Pilot Careers
I Get Paid for This…
Cornelius Mitchley Cornelius Mitchley transports patients and medical staff all over Australia’s south-west region in a PC-12. Interview by Yayeri van Baarsen
How did you get into flying?
As a child, my grandfather took me to aviation museums, airshows and showed me the old Tiger Moth he’d restored with his mate. These visits were inspirational. Aged 17, I was awarded two hours flight training in a C172. I was hooked straight away. I got a job at the local flying school, saving enough money for a lesson every few weeks. Tell us about your job?
I’m the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s senior base pilot at Jandakot. We cover Australia’s south-west region, providing 24/7 Flying CV emergency retrievals and patient transfers. Senior base pilot Cornelius There are no scheduled flights. After a call Mitchley delivers emergency out, we check weather, Notams and depart services as well as inter-hospital to the patient within an hour. A typical day transfers for Australia’s Royal Flying consists of many short flights, transferring Doctor Service (RFDS). eight to nine patients with in total between Started current job December 2015 Now flying Pilatus PC-12 two and eight hours of stick time. Favourite aircraft Fairchild Metroliner. “It’s The PC-12 is essentially a flying intensive traditional flying. I love flying it single pilot, care unit. It’s like having a hospital ward in being alone in this high-performance aircraft.” the back of the aircraft. We always mind the Hours at job start Approx. 3,100 Hours now Approx. 6,000 patient’s condition. If they have a collapsed lung, for example, we fly at lower altitude because of cabin pressure and when flying patients with spinal damage we take extra care to avoid turbulence. from flying the PC-12, you also learn about communication Most flights are non-life-threatening transfers between hospitals. with crew and patients. However, we also have full-blown emergencies. In those cases, it’s important not to get too involved in what’s happening in the What’s been your favourite flight? back, but instead stay focused on piloting the aircraft. A training flight when I started with the RFDS called ‘limited flare What I love most about my job is definitely the unknown aspect, path’. This sortie, which is done at night, is a blackhole approach, never knowing where or when your next task is. I also really enjoy with only six runway lights on the 1,000m strip. It’s to simulate the variety of airstrips. We fly into 3,000m sealed military bases landing on a road, when a patient needs immediate medical and international airports, but also into 900m gravel strips. attention and there’s no other option to reach them in time. As an RFDS pilot, you’re operating in a single pilot environment. Therefore you have to be able to adapt to the And your favourite airfield? ever-changing requirements, such as inflight emergencies. Anything short and gravel. As long as the runway is maintained, I Thinking outside the box is needed in order to get to the patient love bush airstrips. The western Australian landscape is diverse, in the most time-efficient manner. It’s more than just flying – I with rainforests to the south and red dirt to the north, all within also unload stretchers and liaise with the medical staff. We’re a less than an hour’s flight. A lot of the 1,700 strips in our database small team, so good communication skills are required. RFDS are in remote communities – at times we’ve to call the airstrip makes a huge difference, which makes my work very rewarding. operator or police before landing to clear the runway of animals! It’s actually hard to call it a job – it’s more of a passion.
“You have to be able to adapt to the ever-changing requirements”
What training did you have?
In 2008 I applied for an ATPL cadetship with Sharp Airlines and ended up working for them as a First Officer on the Metroliner for a year. After moving to western Australia in 2010, I transferred miners and transported freight on a single pilot Metroliner. In 2015, I joined the RFDS with a CPL. All company conversion training is conducted in aircraft and apart 18 | FLYER | July 2021
Do you get to fly much outside of work?
No, I don’t. The work roster is busy, so on days off I ride my Harley Davidson or spend time at home with my fiancé and our dogs. What is your most valuable career advice?
Savour the moments in the air. As pilots, we get caught up in ‘work’ pressures. It’s vital to take a breath when up there; look out the window and remember you have the best office in the world!
