Come Fly With Us - What's New at the FOU

Expanding Our Training Fleet and Facilities at the FOU

The School is grateful for the continued support and engagement from UNSW senior management to achieve our strategic goals relating to the development of aviation education, training, and research  – our 6 new Diamond DA40 training aeroplanes begin arriving later in 2024, and we are in the functional design phase for a new training facility at Bankstown Airport that will cement the School’s position as a leading provider of professional pilot training in Sydney. Although still in the early stages, I am excited to see the possibilities the new facility will present for the School and the students, including greater research collaboration potential, dedicated simulator spaces allowing for the expansion of simulation in training, world-class education and training facilities, and improved student and staff amenity.

Wings Night

Wings Night for the 2020 Flying cohorts was a fantastic celebration of their worthy achievements, held in the John Niland Scientia Building at Kensington. The students and guests enjoyed an address from Sasha Robinson, founding partner of Flightdeck Consulting and international airline pilot, who provided practical advice about how to succeed in an aviation career, and how to build resilience. The School congratulates all the pilots who achieved their Wings and wishes them safe and successful flying during their career.

In 2024, there will be two Wings Nights: the first in August for the 2021 cohorts and the second in December for the 2022 cohorts.

Welcoming New RPAS Students to the FOU

An important element of the School’s strategy is to leverage the resources and capabilities of the Flying Operations Unit (FOU) to facilitate airborne research, flight data analytics, and RPAS applications – to that end we welcome the first students in our new Bachelor of Aviation (RPAS) degree program. These students will begin their aeroplane flying at the FOU this year before progressing to RPAS training and commercial experience with our partners AVIASSIST and AUAVS respectively. Late in 2023, I was pleased to see the engagement of many high-school students at UNSW and AUAVSs drone racing day

It was a great day for the students held at Moore Park in the Sydney Swans indoor training centre. I had the pleasure of presenting first prize to Dempsey Wilson, who swept the field with skilful and fast flying.