Plane sailing as dream comes true

Dundee man Chris Brehm has fulfilled a childhood dream after recently qualifying as a first officer with British Airways.

The former captain of Harris Academy first got a taste for aviation when, as a child, his family lived in Florida near the space shuttle launch pad. He said, "I always wanted to fly.  I loved aeroplanes and I started shaping my career around it."

Chris (29) joined the Air Training Corps in 1984, then completed an engineering degree before a British Aerospace sponsorship took him to Churchill College, Cambridge. The gruelling BA pilot selection process saw him fend off stiff competition, with 1000 applications for each training place.

Earlier this year, he finally took to the skies, qualified to fly Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Chris now flies domestic routes around Europe, taking the Edinburgh-Glasgow shuttles when he can.

He said, "The best way to sum it up is that my dream has come true."

Taken from "The Courier", Wednesday July 25, 2001