BAHRAIN POLYTECHNIC

Report
GSP 5203 Market Yourself
Mohammed Haji
201100040

Assessment 1
Supervised By: Eman AlShamlawi
Word Count: 1,321

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Research

Analysis

Conclusion

Appendices

Bibliograhy

Introduction:
There are many jobs in many fields of work that interest a person to be a part in. It can
be a general manager at a worldwide bank, a racecar driver, an event organizer, or a project
manager or whatever a person wants to be. The job that got me interested is being a pilot of an
aircraft. Even though it may have some disadvantages such as not having a lot of free time or
having a high responsibility of the lives of the passengers flying, the advantages overcome the
downfalls. You can travel around the world, see different cultures and traditions, always having
a luxurious hotel room booked for you, a high income, and mainly flying.

Research:
Interview: One of the two research methods conducted for this assessment was to
organize an interview with a person in the field of work of being a pilot. The person I have
successfully got in contact with is the maintenance manager of Gulf Air, Adel Furootan. Before I
conducted the interview, a series of questions (Appendix 1) was constructed in order to
prepare myself for the meeting, which was held in his office at Gulf Air in Wing B, third floor, on
Thursday 30th of October, 2014.
The first question I asked him was what the responsibility of a pilot is. He said one of the
most important things a pilot has to do is keep the passengers safe. A pilot has to complete the
route from one destination to another, he has the right to arrest anyone who is being unlawful,
as well as maintaining control of the airplane by checking up the engines, fuel, tire pressure,
and spoilers. Another question asked was at what height an airplane has to be elevated in order
to fly safely. Mr. Furootans response was that an aircraft should be elevated at least 40,000 ft
above sea level, because the higher an airplane is lifted, the lower the pressure and
temperature, therefore the lower the density, hence the lower the fuel consumption.

I later asked Mr. Furootan how an airplane flies. He said that the engines of the airplane
play a great role in this. The air is sucked in through the turbine and then pressurized using the
combustor in the engine. The combustor then blasts off hot air from the back of the engine.
This only gives force to the airplane, allowing it to move forward. But how does it lift upwards?
There is a part of the planes wings called aileron. The aileron is lifted upwards, causing the air
to push on the aileron and elevating the plane upwards. These questions were the highlights of
series of questions that were asked in the meeting.
In order to get the job, Mr. Furootan stated that this requires a lot of theoretical
information to understand and have more than 70 hours of flight training. Gulf Air Aviation
used to have a compact with Tamkeen in order to prepare students to become future pilots by
paying 50% of the educational fees, however they cancelled this offer a couple of years ago.
Adels job in to maintain the aircraft before it flies, in other words they cannot fly without
Adels approval. He got the job by studying hard, and during that time period there were a lot
of vacancies available. However, this has changed during the years as it is hard to get a piloting
job nowadays.
Independent Research: The other type of research was to engage in individual research
using other tools of finding information such as browsing the internet or from relevant books.
Pilots are basically in charge of transporting passengers or goods from one location to another.
The can be either employed by corporations of governments, or work privately for an
individual.
In order to become a pilot, several skills need to be learnt and/or improved. Firstly,
students have to pass a medical exam to get into the flight school. Once they enter the flight
school, they have to pass more than 35 hours of theoretical knowledge in ground school. After
that, the student needs to accomplish 20 hours of flying lessons accompanied by an instructor,
then another 20 hours flying solo. They are then required to undergo written test from the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and then a practical exam with a certified examiner.
When the student asses all these tests, they can finally get a piloting license, however they

cant fly a plane yet. They have to undertake many other flying hours in order to fully be able to
fly a commercial aircraft.
The aviation industry started when the Wright brothers created the first heavier-thanair object in late 1903. Aviation started to rapidly improve in the following years, for example
they used them in wars, delivering objects or goods, and later flying passengers from one
destination to another. Many innovations happened during that time period until now, such as
flight control technologies1, radio advancements, and improving aerodynamics of a plane. The
aviation industry is growing approximately 7% yearly, according to the International Air
Transport Association (IATA), and since it is a growing industry, more airplanes are being built;
therefore more people are being employed as pilots worldwide.

Analysis:
There are many similarities and a few differences between what I learnt from Mr. Adel
in the interview and the research conducted. One of the similarities was informing me how a
plane flies, however the words differed slightly. For example, in the interview Adel drew me a
Cartesian plane2, and on the top of the y-axis he wrote lift and the bottom gravity, and on
the right side of the x-axis he wrote speed and on the left drag. In my research the words
gravity and speed were weight and thrust instead. Another similarity was how the
engine works, as explained above (see research --> interview).
The difference that I found out about the meeting and my research was that the
vacancies available for becoming a pilot. Mr. Furootan mentioned that it is difficult to get a job
as a pilot because of the lack of vacancies. This is true in regards to Bahrain, however based on
the research conducted; there are opportunities to work in the aviation field since the industry
is growing. Another difference is the wages of a pilot. Mr. Furootan stated that the basic
monthly salary of a pilot reaches up to 4,000 BD a month generally, however according to
1
2

How to fly a plane and control the movements of it

A plane that consists of the x-axis and y-axis with a diagram in the middle

onetonline.org, the basic salary is approximately 2,350 BD monthly. These differences may have
occurred due to the fact that he has been transferred to a maintenance position from being a
pilot for a long period of time and is not up to date with updates about pilots. Another reason is
that he might have spoken mostly about being a pilot in Bahrain, rather than generally
worldwide.

Conclusion:
Since I am both a student in Bahrain Polytechnic and an employee at Zain Bahrain, I
have achieved great skills and improved the current ones significantly. One of the most
important skills that the job needs is communication skills. Pilots will always be in contact with
the ground control or FAA. In polytechnic weve improved this skill by participating in class and
the use of presentations, and at Zain by communicating with different types of customers
through phones. Another skill that is needed for the job is time management. Flights are
scheduled, therefore time management is essential. I manage my time in the morning for
university and at evenings or nights for work.
To fill the skill gap for the job, more research, theoretical and practical knowledge is
required in order to become a pilot. Background information is needed for the job, and a
student must enter a flight school to fulfill the requirements to fly a plane.

Appendices:
Appendix 1:
10 Questions to ask Adel Furootan:
1) What is the responsibility of a pilot?
2) How does a plane fly?
3) At what height does a plane have to fly in order to fly safely?
4) How do I apply for a piloting Job?
5) Which flight school is the best school to learn about piloting?
6) What is the basic salary of a pilot?
7) Is it difficult to become a pilot?
8) How does a pilot control the movements of the airplane hes flying?
9) What is the black box?
10) Is there anything else you would like to add?

Bibliography:
Pilot. (2011, April 14). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from
https://www.sokanu.com/careers/pilot/

History of Aviation - First Flights. (2010, January 23). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from
http://www.avjobs.com/history/

The Airline Industry. (2000, January 19). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from
http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/intro/airlineindustry.html

53-2012.00 - Commercial Pilots. (2013, June 9). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-2012.00