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Aviation, a realm of human ingenuity that has long fascinated and revolutionised the world, now faces a pressing challenge in the United States — an unprecedented shortage of pilots. This shortage, a confluence of various factors, including retirements, increased demand, and a diminishing supply of new pilots entering the industry, has spurred concerns across the aviation sector. Amidst this scarcity, the training and mastery of specialised aircraft like the ultra-long-range Bombardier Global 7500 business jet present an intriguing yet demanding endeavour. Unlike the colossal commercial jets dominating the skies, the Bombardier Global is a smaller, intricate aircraft that demands exceptional skill and precision from its pilots. Its intricacies and characteristics require a distinct level of proficiency, making its training and operation a formidable task for aviators aspiring to navigate its unique challenges. This makes the stories of skilled and experienced pilots who have made it through the cascade of obstacles, and mastered the subtle craft of flights till perfection, a particularly fascinating topic of research.
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return” – this quote by Leonardo Da Vinci has always particularly inspired Vesa Turpeinen, an accomplished, internationally acclaimed corporate pilot and flight instructor, and the captain of a Global 7500 aircraft based in Singapore. Having spent over 6200 hours flying a plane across the world and gaining over 20 years of extensive experience as a captain, pilot in command, and chief flight instructor responsible for the training of hundreds of future aviation specialists, along with his experience as an award-winning author of best-selling aviation books, Vesa Turpeinen has become a true legend in the industry, and turned into a role model for thousands of aspiring pilots across the globe.
Vesa’s story is a truly remarkable and inspiring one. The year his interest in the aviation field was born, Vesa couldn’t even imagine that one day he would be flying a plane. As Vesa often admits to aspiring pilots he works with, back then, he didn’t even feel comfortable when driving his father’s stick-shift car. However, as goes another Vesa’s favourite quote by Walt Disney, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” When hearing the news about the pilot aptitude admission tests held by the North American Institute of Aviation that had been looking for talented students from Northern European countries, Vesa, born in Finland, did not hesitate. He took the test, successfully passed it, and soon afterwards, left for his training in South Carolina, and started the first chapter of his illustrious journey in aviation.
After receiving his pilot licences from North American Institute of Aviation, and upon completion of his MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Vesa had already received an invitation to join Beijing Panam International Aviation Academy as a flight instructor. Within only several months, Vesa started receiving one promotion after another, and ended up as the Academy’s Assistant Chief Flight Instructor, which meant full management of the entire training in one of the four Academy’s flight bases. Soon afterwards, Vesa accepted an exclusive invitation to join a brand-new Chinese aviation school: Tianjin Jeppesen International Flight Academy as the Chief Flight Instructor, where he reached the top in the capacity of a senior instructor shaping the next generation of pilots.
Having dedicated several years to the mission of guiding, nurturing, and inspiring the future aviators of tomorrow, Vesa decided to become a corporate pilot flying Bombardier Challenger 605 and 650 business jets. For the next five years, Vesa successfully completed countless flights across 50 countries on 5 continents, and gained more international flying experience than most pilots ever obtain throughout their entire careers. This mind-blowing part of his professional journey gave him all kinds of experiences, and the deepest expertise in all flight intricacies a pilot ever can get: flying a plane in any part of the world, under any weather conditions and political regime in a destination country, at any time and season.
Vesa’s comprehensive set of diverse aviation experiences, along with his unique blend of piloting prowess and instructional acumen, were not left unnoticed: he was promoted to the position of a Lead Captain, or as it is also called, Pilot in Command, which means being the final authority ensuring the safety of each flight and every passenger. Being a captain of a plane is the most complex job and the most tremendous responsibility in the aviation sector, which Vesa has always been managing with ease, brilliance, and inspiration. Today, Vesa serves as the Captain of a Bombardier Global 7500 aircraft in Singapore. As of now, he has reached an illustrious total flight time of over 6,200 hours, which is considered significant in corporate aviation, with over 3,900 hours as a pilot in command, including over 2,000 hours specifically on Bombardier Challenger 605/650, and 700 hours on the Bombardier Global Express series. His flight time is further categorised into thousands of hours of cross-country flying, instrument flying, single and multi-engine aircraft flying, nighttime flying, and even seaplane flying.
Besides his amazing professional journey up in the sky, Vesa also authored the award-winning Pilot Career Series consisting of best-selling books that immerse readers into all the subtleties of flight training and a pilot’s career, which resulted in the unprecedented boost of the aviation industry’s popularity. Vesa’s educative series, which skilfully and wittily teaches all the most significant theoretical aspects of a pilot’s training and subsequent professional development inspired thousands of people all over the world to pursue a flight career. This has become a perfect timing for the increased interest in the aviation sector, as the world is still experiencing unprecedented shortages of qualified pilots due to the aftermath of COVID-19.
Vesa’s main advice to all aspiring pilots is the following: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started,” as goes Mark Twain’s famous saying. As Vesa emphasises in his books, there will be no better place and time for reaching out to a flight school, getting immersed in training, and pursuing professional dreams about getting up to the sky every working day, than here and now.
