, I experienced amoment of confusion followed by
surprise and recognition. Myofficial company picture had
(03:35):
joined the ranks of the cadetpilots who had passed through
the training academy over theyears. And it took me a while to
recognize myself. My beaminground face stared back at me as
I walked down the entrancecorridor to the facility. It was
a bit surreal. My course lastedjust under a week and was
intense. This was followed by aseries of training flights on
(03:57):
the actual aircraft instead of aflight simulator. Our training
area would be West into Wales,with our temporary base at
Cardiff airport. One of my mostmemorable sessions would be
practicing emergency descentsfrom 30,000 feet simulating
depressurization. This consistedof steps to get the aircraft to
(04:18):
a safe breathable altitude,should your cabin pressurization
fail. Pilots have to be able tograb their quick don oxygen
masks in order to make sure thatthey could breathe sufficiently
well in order to get theaircraft to a safe altitude. The
masks were designed to be aboveand behind the pilot seat, so
(04:39):
that with one hand you couldslip the mask over your face and
breathe normally. Even undertraining, it was exhilarating.
Everything needed to flow in thecorrect order, with the final
act of pushing the nose down toestablish a fast and steep
descent to 10,000 feet. Just asa completely unecessary aside,
(05:00):
now that I'm a retired pilot,the only quick don I do these
days is from my work clothesinto what my wife calls leisure
wear at around 6 (05:09):
30pm every evening. I comically pretend to
sound a klaxon and call, to noone in particular,' It's leisure
wear time, quick don please'. Soamusing. You can take the pilot
out of the cockpit, but youcan't take the cockpit out of
the pilot, I guess.
Anyway, with four days of fullon training completed, the
(05:32):
flight test for my type ratingwas conducted and I passed. In a
few days, we would be headed forhome, ferrying the aircraft back
to Lagos. Back in Redhill, I hada couple of days to help get the
aircraft ready for its ferryflight. There would be three
pilots assigned includingmyself, and the rear of the
aircraft was filled with spareparts and supplies for our
(05:55):
Nigerian operation. Our routewould take us via Alicante in
Spain, Tamanrassett in Algeria,and on to Lagos with a fuel stop
in Niamey. The flight wasuneventful, and I managed to
acquire a good amount of lefthand seat command time in
preparation for my newassignment. I hit the ground
(06:16):
running on my return. Whilst Iwas tasked with setting up the
new operation. I was alsorostered for duty on the twin
otters. It would be a verypacked few months, as I also had
to set up an office as well as acharter team.
(06:46):
One of the best highlights ofthis process was the opportunity
to fly the King Air with one ofour most senior captains,
Captain Dennis Stoten. Denniswas a tall man standing just
over six foot. He was rapidlyapproaching retirement and had
been assigned to the King Airoperation with a wealth of
experience on the aircraft. Iadmired Dennis and we were to
(07:09):
become close friends. He was alegend to us and had had the
most enviable career. He was oneof the humblest men I've ever
known, and the times that Ispent in his company were never
dull. He taught me so much aboutthe Twin Otter, and in the
following few months, he wouldteach me so much about the King
(07:30):
Air and flying in general.
Dennis had been bitten by theflying bug very early on in life
and had flown pretty muchanything worth flying. He was
also the perfect, suavegentlemen from a different era.
His antics off duty, were justas interesting as his antics on
duty. He lived every minute oflife as an aviator. He had flown
(07:53):
for many years with BritishAirways and this was the airline
that he had left in order to flyout his twilight years with
bristows. He was widely traveledas you would expect and had
spent many many years on theIndian and African continents.
He once recounted a story to mewhen he flew B747's, about a
(08:13):
hard, nosewheel landing in HongKong, which had resulted in
substantial damage. He had beenassigned to fly out there with
an engineering team to have thedamage repaired, and ferry the
aircraft back to the UK. Thisevent at the time had apparently
cost the company in excess of $1million dollars, and they were
(08:35):
not happy.
His aviation knowledge wasextensive, and he was the most
excellent teacher. The timespent flying with him was
precious and made me a betterpilot. The time spent with him
off duty was equally special, ashe would regale me with the
stories of his misspent youthand shenanigans as a young man.
(09:00):
Dennis had dated some of theworld's most famous women,
actresses and the like in yearsgone by, and was revered as a
dashing young captain. I canjust imagine him in days gone by
actually, appearing in thepassenger cabin of his British
Airways Boeing 747 and greetingthe passengers. He would have
(09:21):
made all the ladies swoon andall men jealous. I even remember
a story about SophiaLoren....!!!! Ever the gentleman
to the end though, he neverdivulged secrets, and many a
time I had to work it out formyself. Having Dennis as a
senior Captain in the newcharter operation was the
(09:42):
biggest coup yet. I can't say mylife as a pilot was ever as
glamorous as Dennis's, althoughit was certainly eventful. But
it was great fun to livevicariously through his colorful
stories. I would go on to learnso much more from this amazing
man, and as a colleague andfriend, I would always remain
(10:04):
devoted and thankful to him.
In the initial stages of thelaunch of our new operation,
Shell Oil would be our firstcustomer for their executive
flights. They liked the idea ofhaving an additional aircraft at
their disposal, albeit sharedwith other customers. At the
start, we had a number of highprofile customers, driven by our
(10:26):
current contracts and safetyrecords, Shell, Ashland Oil and
Coca-Cola to name just a few. Iflew my first 100 hours with
Dennis around the country. As asenior Captain nearing
retirement, he had to be crewedwith another Captain, and I was
so glad that this would be me. Icould think of no better team,
(10:48):
as we navigated the early stagesof this exciting assignment.
Dennis was happy to takeeverything at a slower pace, and
leave me to do the bulk of thework. There would be nothing
more satisfying than learningfrom the master. And as he once
said to me, "I get to stay inluxurious hotels, whilst
(11:08):
accompanying and supporting amost wonderfully competent
Captain and friend". I don'tthink I've ever blushed so
bright red as then.
When people queried him as towhether he was flying with a
girl, he would reply, "Hell yes,she's a girl". I even feel a
sense of warmth and pride whilsttyping that. Dennis's faith in
(11:31):
my ability was the fuel to keepme airborne, and no, I don't
regret how cheesy that maysound. It's all too true, and
remains one of the most amazingtimes in my life.
Time and time again, I was beingreminded that it was possible
not only to achieve amazingthings, but to find wonderful
inspiring friends willing tosupport me completely, in
(11:54):
contrast to my difficult startin life.
With the office setup and staffassigned for the charter
operations, we started inearnest. Dennis and I were kept
busy almost seven days a week.
Now, Dennis would retire aboutfour months later, and as sad as
I was to lose him, he was readyfor a well earned rest. We held
a small celebration for him inthe Lagos hangar. He was such a
(12:16):
popular and well liked man.
Towards the end of the party, hecalled me over to him and handed
me the four bar epaulets that hehad himself been presented with
many, many, many yearspreviously. I remember being
speechless and tearful. Here hewas parting with the symbols
(12:40):
that defined an extraordinarycareer. I was determined to make
sure that I was worthy of them.
I removed my brand new ones andreplace them with his, and those
would be the ones that I wouldwear for the rest of my career.
I still have them today, andthey always remind me of the
wonderful man that he was.
(13:03):
When Dennis died a few yearslater, his daughter very kindly
contacted me to say that herfather spoke of me after he had
retired to the Lake District,and she had wanted me to know. I
was heartbroken but thankfulthat I had had the honor to know
the exceptional man, that wasCaptain Dennis Stoton.
(13:26):
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you want to ask a
question or make a comment.
Please do so on our social mediasites, Instagram, Facebook and
Twitter, or send us an email.
Our email addresses istheskyispinkpilot@gmail.com or
(13:50):
visit our websitewww.skyispink.co.uk
In the next episode, which willair early in January 2021. My
new copilot is rostered with meas permanent crew. We take on
more charter contracts and arenow very busy operation, and I
(14:11):
experience several incidentsthat start to demand more of me
as a captain.
From all the crew at the pinksky podcast, we wish you, your
families and friends, A veryMerry Christmas and a Happy New
Year. Here's to a brighter,positive and more hopeful 2021.
(14:35):
Thank you and goodbye.
Hello, and welcome to season two of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Episode Seven. Hell yes,
she's a girl. I'm Enid Otun. Inthis episode, planning for the
new charter department takeshape. I set off to the UK for
my King Air Training and ferryflight back to Lagos. And after
(00:25):
my return, I set about choosingstaff and flight crew for my new
department.
(01:02):
I was buzzing. The opportunity Ihad been given by Bristow
helicopters had been a surpriseand out of the blue. It did,
however, show the company'sfaith in me and confirm the
support they had shown since Ifirst joined. For me, this
opportunity was huge. I may nothave known it then. But it
(01:23):
ticked so many boxes for mycareer, my future, and my mental
health. Coming so soon after I'dbeen promoted, gave me something
new to focus on. I prided myselfon doing the best job possible.
And here was the platform withwhich I could do it. A new
department, new aircraft and aclean slate. Arrangements had
(01:48):
been made for me to travel backto Redhill for some Beechcraft
King Air ground school, followedby the flight training. In a few
short months, I was back at theWhitehouse in Crawley, which had
served as my accommodation formy earlier training. It was
quiet this time around with onlya few students and residents for
helicopter training. I enjoyedbeing back at Redhill. It was a
(02:11):
vibrant place and always busy,mostly with helicopters. The
Beechcraft King Air which I wasto manage and operate for the
Lagos fixed wing unit, had beenwith the company for a few years
and its main task was to ferryexecutives between bases in the
south of the UK, with bases inScotland and the North Sea for
(02:33):
the oil industry. It didn't seea lot of flight hours, and so it
was decided that it would bebetter utilized elsewhere in the
organization. And that justhappened to be Nigeria. At that
time, Charter operations werebeginning to grow in the
industry, and for the most partutilized executive jets like the
(02:53):
Hawker Siddeley HS125 incountry. Even bristows had one,
although that was designed forferrying executives
internationally from the UK.
Whichever way you looked at it,the time was ripe to expand
operations outside of just theoil industry, and look to
harness lucrative new contractsin other industries across the
(03:14):
region.
I started my ground school inthe same classroom, as I'd been
in for my Rolls Royce jet enginetraining course. As I entered
the building, I experienced amoment of confusion followed by
surprise and recognition. Myofficial company picture had
(03:35):
joined the ranks of the cadetpilots who had passed through
the training academy over theyears. And it took me a while to
recognize myself. My beaminground face stared back at me as
I walked down the entrancecorridor to the facility. It was
a bit surreal. My course lastedjust under a week and was
intense. This was followed by aseries of training flights on
(03:57):
the actual aircraft instead of aflight simulator. Our training
area would be West into Wales,with our temporary base at
Cardiff airport. One of my mostmemorable sessions would be
practicing emergency descentsfrom 30,000 feet simulating
depressurization. This consistedof steps to get the aircraft to
(04:18):
a safe breathable altitude,should your cabin pressurization
fail. Pilots have to be able tograb their quick don oxygen
masks in order to make sure thatthey could breathe sufficiently
well in order to get theaircraft to a safe altitude. The
masks were designed to be aboveand behind the pilot seat, so
(04:39):
that with one hand you couldslip the mask over your face and
breathe normally. Even undertraining, it was exhilarating.
Everything needed to flow in thecorrect order, with the final
act of pushing the nose down toestablish a fast and steep
descent to 10,000 feet. Just asa completely unecessary aside,
(05:00):
now that I'm a retired pilot,the only quick don I do these
days is from my work clothesinto what my wife calls leisure
wear at around 6 (05:09):
30pm every evening. I comically pretend to
sound a klaxon and call, to noone in particular,' It's leisure
wear time, quick don please'. Soamusing. You can take the pilot
out of the cockpit, but youcan't take the cockpit out of
the pilot, I guess.
Anyway, with four days of fullon training completed, the
(05:32):
flight test for my type ratingwas conducted and I passed. In a
few days, we would be headed forhome, ferrying the aircraft back
to Lagos. Back in Redhill, I hada couple of days to help get the
aircraft ready for its ferryflight. There would be three
pilots assigned includingmyself, and the rear of the
aircraft was filled with spareparts and supplies for our
(05:55):
Nigerian operation. Our routewould take us via Alicante in
Spain, Tamanrassett in Algeria,and on to Lagos with a fuel stop
in Niamey. The flight wasuneventful, and I managed to
acquire a good amount of lefthand seat command time in
preparation for my newassignment. I hit the ground
(06:16):
running on my return. Whilst Iwas tasked with setting up the
new operation. I was alsorostered for duty on the twin
otters. It would be a verypacked few months, as I also had
to set up an office as well as acharter team.
(06:46):
One of the best highlights ofthis process was the opportunity
to fly the King Air with one ofour most senior captains,
Captain Dennis Stoten. Denniswas a tall man standing just
over six foot. He was rapidlyapproaching retirement and had
been assigned to the King Airoperation with a wealth of
experience on the aircraft. Iadmired Dennis and we were to
(07:09):
become close friends. He was alegend to us and had had the
most enviable career. He was oneof the humblest men I've ever
known, and the times that Ispent in his company were never
dull. He taught me so much aboutthe Twin Otter, and in the
following few months, he wouldteach me so much about the King
(07:30):
Air and flying in general.
Dennis had been bitten by theflying bug very early on in life
and had flown pretty muchanything worth flying. He was
also the perfect, suavegentlemen from a different era.
His antics off duty, were justas interesting as his antics on
duty. He lived every minute oflife as an aviator. He had flown
(07:53):
for many years with BritishAirways and this was the airline
that he had left in order to flyout his twilight years with
bristows. He was widely traveledas you would expect and had
spent many many years on theIndian and African continents.
He once recounted a story to mewhen he flew B747's, about a
(08:13):
hard, nosewheel landing in HongKong, which had resulted in
substantial damage. He had beenassigned to fly out there with
an engineering team to have thedamage repaired, and ferry the
aircraft back to the UK. Thisevent at the time had apparently
cost the company in excess of $1million dollars, and they were
(08:35):
not happy.
His aviation knowledge wasextensive, and he was the most
excellent teacher. The timespent flying with him was
precious and made me a betterpilot. The time spent with him
off duty was equally special, ashe would regale me with the
stories of his misspent youthand shenanigans as a young man.
(09:00):
Dennis had dated some of theworld's most famous women,
actresses and the like in yearsgone by, and was revered as a
dashing young captain. I canjust imagine him in days gone by
actually, appearing in thepassenger cabin of his British
Airways Boeing 747 and greetingthe passengers. He would have
(09:21):
made all the ladies swoon andall men jealous. I even remember
a story about SophiaLoren....!!!! Ever the gentleman
to the end though, he neverdivulged secrets, and many a
time I had to work it out formyself. Having Dennis as a
senior Captain in the newcharter operation was the
(09:42):
biggest coup yet. I can't say mylife as a pilot was ever as
glamorous as Dennis's, althoughit was certainly eventful. But
it was great fun to livevicariously through his colorful
stories. I would go on to learnso much more from this amazing
man, and as a colleague andfriend, I would always remain
(10:04):
devoted and thankful to him.
In the initial stages of thelaunch of our new operation,
Shell Oil would be our firstcustomer for their executive
flights. They liked the idea ofhaving an additional aircraft at
their disposal, albeit sharedwith other customers. At the
start, we had a number of highprofile customers, driven by our
(10:26):
current contracts and safetyrecords, Shell, Ashland Oil and
Coca-Cola to name just a few. Iflew my first 100 hours with
Dennis around the country. As asenior Captain nearing
retirement, he had to be crewedwith another Captain, and I was
so glad that this would be me. Icould think of no better team,
(10:48):
as we navigated the early stagesof this exciting assignment.
Dennis was happy to takeeverything at a slower pace, and
leave me to do the bulk of thework. There would be nothing
more satisfying than learningfrom the master. And as he once
said to me, "I get to stay inluxurious hotels, whilst
(11:08):
accompanying and supporting amost wonderfully competent
Captain and friend". I don'tthink I've ever blushed so
bright red as then.
When people queried him as towhether he was flying with a
girl, he would reply, "Hell yes,she's a girl". I even feel a
sense of warmth and pride whilsttyping that. Dennis's faith in
(11:31):
my ability was the fuel to keepme airborne, and no, I don't
regret how cheesy that maysound. It's all too true, and
remains one of the most amazingtimes in my life.
Time and time again, I was beingreminded that it was possible
not only to achieve amazingthings, but to find wonderful
inspiring friends willing tosupport me completely, in
(11:54):
contrast to my difficult startin life.
With the office setup and staffassigned for the charter
operations, we started inearnest. Dennis and I were kept
busy almost seven days a week.
Now, Dennis would retire aboutfour months later, and as sad as
I was to lose him, he was readyfor a well earned rest. We held
a small celebration for him inthe Lagos hangar. He was such a
(12:16):
popular and well liked man.
Towards the end of the party, hecalled me over to him and handed
me the four bar epaulets that hehad himself been presented with
many, many, many yearspreviously. I remember being
speechless and tearful. Here hewas parting with the symbols
(12:40):
that defined an extraordinarycareer. I was determined to make
sure that I was worthy of them.
I removed my brand new ones andreplace them with his, and those
would be the ones that I wouldwear for the rest of my career.
I still have them today, andthey always remind me of the
wonderful man that he was.
(13:03):
When Dennis died a few yearslater, his daughter very kindly
contacted me to say that herfather spoke of me after he had
retired to the Lake District,and she had wanted me to know. I
was heartbroken but thankfulthat I had had the honor to know
the exceptional man, that wasCaptain Dennis Stoton.
(13:26):
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you want to ask a
question or make a comment.
Please do so on our social mediasites, Instagram, Facebook and
Twitter, or send us an email.
Our email addresses istheskyispinkpilot@gmail.com or
(13:50):
visit our websitewww.skyispink.co.uk
In the next episode, which willair early in January 2021. My
new copilot is rostered with meas permanent crew. We take on
more charter contracts and arenow very busy operation, and I
(14:11):
experience several incidentsthat start to demand more of me
as a captain.
From all the crew at the pinksky podcast, we wish you, your
families and friends, A veryMerry Christmas and a Happy New
Year. Here's to a brighter,positive and more hopeful 2021.
(14:35):
Thank you and goodbye.
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