BAA Training has started their YouTube channel in the beginning of 2011. The first video is with Pranas Drulis, highschool boy who was then a student intern at BAA Training, where he got to test-drive the training software to see whether flying is his destiny. That was when Pranas has started the flight towards his seat in the cockpit.
Pranas remembers himself as enthusiastic and aviation-hungry kid ever since he took his first flight in a big passenger airplane. He was mesmerized by the views in cruise, the apron action on the ground and the breathtaking panorama that opens up once the aircraft takes off. After this life changing event there was no doubt that the fun pilot job is what Pranas is going to strive for.
Pranas Drulis entered BAA Training just right after his high school in 2011. The young, able to adapt and willing to learn Pranas went through the Ab Initio School where he first faced the real studying hardships. “In some occasions, being out of my comfort zone while dealing with the emergency training and passing the ground school exams were the biggest ones. Sometimes it was frustrating to not be able to learn “a simple thing” on the first attempt, even while realizing that it’s absolutely normal”, shares his experience Pranas Drulis.
Pranas did not only take his classes at BAA Training, he also became a full member of its community by joining its team, and started to work with various aviation training projects. Being at the Academy on the daily basis, everyday surrounded by pilots and pilot-students, helping them to solve their problems helped Pranas to develop deeper understanding about aviation, pilot career and its challenges. Yet intensive studies, and additional work was all worth it in the end, because it did not only give him the ATPL frozen license, numerous hours in the full flight simulators, valuable experience, but also turned him into BAA Training’s YouTube star.
During the graduation ceremony in 2013 Pranas said: “Now, when I look back to these two years, I know that it was a beginning of adventure. A hard, exhausting, but rewarding, interesting and fun adventure. Countless days and nights with the books, long term sleep deficit hard to win back. But then, the pure pleasure of flight, pleasure of achievement with every successful flight. Flight manoeuvres and exercises which seemed impossible to master, yet mastered. Exams impossible to pass yet passed. Constantly pushing the limits”.
With such an incredible charisma, energy and excellent pilot knowledge, Pranas Drulis has been invited to a job interview at one of the Europe’s major airlines, BAA Training partners. He has been offered a job including Type Rating training on Dash8-Q400.
Today, 3 years later since his first day at the academy, Pranas can describe himself as the first officer of Bombardier Dash8-Q400 aircraft and is successfully logging his first hundreds of takeoffs and landings. So far the career choice is obvious and controlling the huge piece of machinery is the dream come true and the views are just like the cherry on top of the cake. Pranas says that the first flight as the first officer got engraved into his memory for the rest of his life. “During the first flight there was a moment of silence, I was looking out the window and it struck me, that I’m now doing what I wanted for so long…“, says Pranas. Flying in the bad weather conditions and nailing the landing is what puts a spark in Pranas’ eyes and he cannot hide the excitement. “There are many things that turn into the routine, but at the same time, the wake ups at the odd hours in the odd places has some sort of appeal and attraction to it.”
“Pranas is a great inspiration for both BAA Training team and for those who dream of becoming a pilot – he shows that every dream and every goal can be reached if you put enough effort into that’, comments Egle Vaitkeviciute, CEO at Baltic Aviation Academy.
Since nobody knows what the future holds for both Pranas and aviation industry, which at the same time is exciting, Pranas stays realistic and focuses on the attainable and meaningful life achievements. A couple of them include mastering his aircraft and becoming a captain. Since Pranas’ career has just taken off with one of the Europe’s well established airlines, these goals should not be difficult to accomplish with such focus, risk assessment and dedication that Pranas has been portraying throughout the Ab Initio School.
