Bermudian Lonnie Bascome has always wanted to be a pilot for as long as he could remember, flying was something he wanted to do.

Now fresh out of school, Lonnie is ready to take on the world, one flight at a time.

The 25-year-old attended Florida Air Academy and then went to Jacksonville University, in Jacksonville, Florida, where mastered his love of aviation.

"My major at the university was aviation operations and management. It was a Bachelor of Science Degree but I learnt many things about the aviation business. The workload was like I pursued a double major because of the time my flight training demanded," he said.

He is most interested in general aviation which is everything except for commercial aviation.

While at Jacksonville University, Lonnie did flight training 15 minutes away at Craig Municipal Airport with the Delta Connection Academy.

The training is based on the FAA Industry Training Standard or FITS.

"This type of programme changes your training from repetition, rote training to mission-based training. For example, your mission during one training session may be to take an aerial photograph of a house and you will do a turn around a point to accomplish this mission.

"This gives you a more realistic feel for what you will encounter, as you become a full-time pilot, because there are many ways one can make a living flying planes other than flying for a commercial airliner. For example you can do aerial surveying, photography flights, sightseeing tours, flight instructing, lifting skydivers and more."

After being in Florida for nine-and-a-half-years, Lonnie is a commercial licensed pilot with certified flight instructor ratings and multi-engine ratings with hundreds of hours under his belt.

He said: "I encourage anybody on this Island to pursue aviation, but not blindly. Research is important because you need to know what you're getting yourself into.

"Studying goes hand-in-hand with the discipline needed to get to this level and beyond. Aviation is a very cyclical industry as well. During a cut back in the economy it is the first thing to go and the last thing to be on the rise when the economy shows signs of a turn around.

"The key is to not get discouraged, continue on to position yourself so when the opportunity presents itself you're there to ride that wave to success."

As for his future plans, Lonnie hopes to be hired as a pilot sooner rather than later.

"The luxury and elite lifestyle of aviation attracts me I guess from me being Bermudian and that's our nature within regards to tourism, and welcoming our visitors. I would love to put that hospitality into jet travel."

He would also like to talk to students interested in aviation.

"Bermudian pilots are scattered all over the world, and I'm proud to be a part of the community, but I don't see enough aviation events here in Bermuda.

"Mostly because the general community doesn't know the general aviation side of flying so they are unaware of flying for fun, which is unfortunate because if they did they would love it.

"It is a huge disappointment to know I have to travel overseas to enjoy this kind of adventure. I know once the bug gets into the locals, they would be talking about their fun flight for days.

"Tourists would also jump at the opportunity to see Bermuda at a bird's-eye view while they are on the Island instead of trying to capture the moment when they first arrive and when they leave on commercial flights."