Eden Hansen

Eden Hansen’s (’16): incredible journey to achieve her Pilot’s License and what’s in store next.

In continuing Old Scholar Stories for 2021, LOSA would like to recognise Eden Hansen’s (’16) incredible journey to achieve her Pilot’s License, what’s in store for her next and how the support she received at Loreto helped her achieve her dream.

Eden in her own words:

“My name is Eden Hansen, and I graduated from Loreto in the Class of 2016. In Year 11, I was unsure of what the future held for me, which made deciding on final subjects for Year 12 difficult. During the year, universities came around to speak to the cohort about the degrees they were offering. UniSA spoke about the benefits of a career in Aviation through studying a Bachelor and Graduate Diploma of Aviation. This piqued my interest and with further research I decided that this was the university path for me.

The next day, I went and changed majority of my subject choices for Year 12, with the help of Mrs Searle, to ensure I met the assumed knowledge for the aviation course at UniSA.

Year 12 flew by; I chose my preferred courses for the following year and all I had to do was wait for the email to say I had been accepted. Early January, I was accepted for the bachelor’s degree and asked to come in for an interview and aptitude test for the Graduate Diploma course.

After passing the interview and aptitude test, 100 of us started at Ground School in mid-February. Out of the 100 students, I was one of 4 females and just graduating from an all-girls school – it came as quite the shock. 

We were thrown in the deep end; 3 days a week of 8:30-5 we had ground school, learning about Aerodynamics, Navigation, Aircraft Performance, Air Law and Aircraft Systems and the other 2 days consisted of university subjects. After about 5 weeks in, the 100 students, dwindled down to only 20 – 2 of us being female; and after that we all started to find that this wasn’t going to be your average uni degree.

Ground School finished after 8 weeks – and we were all ready for flight training. Days of 4am starts were only the beginning as I learnt take offs, landing, aircraft procedures, radio calls and circuit navigation around Parafield Airport. The day came for my first solo flight and I will never forget my instructor radioing to Tower to advise that I was ready for my first solo. I taxied to let my instructor out and from then on, I was in full control. I took off, did a few circuits (maybe a few more than I was told to do) and landed back on the ground safely; getting a congratulations from Air Traffic Control. 

My confidence as a pilot grew and I began to fly more solo flights; flying from Port Pirie to Renmark, Waikerie to Port Augusta. 

In February, after weeks of study, extra flights and stressful cups of tea at 1am, the day for my pilot license test came. After a theory test and the most stressful 2-hour flight of my career, I received my Pilot’s License. 

This course was by far one of the hardest obstacles I have had to overcome. From sitting 7 exams in 4 days, 4 am starts to fly, to then go to uni from 12-5 and putting up with constantly cancelled flights due to bad weather definitely took its toll and was both a mental and physical challenge. I have learnt many life-long lessons through the last 3-4 years and I wouldn’t have changed any of my choices for the world. I have made life-long friends that were vital when in a course like this. We were all there for each other when we needed a shoulder to cry on after exams were failed or a flight didn’t go according to plan – I wouldn’t be in the position I am now without them.

In 2017, it was the Golden Age for Pilots. Over 500,000 commercial pilots were needed in the next 5-10 years and for a young, newly accredited pilot, it was everything I could dream for. After the beginning of Covid-19, airlines closed their doors, no-one could travel and thousands and thousands of pilots were out of jobs. The industry did a complete 180. Many of my friends lost their jobs in the industry. I passed my license and decided I needed a break after 4 years of full-time, non-stop study. With high hopes for when the industry comes back, this will decide my next steps to take in my career. In the meantime, I am looking forward to flying around my friends and family and showing them just what the last 4 years of my life have been dedicated to. The support of the Loreto staff whilst being a student was amazing. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of my teachers, Mrs Searle and the careers counsellors. She was constantly on the phone to UniSA for me, finding all the ins and outs of the course to help me achieve my dream and I am forever grateful.”